Universities CoUnCil on Water resoUrCes JoUrnal of Contemporary Water researCh & edUCation

issUe 145, pages 61-64, aUgUst 2010

International Cooperation and Water Resources Management: Hydrophilanthropy, Sustainable

Development, and Sustainable co-DevelopmentJean Fried

UNESCO, IHP, Paris, France Department of Planning, Policy, and Design, University of California, Irvine, CA

Hydro Humanity and Hydrophilanthropy have been defined as follows: Hydro Humanity is to express kindness or

benevolence by helping people meet their water, sanitation, and related needs; Hydrophilanthropy is to express altruistic concern for the water, sanitation, and related needs of humankind, as manifested by donations of work, money, or property (Campana 2007). These concepts are particularly relevant in international cooperation for the setting and implementation of water management policies, which constitutes the domain of study of this paper.

Both concepts are generous and express trust in mankind, but their practical implementation is difficult, as nothing is purely free and the quest for benefits and short-term advantages is a normal human feature. Besides, although water is a basic human and ecological necessity, it has been recognized as an economic good, meaning it has to be managed according to economic rules, which creates another difficulty.

To answer both difficulties in a practical manner, I propose a system based on the introduction of sustainable development principles and ethics in the context of international cooperation, or sustainable co-development, defining the principles and practical guidelines of sustainable co-development, and discussing its ethical dimensions and practical values. In my mind, it will be a way of implementing hydro humanity and philanthropy in practice, therefore constructively complementing these concepts.

From Sustainable Development to Sustainable co-Development

Sustainable development was officially introduced in 1987 at the United Nations by the Brundtland Commission as “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

However, sustainable development has been

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Abstract: The paradigm of sustainable development as a strategy of dialogue and communication is of growing interest in the context of international cooperation, in a world of economic, environmental, and societal and demographic interdependence. After a brief discussion of the complexity of the concept of sustainable development, contributing to the difficulty of an operational definition, we introduce sustainable co-development as an operational set of principles and tools for the practical implementation of sustainable development policies in international cooperation, based on mutual trust, shared responsibilities and mutual benefits. Taking history and culture of all partners into account as a facilitator of mutual trust and promoting the role of civil society to increase the sense of responsibility of the partners, sustainable co-development introduces ethical values in economic relationships, combining the generosity of hydro-humanity and hydro-philanthropy and the search for mutual benefits, which is a good condition of sound international cooperation.Keywords: Sustainable co-Development, mutual trust, mutual benefits

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interpreted in a variety of ways yielding many different definitions, therefore adding to the complexity and fuzziness of the concept.

It is complex because development is a complex process depending on a whole set of parameters, such as, among others, progress realized in the various economic sectors, quantity and quality of services, employment and working conditions, levels and distribution of revenues, lodging, food, sanitary conditions and healthcare, access to education and culture, science and techniques. Hence the definitions of development as given by professional economists are rather complex, usually depending on the political systems the economist believes in. Each society will also have an intuitive idea of development depending on its social conditions and cultural habits, its immediate and longer term needs, and, more generally, its conception of life: for instance, some people will understand development as giving them access to a job as a garbage collector in Paris, 5000 miles from home, while, for others, it will be the possibility of buying a car and a country house. And for many, it will just mean to be able to have something to eat for the next day.

The concept of sustainability is also fuzzy. Does it mean “long term”? The long term of a dam is not the long term of a computer. Does it mean “adequate management of resources”? A renewable resource like water or a forest will not be adequately managed in the same way as a non-renewable resource like oil. In addition, cultural and linguistic differences add to the fuzziness. For instance, in French we use two different words for “sustainable,” “soutenable” (which can be supported) and “durable” (which can last long), which gives way to different interpretations.

In 1991-92, at the initiative of the European Commission (the executive body of the European Union), a European Commission Expert Group prepared the 1992 Euromediterranean ministerial conference on the sustainable development of the Mediterranean Basin in Cairo. The Expert Group proposed the following operational definition:

Sustainable development is an economic development on the long term through a better definition of the relationships between Civil Society and Public Authorities, the research of adequate institutional, legal, administrative and financial structures and

the direct participation of the citizen to his/her development by public debates and active citizenship (European Commission 1992).

The participating countries accepted this definition, as a complement of the already accepted Brundlandt’s definition, which had emphasized the interaction between the economic, environmental and societal dimensions of development and the responsibility of present generations towards future generations. They stressed two particular aspects of the concept, the long-term dimension and the participation of the population in its own development.

Since then, sustainable development has become familiar and an almost inevitable part of many political declarations. Besides, another dimension has appeared, the international dimension, based on the fact that countries and regions are strongly interdependent, economically, environmentally and even demographically; international cooperation can, therefore, be a significant facilitator of their sustainable development. We have studied sustainable development through international cooperation and proposed its principles and implementation guidelines under the name of “sustainable co-development.”

Sustainable co-development aims at setting new relationships between regions, populations and countries emphasizing the ethical and cultural dimensions of sustainable development more than the purely commercial aspects of international exchanges. Sustainable co-development strongly emphasises capacity building in each partner country on the one hand, and, on the other hand, culture as both a factor of confidence building and a component of creative economy (Fried 2001; Fried 2007).

