Modelli partecipativi nella gestione delle risorse idriche: Italia e Brasile a confronto

Participatory models in water resources management: Italy and Brazil compared -
The article analyses water governance in Italy and Brazil, focusing on the interplay between
common regulatory principles and divergent institutional frameworks. Both countries have
embraced integrated basin management, participation, subsidiarity, and sustainability, but
with distinct legal and administrative translations. In Brazil, the 1997 Water Law established
the Comitês de Bacia Hidrográfica (River Basin Committees, CBH) as tripartite deliberative
bodies with representation of public authorities, users, and civil society. In Italy, the Contratti
di Fiume (River Contracts, CdF) developed as voluntary and experimental instruments of
multi-level cooperation, later recognised in national legislation. The comparison highlights
Brazil’s institutional stability, but at the risk of bureaucratisation, and Italy’s local flexibility,
yet coupled with fragmentation. Participation emerges as the central condition for effective
water policies, suggesting possible complementarity between voluntary and institutionalised
models.