ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes water management policy in Italy over the past 20 years and reviews its evolution in light of the recommendations provided by strategic foresight literature and public value theory. Both advocate a decision-making model that is:
pragmatic and evidence-based rather than ideological. This shift is well described by the public governance paradigm – of which public value is a part – which replaced new public management.
oriented to the long term. Capacity and sustainability take priority over a limited focus on immediate cost savings.
participatory and network-based, as public value is not created solely by the public sector but is the result of complex interactions among several public, private, and non-profit actors.
The Italian political debate over the provision of water service has been dominated by the struggle between supporters of privatization, who believe that private sector participation in the provision of water services and sanitation would improve water quality and efficiency and offer lower costs for users, and supporters of public water systems, who see water resource management as a key public service and believe that it should not be privatized.