Supporting the Strategic Objectives of Participative Water Resources Management; an Evaluation of the Performance of Four ICT Tools

Article 14 of the Water Framework Directive promotes a social learning model of participative planning and creates a broader stakeholder and public constituency for water management. Such natural resource management processes are key testing grounds for the development of new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools designed to support wider citizen participation in local and regional governance. Several types of purpose designed ICT tool are available, but there is a distinct lack of empirical research into their design and effectiveness. Strategic objectives performance take the central role in the work reported here. Six strategic objectives of the use of ICT tools were identified; learning, trust in the institution (the developers of the tool), trust in the computer tool (and the information contained within), trust in the decisions made (during a post interaction scenario), motivation and inclusion. A number of preexisting software platforms, each specifically designed to either educate or support decision making in the area of water management, were selected and formally evaluated under controlled conditions with small groups of evaluators. Results from the evaluation sessions were analysed using statistical analysis techniques. The discussion focus is primarily on the performance of each evaluated tool with respect to achieving the strategic objectives.