Outdoor Recreation and Participative Democracy in England and Wales

Abstract

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 places a duty on highways and national park authorities to establish local access forums (LAFs), to advise on the improvement of public access to land for the purposes of open air recreation and enjoyment. This paper examines these proposals in the context of recent academic and political debates about deliberative democracy, and empirical research on the nature and practice of existing access liaison groups and forums. While demonstrating that the proposed LAFs are consistent with contemporary constructs of participative, if not deliberative democracy, the paper argues that most existing groups and forums fall short of this ideal, in a number of significant respects. The paper proceeds to discuss the extent to which the draft regulations for LAFs in England and Wales address these issues, and concludes by questioning the extent to which such consultative arrangements can contribute to new forms of local governance.

Aligning community-based water monitoring program designs with goals for enhanced environmental management

“…In this study, and others, increased local level participation in environmental monitoring was found to help influence local government decision-making [Danielsen et al, 2010] indicating the value of community volunteer engagement in integrated and basic monitoring designs. However, there are few studies that are able to make a direct link between public participation and improved decision-making [Ravenscroft, Curry and Markwell, 2002]. Decision-making is theorized to be a highly analytical process but is often strongly influenced by individual and societal concerns [Pollard et al, 2008] in addition to competing political forces, power relations, costs, and other factors [Colfer, 2008].…”

Conservation Implications

“…Brown & MacLeod (1996) discuss the need for accurate and relevant information for policy decision-making and Jamal and Eyre's (2003) work also exhibits the need for an educated and informed public. Innes and Booher (forthcoming) argue for individual and community capacity as Ravenscroft, Curry and Markwell (2002) mark this as a shift toward participatory democracy.…”

“…In other words, the role of government and society is changing from the managerial approach of government agencies assurance that they are working in the public's best interest (accountability) to the society's active participation in the development of policy. This public participation is also known as participative or deliberative democracy (Ravenscroft, Curry and Markwell 2002). These ideas are reflected in the passage of the Negotiated Rulemaking Act in 1990, granting agencies to use formal negotiations with interest groups to "temper the confrontational politics that typify environmental policy", "keep government accountable", "help agencies make good decisions", "help resolve long-standing problems of conflict and mistrust", and "build capacity for solving the wicked problems of the future" to facilitate rulemaking (Beierle and Cayford 2002, p. 5).…”

Education and sustainable development: a political analysis

“…Ravenscroft et al (2002) examined approaches to active citizenship through participation in public forums in England and Wales, in this case in relation to outdoor recreation. We might expect to find active citizenship and participation among the social goals of any drive towards sustainable development.…”