Public Participation In Projects Research Articles

Barriers to Public Participation in Urban Green Infrastructure in China from Stakeholders’ and Residents’ Perspective, A Case Study in Yangzhou

Public participation has always played an important role in urban design and planning. Urban green infrastructure is a part of urban planning and design. This research uses a policy review and semi-structured interviews with residents and stakeholders. The findings suggest that the lack of public participation in urban green infrastructure projects is the result of a combination of both government and the general public. Residents have low interest in participating in urban green infrastructure due to social cultural, public competence and lack of community spirit. Stakeholders have tried to avoid public participation in projects due to limited participation methods and limited project timeline. Citizen participation can be increased through improved technical support, media advocacy and legislation and regulations.

Framework for public sector participation in public-private partnership projects in Nigeria

The establishment of an appropriate guide for the participants in the implementation of public-private partnership projects is considered very important to the success of the process. The objective of this study is to identify the factors required for successive management of public-private partnership projects and develop a framework that will guide public sector participants in order to create innovation in the process. A qualitative research approach was used through case study analysis and an extensive review of past studies to determine the parameters that are required for the success of public-private partnership projects. The practices and status in some selected countries were reviewed to understand the process and establish best practices from those experiences. Also, three local cases were analysed to determine the parameters responsible for success and failure of those projects. The framework developed was then validated through questionnaire survey using the experts on public-private partnership projects. This study produced a public-private partnership implementation framework for the public participants in the project delivery. This framework also proposed a new agency to audit the projects' implementation process.

The Public as a Subject of Study of Social Sciences

The article analyzes the definitions of the public as a subject of social sciences. The purpose of the paper is to operationalize the concept of the public for its practical application in the system of functioning of political institutions. The basis of the methodology is an instrumental approach. The methods used are comparative, legal analysis, description and generalization of data, a questionnaire survey of residents of a metropolitan Russian city to assess the potential of public activity in solving local issues. Various theories of domestic and foreign researchers focus their attention on particular aspects of the public. Representatives of the managerial approach formally divide the public into several groups: public organized structures (NGOs, professional community, etc.), acting on a permanent and legal basis, and active citizens acting situationally within a specific project to discuss it (interested citizens, expert councils, etc.). Within the framework of political theory, the public always focuses on a problem and forms through getting interested in a particular challenge. From the point of view of the law, the public is not designated as a concept but indirectly finds its expression in the legally established forms of realization of the right to local selfgovernment. In PR, the public is labile, dynamic and unstable to manipulation. The key characteristics of the concept under consideration, which is widely used in the Russian and foreign communication space, but not formed into a single definition, are highlighted. The author concludes that the public is heterogenic, dualistic, centred on a particular problem. The empirical study revealed a low level of public participation in projects associated with creating a comfortable urban environment. On the contrary, the level of willingness to get involved in other city problems is high.

Public participation in urban water supply projects – The case of South-West Guwahati, India

Piped water supply in Guwahati covers less than 30% of the city's population for which the Government of India proposes four new water supply projects, but astonishingly, they faced vehement public protest. The reason for the protest was attributed to lack of trust and need of public representation in the governing body. Besides, public participation is not a mandatory clause in water supply projects and, hence, was not carried out a priori to the project implementation. In an effort to address this, the present study aims to develop a framework incorporating public participation as a mandatory clause in water supply projects. In doing so, secondary data was collected from studies worldwide on public participation in water supply projects and analyzed to identify critical success factors (CSFs). South-West Guwahati water supply project was taken up as a study area, and a semi-structured questionnaire was designed to generate primary data on public participation. Thematic analysis was employed to identify the CSFs from primary data influencing public participation in the project. Finally, a framework was formulated following the identified CSFs from primary and secondary data and the review of various theories on public participation. The framework is developed to achieve effective public participation in six levels viz. inform, educate, consult, involve, collaborate, and capacity building. Each level satisfies a set of CSFs and ultimately all CSFs addresses to deemphasize the effects of disincentives in water supply projects. Further, the framework was validated by 16 experts and received an exceptionally copacetic rating for all six validation aspects. Copacetic expert ratings demonstrated appropriateness, objectivity, replicability, practicality, reliability, and suitability of framework for water supply projects.