Sustainable co-Development and its Operational Principles

Sustainable co-development is defined as “an approach of international cooperation for economic sustainable development with shared responsibilities and mutual benefits, based on international solidarity and mutual trust.” (Fried 2002).

Sustainable co-development aims at identifying and making the most efficient use of each partner’s competences, knowledge, experience, and know-how in a global approach integrating all dimensions,

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especially the historic and cultural dimensions of each partner population, and replacing the rather traditional mentality of “assistant-assisted” by making each partner assume its political and financial responsibilities.

Sustainable co-development is based on the following operational principles:

1. To study, understand and take into account the culture, the history, the social environment, and the physical environment of each partner population in order (a) to better understand its political, institutional, administrative and social characteristics, (b) to have better access to the collective preferences of the partner populations i.e. their real needs and priorities and hence to set the objectives of each cooperative development project with better accuracy, and (c) to stimulate the setting of mutual trust. In particular, since the Rio+10 World Summit in Johannesburg, culture has been recognized as the fourth pillar of sustainable development along the environmental, economic and social pillars. But to understand the interaction between culture and economy is still a major challenge and it has become a significant theme of research for us.

2. To ensure that the partners assume their responsibilities in any cooperative development project by mobilizing their financial, natural and human resources in order to get rid of the mentality of “assistant-assisted.”

3. To identify the competences, experience and know-how of each partner which could be used in any cooperative development project for better efficiency and better adaptation to the specific characteristics of the partners, including scientific and technical cooperation and exchanges, for mutual benefits as implied by the prefix “co”; and

4. To stimulate long-term actions, by supporting them with political, economic, and financial instruments available on the long term and a systematic follow-up and regular evaluation, to account for the possible evolutions over time of the action assumptions and hence to be able to adapt it to these evolutions.

Sustainable co-development will use the following

tools (Baktiari and Fried, 2005; Fried 2001; Fried 2007):

1. Education and training, both fundamental and professional;

2. Public awareness raising to foster public participation;

3. Information exchanges; and

4. A strong and permanent political will (this is most difficult, as political interests usually vary on the short term).

Sustainable co-Development and EthicsMutual trust is the necessary ingredient of

long-term cooperation, which involves an ethical approach that will be based on the following aspects:

1. Replacing classical commercial relationships based on short-term interests by cooperation with mutual benefits, which may need the assistance of the public authorities of the cooperating countries;

2. Introducing the interactions of history and culture with economic development, for a better understanding of the real needs of the populations whose development is looked for; and

3. Giving civil society a significant role in defining its development, which will contribute to introducing democratic principles in international cooperation.

ConclusionCombining sustainable development and its ethical values to methodological guidelines for its practical implementation in international cooperation for development, sustainable co-development appears as an operational complement to hydro humanity and philanthropy. It stimulates cooperation in a practical way by combining the fundamental generosity of hydro humanity and philanthropy and their ethical aspects and the search for mutual benefits, both moral and financial, which is the necessary incentive of a sound international cooperation on the long term.

Actually, even if its terminology is not yet

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popular and its teaching not systematic, sustainable co-development is now being used by many international institutions, such as UNESCO-IHP (International Hydrological Programme), which are including some or even most of its principles in the rules guiding the approval and financing of a project.

Author Bio and Contact Information

Jean Fried is is a Senior Consultant at UNESCO and a Project Scientist at the Department of Planning, Policy and Design of the School of Social Ecology at the University of California, Irvine. He was a tenured Professor of Fluid Mechanics at the Université Louis Pasteur Strasbourg 1, France, now retired, from 1973 to 2006, and, from 1976 to 1996, an Expert-Consultant for water and sustainable development at the European Commission (the governing institution of the European Union). Jean Fried has developed an expertise in water sustainable management, with an emphasis on ground water issues, and the communication between science, legislation and policy-making. He can be contacted at the University of California, Irvine, Department of Planning, Policy and Design, School of Social Ecology, 320B Social Ecology I, Irvine, CA 92697-7075. E-mail: jfried@uci.edu.

ReferencesBaktiari, B. and J. Fried. 2005. Sustainable development:

a strategy of dialogue and communication. Environmental Policy and Law 184: 184-188.

Campana, M. 2007. Hydrohumanity: Quo Vadis? Annual Meeting Geological Society of America, Denver, CO, October 28–31, 2007, Paper no. 194-2.

European Commission. 1992. Non-published preparatory policy document, Second Ministerial Conference on Euro-Mediterranean Cooperation on the Environment in the Mediterranean Basin, Cairo, 28-30 April 1992.

Fried, J. 2007. International water problems and sustainable co-development: A Central Asian example. 3rd International Symposium on Transboundary Waters Management. Universidad de Castilla La Mancha, Ciudad Real, Espagne, juin Gonzalez, J. (Editor) 2007, III TWM – Transboundary Waters Management, ADI, Madrid.

Fried, J. 2002. Séminaire International sur le co-développement durable de l’Océean Indien , la Réunion ; Juillet 2002.

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Fried, J. 2001. Développement et co-développement durable : outil programmatique et mode d’action. XIXèmes rencontres universitaires de Génie Civil, COSS 2001, Université Lille 1, Lille-Villeneuve d’Ascq, May 2001.