Dam planning and construction is notoriously difficult. It is highly complex, involving a multitude of social, environmental, economic and technological questions that often become politicised in the process; negative impacts are often concentrated on small, vulnerable groups within society, while the benefits are typically spread in a much more diffuse pattern; it requires changing riverine ecosystems, often irreversibly so; and it takes a very long time, with often harsh consequences if mistakes are made. These challenges have generated decades of debate around dams and development, yet it is not clear how dam planning and management can be improved. To address this question, the present study used Q methodology to analyse the views of social and environmental researchers on dams in Latin America on the principles that should guide dam development. The Q analysis rendered three idealised viewpoints: The first suggested that defending the rights of vulnerable people should be the main priority, as a counterbalance to the natural bias towards economically and politically powerful actors within the political economy of dam construction. The second implied adoption of a holistic and scientific vision towards dam decision-making and a focus of efforts on perfecting formal procedures and participatory processes to build better dams in the future. The third called into question the need for dams altogether and concentrated attention on invisible and overlooked aspects of dam decision-making, particularly past injustices, and the rights of indigenous communities to determine their own model of development. Each viewpoint represents an alternative vision for future dam planning and clarifies the choices available to policy-makers and development actors. Moreover, viewpoints give insights into the motivations of those who seek to inform debates on dams and development. While they were identified in the context of dam-decision making, our findings may also be relevant to other fields of sustainable development.

大坝的规划和建设非常困难。它非常复杂，涉及许多社会，环境，经济和技术问题，这些问题通常在此过程中被政治化；负面影响通常集中于社会中的弱势群体，而利益通常以更加分散的方式传播；它要求改变河流生态系统，通常是不可逆转的；而且要花很长时间，如果犯错，后果往往是严峻的。这些挑战已经引发了数十年围绕大坝与发展的争论，但是目前尚不清楚如何改善大坝的规划与管理。为了解决这个问题，本研究使用Q方法论来分析社会和环境研究人员对拉丁美洲大坝关于指导大坝发展的原则的看法。Q分析提出了三种理想的观点：第一种观点认为，捍卫弱势群体的权利应是主要优先事项，以抵消大坝建设政治经济中对经济和政治上有实力的行为者的自然偏见。第二个含义是采用对大坝决策的整体和科学愿景，并将工作重点放在完善正式程序和参与性程序上，以在将来建造更好的大坝。第三个问题质疑是否需要大坝，并将注意力集中在大坝决策的无形和被忽视的方面，特别是过去的不公正之处，以及土著社区确定自己的发展模式的权利。每个观点代表着对未来大坝规划的另一种看法，并阐明了决策者和发展参与者可以选择的方案。此外，观点为那些希望为有关水坝与发展的辩论提供信息的人们提供了见解。尽管它们是在大坝决策的背景下确定的，但我们的发现也可能与可持续发展的其他领域有关。