ASSESSING COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

Since 2007 Government of Indonesia implementing mass National Community Empowerment Program, well-known as PNPM which is reaches thirty three provinces. This program has become an important development program for national as well as local and regional level across Indonesia. The program using bottom up approaches since it implemented based on fostering local community participation; strengthening local community organization with the ultimate goals is to reduce poverty at local level. The regulation and technical guidance affirmed by ministry and it is running by local community organization. The study goes to examine the research findings that the Indonesia CDD’s program is effective to enhance local participation. It also examines the extent to which research findings used to increase higher public participation on this project since the program focus on small scale infrastructure and mostly it has taken up uniform activity of the program agenda all over the countries. The program basically focus on building basic need infrastructure projects, such as, piping drinking water project, paving small roads at rural or paving narrow ‘labyrinth’ at dense urban area. However, hardly to find innovation program from the local governments since they have no adopted anything remotely near the ‘National Package’. Moreover, the quality of participation is still questionable. This study concludes with a discussion of the limits to evaluation and recommend stragies for promoting forther practice and methods of The Urban-Poverty Project public participation evaluation. Based on the literature study, this paper try to give contribution on an understanding of the successful of project implementation, in turn could be used to formulate future public partcipation project.
 Keywords: Empowerment, Poverty Reduction, Local Participation, Community Driven Development

An Analysis of the Factors Affecting Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessment: Case Study of Selected Projects in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Public Participation (PP) is an integral part in the EIA process and it is enshrined in the Constitution of Kenya. The overall objective of the study is to evaluate the factorsthat affect public participation in EIA process among selected projects in Nairobi City County. The specific objectives of the study were to evaluate how socio- economic, behavioral and political factors affect PP in EIA process. Two theories that were used in this study included OECD active participation framework and CLEAR participation model. The study adopted descriptive research design. The researcher targeted five projects from 53 on- going projects in Nairobi County. The population of the study included 105 respondents (100 participants and 5 project proponents). That is 20 respondents from each project. The researcher used questionnaires (participants) and interviews guides (project proponents) to collect data. Data collected was both quantitative and qualitative. The findings revealed that the level of education affects public participation in projects. Language used during meetings could either encourage/ discourage effective communication hence have an effect on participation. Employment status tend to affect how public participate in EIA process. The level of trust between the government and public tends to affect how the public will come out to participate in government projects when called upon. Politicians had an influence on public participation in government projects. The study recommends regularly awareness by National Environment Management Authority about EIA process and the public should change their attitude towards participation in government projects.

Assessing project approval procedures as formalised forms of public participation

Formalised public participation in project approval procedures is rarely addressed in technology assessment. Empirical data about public participation processes are taken into account even more rarely. This article explores the practice of public participation in infrastructure projects in the Federal Republic of Germany on the basis of empirical data from the period of 1990 to 2010. The author compares the empirical data about participation processes with the targets of the public participation and asks for the reasons for the lack of participation in formalised approval procedures. Furthermore, the author contrasts participation formats used in technology assessment with formalised public participation. In his conclusions, he advocates for a stronger combination of formalised and informal public participation in technology assessment.

Exploring CCS community acceptance and public participation from a human and social capital perspective

The delay or cancellation of energy infrastructure projects, such as wind farms and nuclear power plants and more recently carbon capture and storage (CCS) because of community resistance and poor public participation processes are well known. Yet, some communities accept these projects with relative ease. The term acceptance implies passivity and as such does not necessarily reflect community approval or support. If acceptance is passive, what are the characteristics of a community in which the acceptance of CCS is achieved with relative ease; and what best-practice public participation processes are most appropriate for it? This paper attempts to answer these questions through a case study of Australia's Otway Project. Qualitative research methods were used to conduct a human and social capital analysis of the Otway community. An assessment of the project's public participation process was made in light of that analysis. The study found that the community needed capacity-building to enable it to become well-informed about CCS; and to help it develop the negotiation skills necessary to have the proponent address its concerns about the project in a timely manner. An assessment of the Otway public participation process found that while it implemented the majority of best practice principles in public participation, it lacked an adherence to three: transparency, fairness and capacity. A mindfulness of all principles of best practice in public participation would have ensured a fairer and more transparent process.

Public hearings in Thailand's infrastructure projects: effective participations?

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to report the results of research on whether the public hearing in Thailand's infrastructure development projects can be an effective vehicle for the project's public participation and conflict resolution on projects.Design/methodology/approachThe performance of public hearing depends on factors such as the structure of the process, participation, management, and resource required by the process. A case study approach is used to assess the performance of public hearings conducted in infrastructure development projects in Thailand by examining the project stakeholders' attitude by means of questionnaire survey and interviews. Evaluation by hearing participants and their level of satisfaction are interpreted to derive the effectiveness of the hearings. The extent to which satisfaction effects on evaluation is also considered.FindingsIt is shown that the hearings had moderate to low effectiveness primarily because the participation and management performance aspects did not meet the participants' expectations. The relationships of evaluation and satisfaction indices were examined. The hearing participants focus both on the process and outcome of hearings.Originality/valueThe research reported the results of scientific assessment of public hearing performance, constituting a significant step towards understanding and implementation of public hearings in the Thai context as well as their influence on the efficiency and effectiveness of the project management concerning the stakeholder values.