Embracing integrated watershed revitalization in Suzhou, China: learning from global case studies

Abstract

Suzhou is China’s historic water town, and a sustainable approach to watershed revitalization is firmly on the agenda. The practice of integrated watershed management requires collaborative planning involving a significant number of stakeholders; no single organization can solve the problems of ecosystem management unilaterally. The changing social–political environment in China has led to the development of a new form of governance. China is in transition from the traditional government image of a regulator and a controller towards an enabler that facilitates provision and action by, and through, others. Global case studies show that sustainability issues are essential to tackling watershed ecosystem management by creating a win–win strategy for wider stakeholders. Viewed from an institutional perspective, the emergence of a new collaborative partnership model requires a different implementation process to tackle practical problems in the face of complex watershed agendas. Drawing upon global and China’s experiences, the paper concludes that some planning processes require government leadership continuity, while others need bottom–up approaches.

Special issue on comprehensive watershed management: sustainability, technology, and policy

“…The land selection process has not been transparent to the expected standard, and the purpose of land acquisition is unknown to local residents who are concerned about profit-seeking resales. Yamashita's research finding emphasizes the critical role of public participation and involvement in the administrative process, which is also simultaneously addressed in the first three papers presented in this Special Issue (see Kim and Batey 2020;Kim et al 2021;Nolf et al 2020). Yamashita concludes that the procedural practice in the planning process can resolve conflicts by building the appropriate degree of consensus among stakeholders.…”

“…To address reproducible and transferable approaches in the implementation of integrated watershed management practice, Kim et al (2021) investigate the usefulness of global case studies to empower integrated watershed revitalization in Suzhou, an historic city in China, located in the Yangtze River Delta. The paper by Kim et al conducts a comparative study with 12 worldwide watershed institutes using the previously identified Mersey Basin Campaign's delivery mechanism: consensus building, facilitation, and open participation.…”