Governance and participation

Why?

Effective environmental decision-making requires an equitable
and inclusive system of consultation and planning

Improving engagement and governance requires:

• New activities and approaches to develop wider
  awareness of key issues
• Clearer understanding of the role of different
  ‘stakeholders’ in the decision-making process
• Adaptation of current schemes to better meet local
  and regional contexts

Policies, implementation schemes and management plans need local ‘buy-in’ to become successful ‘in the long-term’. A range of participation models and governance systems are being reviewed and appraised. These include spatial planning frameworks and visualisation techniques for the development of shared visions of the future, and to communicate complex issues.

Current projects

• Evaluation of Economic Incentives and Biodiversity in Rural Development
• Participation and Governance in Spatial Planning
• Investigation of how Stakeholder Experience, Value and Access Landscapes
• Landscape Perceptions and Preferences: relationship between Landscape and Identity
• Public Trade-offs and Landscape Values
• Developing and testing new tools for Participation

Outcomes

• Investigation of stakeholder perceptions,
  preferences and values of landscapes
• Evaluation of social networks and governance schemes,
  especially related to regional planning and
  National Park fora
• Exploration of future landscapes,including the role of
  the Virtual Landscape Theatre in promoting increased
  awareness of change
• Explanations of land manager relationships with
  landscape

Contacts

Prof. David Miller