Shared water policy in New Caledonia: Feedback on a system of policy co-construction and co-planning

Abstract

In March 2019, the Government of New Caledonia approved the framework for the country's first water policy. This policy, called the Shared Water Policy is the result of a broad consultation involving about 1 in 600 New Caledonians. Launched a year earlier, this consultation resulted in a document of nearly 200 pages that sets six strategic objectives and proposes 700 actions to be implemented. This article presents a retrospective of the consultation mechanism set up for the development of this policy. It focuses in particular on the proceedings of the process and on the planning support tools that were used, partly inspired by the co-planning mechanism, called COOPLAN (Co-construction and Co-planning of an action plan for water management). We analyze the feedback from participants and facilitators and discuss the limitations of the tools.