Developing a Simple System for Conflict Management of Public Involvement

Abstract

Although commercially taught systems are effective for managing conflict that arises during public involvement in transportation projects, these systems can be costly and complex. They appear more appropriate for those who can use them frequently. The work described here, by contrast, was focused on finding simple methods for managing less challenging projects and was aimed toward those who may use public involvement only occasionally. The conflict management framework is derived from a distillation of expert opinion, based on discussions of specific projects by Minnesota transportation experts on public involvement. They were interviewed with a standard set of questions about the project, the public involvement process, the reasons for conflict, how the conflict was managed, what worked, and what did not. The interviews encompassed a variety of project types and settings. The framework has two components. The first is a simple organizational scheme for categorizing conflict to assist in determining the appropriate management strategy. The second is the management strategies themselves. An overview of the key elements of these components is given.

A Decision Support Framework for Assessing the Contextual Factors for Complex Highway Projects

“…Research on large infrastructure projects has identified the general public as one of the most important stakeholders and a major factor in the success of the project ( 5 ), primarily because of the economic and social challenges they face ( 12 ). These issues can also give rise to secondary effects, such as changing the demographics of the population, business loss, and growth inducement which can lead to social inequity ( 5 , 13 ). When multiple jurisdictions are involved in a highway project, legislative issues have the ability to influence the progression of a project and are one of the major causes of increase in project scope ( 5 , 12 ).…”

Study on the Conflict Management Process Applied in the Construction of Integrated Transportation Hub Project

“…Conflict occurs whenever disagreements exist in a social situation over issues of substance or whenever emotional antagonisms create frictions between individuals or groups. Project conflict is opposition or friction caused by the disputes among different objectives and disharmony in the complicated interpersonal relationship [6]. Project conflicts have the common features of general conflict.…”