The Role of Information in Public Participation

Abstract

A large body of scientific literature on public participation research evaluates specific methods, describes outcomes and impacts of a process or deals with participants' and officials' expectations. Yet, there is surprisingly little work on a key part of most participatory processes that deal with complex issues: the information passed to participants. Topics like Global Warming cannot be grasped easily. Even if global warming is happening very quickly on a geological time scale, for human beings it is not easily perceivable. Such a discrepancy between everyday experiences and scientific knowledge can influence one's opinion tremendously. Therefore, providing sound information and respecting the power of information is essential for meaningful outcomes of participatory processes. In this paper we examine different communication and information pathways within participatory processes. As the main object of interest, we analyzed 'World Wide Views on Global Warming'. In this distinct process of information and deliberation, citizens formulated recommendations for the decision makers of the 2009 UN climate summit in Copenhagen and voted on different aspects of how to deal with global warming. Results from this process connected to insights from a literature review, contribute to a refined picture of the role information plays within participatory processes and social learning.

User-Generated Gestures for Voting and Commenting on Immersive Displays in Urban Planning

“…Planners have also published a vast number of theories, models and case studies in recent decades [33,34]. Fostering high-quality information flow among citizens and other stakeholders is one essential part of achieving a successful public participation [27,35].…”

Strategies and Frameworks for Effective Stakeholders Engagement for Water Governance Leadership: A Review

“…Literature describes three types of knowledge: “Cognitive” which is based on the technical expertise and generated by individuals, “Experiential” which is based on common sense and experience and generated by individuals, and “Value‐based” (also known as political/social knowledge) which is based on perceptions of social values and derived from social interests (Glicken 2000). Further, knowledge for stakeholder engagement can be categorized into three key aspects (Gudowsky & Bechtold 2013; Pahl‐Wostl, Mostert & Tabara 2008): (a) systems knowledge: questions about the genesis and possible further development of a problem; (b) target knowledge: questions related to determining and explaining the need for change, desired goals, and better practices; (c) transformation knowledge: questions about technical, social, legal, cultural, and other possible means of acting that aim to transform existing practices and introduce desired ones.…”

“…In the sphere of spatial information this includes data and experts, method and quality of delivery (accessibility, readability, and digestibility), and time availability for stakeholder learning with provided data through discussions and debates (Gudowsky & Bechtold 2013). Mwenda, Bregt & Ligtenberg (2013) emphasize the need to consider legislative, administrative, institutional, and procedural frameworks if the spatial information is expected to be part of the engagement process.…”

“…The sustainability of water use is intrinsically linked to water policy, governance, and leadership in a number of ways and it has drawn attention from various use sectors across the world with the significant environmental and political issues created at the national and transboundary levels (Erdogan 2013; Gudowsky & Bechtold 2013; Rogers and Hall 2003; Webb, Burgin & Maheshwari 2009). There is an important role for water policy and governance leadership in achieving sustainable water systems which is defined as “water systems that are managed to satisfy changing demands placed on them (both human and environmental) now and into the future, whilst maintaining ecological and environmental integrity of water systems” (ASCE/UNESCO as cited in Pearson et al 2010).…”

Supporting Public Participation through Interactive Immersive Public Displays

“…Citizens usually acquire knowledge about planning projects from information in situated scene with certain circumstances (Healy, 2009). Fostering high-quality information flow among citizens and other stakeholders is one essential part to achieve a successful public participation (Rowe and Frewer, 2005;Gudowsky and Bechtold, 2013). The scoping of this thesis focuses on citizen participation in Germany, which is a typical example of democratic countries.…”