Large dams : learning from the past, looking at the future. Workshop proceedings

These proceedings document the initial results of a joint initiative by IUCN and the World Bank to address, with key stakeholders, one of the most controversial issues in environment and development today. In April 1997, IUCN and the World Bank Group jointly hosted a two-day workshop in Gland, Switzerland to discuss the findings of an internal World Bank review of 50 large dams financed by the Bank. The workshop, which included representatives from governements, the private sector, international financial institutions and civil society organizations, broke new ground by setting in motion a process to establish a world commission on dams by November 1997 with a two year mandate to: review the development effectiveness of large dams, develop standards, criteria and guidelines to advise future decision making. The proceedings summarize the workshop discussion and contain a series of overview papers commissioned for the workshop on four key topics : engineering and economics, social and stakeholder issues, environmental sustainability, and future challenges facing the hydro industry.