Principle Of Public Participation Research Articles

Public participation and climate change adaptation: avoiding the illusion of inclusion

Public participation is commonly advocated in policy responses to climate change. Here we discuss prospects for inclusive approaches to adaptation, drawing particularly on studies of long-term coastal management in the UK and elsewhere. We affirm that public participation is an important normative goal in formulating response to climate change risks, but argue that its practice must learn from existing critiques of participatory processes in other contexts. Involving a wide range of stakeholders in decision-making presents fundamental challenges for climate policy, many of which are embedded in relations of power. In the case of anticipatory responses to climate change, these challenges are magnified because of the long-term and uncertain nature of the problem. Without due consideration of these issues, a tension between principles of public participation and anticipatory adaptation is likely to emerge and may result in an overly managed form of inclusion that is unlikely to satisfy either participatory or instrumental goals. Alternative, more narrowly instrumental, approaches to participation are more likely to succeed in this context, as long as the scope and limitations of public involvement are made explicit from the outset.

Public participation and climate change adaptation: avoiding the illusion of inclusion

Public participation is commonly advocated in policy responses to climate change. Here we discuss prospects for inclusive approaches to adaptation, drawing particularly on studies of long-term coastal management in the UK and elsewhere. We affirm that public participation is an important normative goal in formulating response to climate change risks, but argue that its practice must learn from existing critiques of participatory processes in other contexts. Involving a wide range of stakeholders in decision-making presents fundamental challenges for climate policy, many of which are embedded in relations of power. In the case of anticipatory responses to climate change, these challenges are magnified because of the long-term and uncertain nature of the problem. Without due consideration of these issues, a tension between principles of public participation and anticipatory adaptation is likely to emerge and may result in an overly managed form of inclusion that is unlikely to satisfy either participatory or instrumental goals. Alternative, more narrowly instrumental, approaches to participation are more likely to succeed in this context, as long as the scope and limitations of public involvement are made explicit from the outset.

Science and norms in policies for sustainable development: Assessing and managing risks of chemical substances and genetically modified organisms in the European Union

Use of chemical substances and genetically modified organisms cause complex problems characterised by scientific uncertainty and controversies. Aiming at sustainable development, policies for assessment, and management of risks in the two areas are under development in the European Union. The article points out that both science and norms play a central role in risk assessment as well as risk management and suggests that the precautionary principle, the principle of public participation, and the polluter pays principle, all adopted in the European Union, offer a way to operationalise the concept of sustainable development. It is shown, however, that a number of steps ought to be taken to better implement the principles through different policy measures. In doing so, and by recognising the role of both science and norms, the decision-making on risks related to the use of chemicals or genetically modified organisms can be improved to better promote sustainable development.

The World Commission on Dams: A fundamental step towards integrated water resources management and poverty reduction? A pilot case in the Lower Zambezi, Mozambique

The Cahora Bassa dam in the Lower Zambezi has undoubtedly brought varied economic benefits (such as hydroelectricity) to Mozambique. There is also, however, evidence of certain negative impacts that have increased the vulnerability of downstream populations. Specifically, current water management practices in the Zambezi have affected people’s livelihoods by the frequent unpredictable releases of water that wash away riverbank crops, impoverish fish stocks and fish habitat, and threaten the valuable shrimp exports. These releases have also worsened the effects of large floods, for example the floods of 2001. The ecosystem of the Zambezi delta, which is a Ramsar site, has also suffered since Cahora Bassa’s regulation. The Mozambican government is proposing to construct a new dam downstream of Cahora Bassa at Mphanda Nkuwa. In the feasibility study, there was no due consideration of rural downstream communities and their livelihoods. This has left many potentially affected people uninformed and vulnerable to the risks associated with the new development. The new dam is likely to worsen the already severe impacts of Cahora Bassa. The World Commission on Dams (WCD) developed seven strategic priorities, designed to inform all decisions related to future dam developments. These priorities follow principles of public participation, social equity, environmental sustainability, economic efficiency and accountability. The WCD proposed best-practice guidelines for both addressing existing dams and for any future ones which are planned. According to the WCD, affected communities have a right to participate in the decision to build a dam, they should be the first to benefit from the project, and the rivers on which their livelihoods are based should be protected. Stakeholder participation is one of the fundamental components of integrated water resources management (IWRM). For effective participation in dam projects, affected people need to be empowered, have access to information and adequate capacity. In this context JA!, a Mozambican environmental NGO, is undertaking a project to share WCD recommendations with affected people along the Zambezi River. JA! has adopted a “bottom-up” approach to ensure that the people’s interests are included in government projects. This approach could give Mozambique the power to safeguard the environment while sustaining peoples’ livelihoods.

Démocratie de proximité et protection de l'environnement : la participation du citoyen local. Loi n° 2002-276 du 27 février 2002 relative à la démocratie de proximité

The Act on local democracy has revived long-standing and deep-rooted arguments within republican institutions about the relationship between local autonomy and national unity, between representative and direct democracy. The recent Aarhus Convention and the European Directive on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment have also shaken up the national model by requiring the better application of the principle of public participation. This directly involves the citizen in local decision-making, sometimes in breach of the very concept of local administrative freedom. A close reading of the Act shows that although the overall framework seems to respond better to the international and European légal principles of participation, the coherence of the suite of measures that come under the heading « right to partipate » has a long way to go. The new measures are too dependent on the discretion of local authorities as regards public participation in general environmental matters and, although they are more precise and better enshrined concerning public consultation, this is less relevant because the field of application is too narrow. In sum, the measures are only a small step towards an essential reform of the way in which the citizen is taken into account through a broader devolution process. Mainly driven by the need to adapt to European law, the legislature still needs to develop a truly coherent regime covering ail forms of concertation between local authorities and individuals.

Public participation in neighbourhood change

The principle of public participation in decision-making by urban neighbourhood groups has been generally accepted by policy makers in the USA and Western Europe. In practice, however, the extent of public participation ranges from situations in which the concept has been actively incorporated into the urban policy and planning process to those in which planners and decision-makers pay only lip-service to the ideal. This paper examines recent evidence from Britain and North America and addresses the question of the extent to which residents can influence the character of their neighbourhoods. A range of possible strategies for public participation is reviewed, and an improved neighbourhood council model suggested as the most realistic means of achieving the goal of greater public participation in the process of neighbourhood change.

Simulation Models in the Architectural Design Process

Architectural design is a problem solving process and with the growing acceptance of the principle of public participation it has become, at least ideally, a more democratic process than in the past. An effective design process requires communication between the architect and the client to achieve optimal design solutions. The simulation of the ideas and intentions of both the architect and the client are a necessary part of that communication. Design by drawing has been the most common way to simulate design proposals, yet the public have difficulty in reading two dimensional representations of space. Facilities now exist for the three dimensional representation of space; in this article one such facility that permits the simulation of design proposals at full scale is described. An approach for the participation of the public in the design process is also given, and some reasons for the different ways sketches and models are read by the public are presented.