Module 1:
Multi-Sectoral Cooperation

Purpose

Objectives

• an understanding of the benefits and obstacles of multi-sectoral approaches to environmental problemsolving;

• an awareness of the similarities and differences between the missions and priorities of different sectors of society in relation to environmental issues;

• an awareness of the respective motivations of governmental officials, businesses and NGOs regarding public participation in environmental decisionmaking.

Contents: Multi-Sectoral Cooperation

Exercise: One and All

Exercise 1: One
  In the space below, draw your vision of an ideal environment. You have two minutes to complete this task. How similar is your drawing to that of others'?

Exercise 2: All
  Place a larger piece of paper on the floor. All together as a group draw one picture of the group's vision of an ideal environment. You must all hold the same pen at the same time and agree on what to draw together. Everyone must agree. You also have only two minutes to complete this task. What was the difference in this process with the first? How much of your first drawing is reflected in the groups'?

Worksheet: Defining the Sectors

How often do you work with individuals or institutions from other sectors? Between which sectors is there generally strong or weak cooperation in your community/country? Why?

Discussion: Sector Motivations

Worksheet: Perceptions Matrix

• How similar are your perceptions of yourself to others' perceptions of you?
• How similar or accurate are the sectors' perceptions of one another?

Worksheet: Examples of Multi-Sectoral Cooperation

Worksheet: Benefits/Costs of Multi-Sectoral Cooperation

Role Play Exercise: Introduction

1. Read the background information about the case.

2. There are 7 individual roles available. Distribute the roles among the group. Those who do not have specific roles should share the role to act as "Local Citizens."

   Roles:

   • Mr./Ms. Major, Mayor of Purety
   • Mr./Ms. Rich, The Investor
   • Mr./Ms. Smarts, The Local REI Expert
   • Mr./Ms. Hope, EIA Team Leader
   • Mr./Ms. Moneybags, a Local Businessperson
   • Mr./Ms. Times, a journalist
   • Mr./Ms. Green, a local NGO representative

   • Local Citizens

3. Get the written description of your individual role from the workshop trainer/facilitator.

   Acting within your role, develop a solution to the problem as a group. Don't forget that there is a serious toxic waste problem that must be managed and solved in some way. You may develop a cost-benefit analysis of several proposed solutions, but you must come to a group consensus on only one solution. You must answer all of the questions on page 14.

4. Choose a group rapporteur to report on the group's work after you have come to a solution.

Role Play Exercise: Background Information

Plans are underway to build a depository for industrial toxic wastes in the town of Purety. The depository is to be located on the edge of the town in a valley near the Big White River.

A large private company is the primary investor of the project. The company needs the depository to store the toxic wastes of its cleaning and recycling station.

Several other business persons in Purity also have recycling stations and are interested in the project. The wastes of these stations is currently stored at the town waste depository which is nearly full to capacity. In addition, the waste from these plants has been classified as "toxic and dangerous industrial waste." The waste contains heavy metals, organic solvents, bio-organic materials and solids, and other types of carcinogens.

The local community has objected to any further dumping of these wastes in the town depository. Following the community's objection to further dumping of toxic wastes in the town depository, the investor asked the community to determine a location for a new toxic waste depository. The investor prefered the location in the valley near the river since it would reduce the transport costs necessary to dump waste.

The chief of the environmental division in the local community organized a meeting with representatives and experts of the local regulatory and Regional Environmental Inspectorate (REI). The participants in the meeting produced a "protocol" in which they indicated the valley location as the place for the new waste depository. One of them however, the expert from the REI, signed the protocol with a "special decenting opinion."

The protocol prescribed that a preliminary environmental impact assessment (EIA) report was required in the valley area in which the depository construction was planned. The investor hired a team of engineers to conduct the EIA study. The EIA team leader asked a hydro-geologist and a toxicologist to join the team.

The report produced by the engineers contained nothing that disturbed the public. However, the report findings of the hydrogeologist indicated that the proposed site in the valley is a carstic zone containing water-rich layers deep in the ground. The toxicologist pointed out that this zone is a "wet zone."

A toxic contamination of the soil and of the ground was certain if the depository would be constructed. Next to the wet zone was the ground water layers, the drinking water source for the town of Purety. The toxicologist concluded that the project provided a high environmental risk.

The EIA team leader seemed a bit disappointed with the results. He and the investor both had different expectations. He did include these materials in the report, however, he put down a final general conclusion: "There is a certain ecological risk, which could be avoided through technical methods, such as..." and listed several methods. He failed to mention the huge cost of these methods which would multiply several times the cost of the project expenditure.

The investor asked the local REI expert to issue a final decision on EIA act on the basis of this preliminary report. The REI sent the report to the next higher authority, the Ministry of Environment (MoE) which approved the report and gave a final decision on the EIA. The MoE decided that a final EIA report should be made on the project.

Role Play Exercise: Role Descriptions