Public Participation in Water Management of Krivaja River, Serbia: Understanding the Problem through Grounded Theory Methodology

Water resources are under increased pressure in almost all parts of the world. In such circumstances, it is also common to have conflicts between different water sectors (for instance, tourism vs. environmental use; municipal and industrial supply vs. agricultural water use, etc.), and interest groups. In most cases, related problems could be efficiently solved through public participation and the involvement of stakeholders. Traditional public participation in water management is mostly focused on problem-solving, rather than on other important contexts such as: stakeholders’ understanding of the problem; motivation (willingness) to participate; preferences; understanding the solving methodology; and expectations that the participatory process will lead to the desired solution(s). An approach that has been proven to successfully take into account most of these concerns in managing water-related participatory problems is known as Grounded Theory Methodology (GTM). In this paper, the authors use GTM to analyse data collected within the previous study of stakeholders’ selection and prioritization in managing the water resources of the Krivaja River basin in Serbia. Extensive data sets include detailed information about stakeholders, a description of the catchment characteristics, and the perception of public participation provided by questionnaires distributed and collected within a six-month period. The results obtained by GTM show that there are more similarities with results obtained in developing countries in terms of the distinction between official and non-official attitudes and views, the objectives of PP and the justification for introducing PP.