Abstract. The dialogue among the decision makers and stakeholders is a crucial part of any decision-making processes, particularly in case of integrated transportation planning and planning of green infrastructure where a multitude of actors is present. Although the theory of public participation is well-developed after several decades of research, there is still a lack of practical guidelines due to the specificity of public participation challenges. The paper presents a model of public participation for integrated transport and green infrastructure planning for international project TRANSGREEN covering the area of five European countries -Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary and Romania. The challenge of the project is to coordinate the efforts of public actors and NGOs in international environment in oftentimes precarious projects of transport infrastructure building and developing of green infrastructure. The project aims at developing and environmentally-friendly and safe international transport network. The proposed public participation procedure consists of five main steps -spread of information (passive), collection of information (consultation), intermediate discussion, engagement and partnership (empowerment). The initial spread of information is a process of communicating with the stakeholders, informing and educating them and it is based on their willingness to be informed. The methods used in this stage are public displays, newsletters or press releases. The second step of consultation is based on transacting the opinions of stakeholders to the decision makers. Pools, surveys, public hearings or written responses are examples of the multitude of ways to achieve this objective and the main principle of openness of stakeholders. The third step is intermediate discussion where all sides of are invited to a dialogue using the tools such as public meetings, workshops or urban walks. The fourth step is an engagement based on humble negotiation, arbitration and mediation. The collaborative skill needed here is dealing with conflicts. The final step in the procedure is partnership and empowerment employing methods as multi-actor decision making, voting or referenda. The leading principle is cooperation. In this ultimate step, the stakeholders are becoming decision makers themselves and the success factor here is continuous evaluation.
A strategy represents a plan of actions designed to achieve a long-term vision, mission and related goals according to a generic definition. Regardless of the quality of a strategy, it is still the only plan or framework that needs to be implemented. For reaching the genuine effects and qualities incorporated within the objectives of the strategy, a wide set of integrative tools needs to be considered. Especially, when we are talking about the integrative strategy not only from a territorial point of view but also content, sources, challenges, time or multilevel integration. The strategy for the integrated governance system of historical built areas (later also as HBA) in Central Europe is precisely this type of integrative strategy. The paper is focused on the provision of an overview of available integrative spatial planning tools (socio-economic, land-use, land-scape planning tools) which have the potential to support or realise implementation of the goals. Spatial planning offers wide range of integrative approaches and tools supporting the participation of all groups of stakeholders, which is also a key aspect of successful implementation of this kind of strategies. The article demonstrates this approach on best practice from the city of Poprad (Slovakia) where historical built areas (HBAs) are important parts of the city and the strategy for the integrated governance system of HBA in Central Europe covering also this city. The paper, in particular, summarizes the preliminary outputs of international project BhENEFIT supported by Interreg Central Europe Programme. The project is focused on improving sustainable management approaches of historic built areas and looking for novel solutions improving decision-making and managing processes efficiently, through a strategy-based approach and effective monitoring and assessing, risk prevention, environmental sustainability, conservation and re-use.
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