Public Participation in a Sustainable Paradise - A Case Study of an Eco-Village Project in Pointe aux Piments, Mauritius

Abstract

As a way towards achieving sustainable development, an eco-village project with a focus on public participation was conducted by the Mauritian government in nine villages. Due to several constraints only one, the village of Pointe aux Piments, was still planned to be implemented. This study aims towards gaining knowledge about the concept of an eco-village and mainly on the role of public participation within this concept. This will be done by highlighting the interpretation made by the government, the way the project has been incorporated with the locals but also the locals´ view on the eco-village concept and what they felt has been important for the development of the village. The study uses a human geographical perspective to answer these questions and combines several methods such as a questionnaire, focus groups, interviews and literature studies to get a better understanding. The findings reveal an uncertainty of concept by the government due to the diffuseness on the interpretation of the eco-village concept. The projects focus mainly on the environmental dimension when speaking about sustainable development and on the need to inform and educate the public and by that hoping to empower them. The findings also reveal a lack of knowledge and awareness from the locals on the definitions of an eco-village and sustainable development but this does not imply that the locals do not know how to live in a sustainable way. Instead they tend to highlight the importance of other aspects such as safety, education and alternative jobs. Most of the locals did not feel that they were contributing to the development of the village and the ones that did feel it focused more on practical participation such as organizing sports events and not on information-based participation such as improving the quality of the decisions made. The findings finally reveal an importance of geography within the eco-village concept. First of all there is an importance of scale – larger projects such as the eco-village project in Pointe aux Piments tends to have difficulties empowering the public. Secondly there is an institutional importance – complex projects need to have a successful communication that includes cooperation between different sectors (horizontal links) and between different levels such as national to local (vertical links). There is also an importance of acknowledging differences and uniqueness of the place – every place has its own challenges and therefore needs its own solutions and differences within the village need to be recognized. Finally there is a spiritual importance in the eco-village concept that is highly spatial – a community belonging consists of a network of family, friends and neighbours that share the same value and interests. The eco-village as a concept wants the participants to make their own choices of commitment and together acquire a certain way of living. This does not seem to be the case in Pointe aux Piments and therefore another type of concept towards sustainability, that better fits the need of the village, is suggested.