Reflections upon watershed "integrated" management in Buenos Aires. Social organization networks within environmental sanitation policies

Abstract

Integrated management is one of the guidelines of international organizations. Local management appeals to social participation, and socio-territorial organization networks call for greater influence on control processes for watershed sanitation in Buenos Aires. In any case, such ideas as (component) “integration” and (group and sector) “participation” are hovering which are not necessarily conceived exclusively by all of the social actors in play. Meanwhile water pollution control remains a grey area within management, in spite of newly created watershed authorities. Based on a network approach, this paper tracks documents issued by international organizations, interviews to local officials and members of territorial organizations and the views on “integrated management” and “participation” in connection with degraded metropolitan watersheds.