As this book demonstrates, it is essential to involve stakeholders in assessments of hydropower development. The author targets policy formation after the UNCED and UNSSD conventions. By drawing on some dozen project cases, the author shows how policy changes have gradually influenced project design and implementation. Readers gain new insights into the reality behind hydropower policy changes as they have evolved over the last decade.

Zusammenfassung
This book concerns footprints of the international environmental conventions in action. Hydropower projects have been selected as test case. The study is based on participatory research into a number of cases where implementation needs to meet new data requirements made by policy makers. It is not about ?ndings on - dropower in studies, whether consultancies or other kind. Results in the various - ports are accordinglynot presented here other than to sometimes illustrate how they re?ect on sustainable development. The locations of projects are not even given by maps since the purpose is to see how response to changes in environmental policy may give rise to changes in methodologies. The main issue is abstract in this sense, withfocusonhowsustainabledevelopmentmaybeimplemented,usinghydropower as an example. The global environmental conventions are seen in this study as drivers and the activities re?ected on are just that; re?ections that seek to respond and lift policy into implementation style. The purpose when making references to a speci?c set of studies is not to look for their results but for design; how experience is brought into policy formulation to supervise the evaluator in turn to respond with new types of information for project implementation. The study is requested by Sida, the Swedish International Development Agency.

Inhalt
Sustainable Development Issues in Hydropower Planning.- Social Catchments of Hydropower.- Hydropower and Regional Development for Poverty Reduction.- Decentralisation and a Rights Approach in Hydropower Development.- Hydropower Implementation Performance for Sustainable Development.