The value of combining a systems view of sustainability with a participatory protocol for ecologically informed design in river basins

This research examines the emerging role of 'planning for sustainability' in the context of river catchment management. The overall aim is to test the SuNstainable Pathways Design process, with a view to developing a tool kit that encourages stakeholder participation in integrated catchment planning. The recently enacted European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD) offers an unparalleled opportunity for improving the way that river basins are managed. ‘End-of-pipe’ solutions will not deliver sufficient improvements to achieve the ambitious goals set by the Directive. Ecological design is essential to achieve these goals. In catchment management there is a plethora of data, but a scarcity of useful information. Sustainable management of water requires integration, recognising interconnections between systems operating at different levels of scale, and the dynamic nature of interactions in a complex environment. This is an endeavour in which systems thinking could provide useful tools. Systems orientated models have the following advantages: they provide a foundation for education, facilitate dialogue, are comprehensive and complementary, have a tendency to increase upstream thinking and creativity, facilitate work across scales and sectors and increase focus on the ‘whole picture’. Decision Support Systems could be enhanced by being organised around the framework of sustainability criteria, based on systems thinking. Pathways Design is a conscious attempt to embed ‘new paradigm’ living systems metaphors into a useful tool for design and decision-making. The use of a commonly agreed framework for sustainability at the level of the entire Earth − The Natural Step model − forms a foundation for elaborating project and context specific criteria for sustainability. The next stage of this research will test the Pathways Design process in the context of waterside regeneration with the Mersey Basin Campaign, leading to an evaluation of its possible implications in helping to deliver the WFD.