As this book demonstrates, it is essential to involve stakeholders in assessments of hydropower development. The author targets policy formation after the UNCED and UNSSD conventions, showing how a discrepancy emerges between hydropower policy and its implementation.
At global and national levels, new policies make it mandatory for hydropower agencies to introduce or expand social considerations far beyond traditional practices. This calls for a new focus on problem areas as well as new methods to optimize access to information required for proper implementation of policy.
By drawing on some dozen project cases, the author shows how policy changes have gradually influenced project design and implementation. Readers gain new insights into the reality behind policy changes as they have evolved over the last decade.
Overall, this book provides a unique account of the interrelationship of sustainable development and policy enforcement. It shows how the sustainability drive combines with democracy and grassroots involvement to influence the formation of project details.
Relating Hydropower Planning to Global Conventions.- Sustainable Development Issues in Hydropower Planning.- Social Catchments of Hydropower.- Hydropower and Regional Development for Poverty Reduction.- Decentralisation and a Rights Approach in Hydropower Development.- Hydropower Implementation Performance for Sustainable Development.
Aus den Rezensionen: "In den vergangenen ! 10 Jahren sind bei der Betrachtung der Wirkungen von grosseren und kleineren Wasserkraftprojekten auf internationaler Ebene einige Entwicklungen angestossen worden ! Uber diese Entwicklung wird im ... Buch anhand der zentralen Aspekte von den Auswirkungen auf die Umwelt und das soziale Umfeld, uber die regionale und uberregionale Entwicklung bis hin zu Umsiedlungsmassnahmen bei zahlreichen weltweiten Projekten berichtet und diese kritisch beleuchtet. Dabei wird auch auf die Rolle und Verantwortung aller Beteiligter sowie die jeweils zur Anwendung gelangten Methoden eingegangen !"(in WasserWirtschaft, 2008, Vol. 98, Issue 10, S. 58)