The authors developed a collaboration between researchers and practitioners from the US, France and Australia emerging from conversations in Melbourne and Brisbane in 2023 to share ideas resulting in four key “ingredients” for effective waterway management 1) a strategic planning framework, 2) collaborative research models, 3) innovative planning and spatial tools, and 4) engagement practices for meaningful collaboration.
The focus of this presentation is on engagement which means involving the people who live near, use, or care about a waterway in the decisions that affect it. Successful waterway management relies on a reciprocal relationship between the local manager and the community over time. This approach creates mutual responsibilities, which facilitates trust and motivates collective action to manage waterways by influencing social norms and individual decision-making. Community engagement processes are structured ways to involve project proponents and stakeholders who are leading, affected by, or interested in a project. This presentation will describe a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to community engagement. Through three real-world case studies from Australia and the United States, we will highlight specific principles of the CBPR approach and provide and practical examples to empower waterway managers to build community support to underpin effective co-design and co-delivery of waterway management strategies.