8ISA BAUD
The following figure indicates the ways in which the various activities are assumed to
relate to each other, based on previous research in India on inorganic waste (Huysman
and Baud, 1994) and on organic waste flows within and outside the city (Rosenberg
and Furedy, 1996). The main advantage is that the activities of the municipality are
shown in combination with methods of separation and sorting of waste fractions,
collection, trade and recycling of waste fractions carried out by other actors Figure 1.
indicates the activities of municipal and non-municipal actors in urban swm, incorpo-
rating the results of the research presented in this volume.
1.4. PARTNERSHIPS IN SWM: POTENTIALS AND LIABILITIES
New ideas about the relations between the local government and other actors in public
services initially focused largely on privatisation, but gradually have suggested a new
permanent role for the government as enabler of other actors, who should be the direct
providers of services (cf. Batley, 1996). From this has followed an intense interest in
the idea of ‘partnerships’, as an important method for providing services not only effi-
ciently and effectively (World Bank criteria), but also equitably. The discussion on
what constitute partnerships and under what pre-conditions partnerships function as
such, is a broad one, from which some points will be drawn which are necessary for
the discussion on urban SWM here. There are different levels of analysis for partner-
ships: politically as ‘institutions’ of governance; at the planning level as instruments
for public policy; sociologically as forms of social capital; and economically as ways
of reducing transaction costs.
In order to understand the way partnerships function, three dimensions need to be
taken into account: values, processes, and institutions (Pierre, 1998). The institutional
dimension refers to the regularised patterns of interaction between the actors involved.
The value dimension includes the broader system of norms, beliefs and objectives that
informs interaction, and process refers to the transactions taking place over time
between the actors A fourth dimension should be included in such models, as in the
end the quality and availability of urban services is the final criterion on which urban
inhabitants assess ‘partnerships’ in service provision (Baud and Post, 2002; Devas,
1999).
There are a number of definitions of partnerships pertaining to urban governance
(Devas, 1999; Peters, 1998; Baud et al., 2001; Baud and Post, 2002). Here we draw
out the main elements of such definitions, useful for our purpose. Peters has defined
partnerships as including at least two principal actors^7 , one of whom is public, with
more or less enduring relationships and continuing interaction, each contributing
resources, and with a shared responsibility for the outcomes of the activities. This last
- i.e. each partner is capable of bargaining on his or her own behalf.