Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-xm8r8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-17T04:40:12.345Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Environmental Review: Characteristics of Collaborative Environmental Planning and Decision-Making Processes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2009

Michael R. Bauer  and
John Randolph
Michael R. Bauer
Affiliation:
National Wildlife Federation Everglades Program, Naples, FL
John Randolph*
Affiliation:
Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
*
Professor and Head, Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061; (fax) 540-231-3367; (e-mail) energy@vt.edu.
Get access

Abstract

In recognition of the limitations of strict, objective, instrumental decision making, government agencies, businesses, communities, and environmental groups are beginning to use concepts of participatory democracy and social learning in planning and decision-making processes. Information and power are shared among affected interests so that decisions can be reached that are supported by all parties to the process. This collaboration engages parties in mutual planning and decision making. Providing a forum for discussion that permits diverse points of view to be aired leads to joint problem solving. An open dialogue can demonstrate that opposing parties may actually share certain interests. In an effort to determine some characteristics and common threads in collaborative planning and decision making, this study examined 76 cases of environmental management described as involving overlapping or competing interests. Many of the reviewed case studies offered evidence that the following basic elements of collaboration were included: the establishment of a formal organization, the sharing of information among all participants, the open discussion of all matters by all participants, and the sharing of power among all participants. Organization formation (86% of the cases) and information sharing (80%) appear to be fundamental to collaborative planning and decision making. However, power sharing (65%) and open discussions (54%) were indicated in fewer cases and are likely to be more difficult to achieve.

Type
Features & Reviews
Information
Environmental Practice , Volume 2 , Issue 2 , June 2000 , pp. 156 - 165
Copyright
Copyright © National Association of Environmental Professionals 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Daniels, S. E., and Walker, G. B.. 1996. Collaborative Learning: Improving Public Deliberation in Ecosystem-Based Management Environmental Impact Assessment Review 16:71–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dryzek, J. S. 1990. Discursive Democracy: Politics, Policy, and Political Science. Cambridge University Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, B. 1989. Collaborating: Finding Common Ground for Multiparty Problems. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Healey, P. 1997. Collaborative Planning. Macmillan Press, Hampshire, England.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Randolph, J., and Bauer, M. R.. 1999. Improving Environmental Decision Making Through Collaborative Methods. Policy Studies Review 16 (3/4):168–191.Google Scholar
Reich, R. B. 1988. Policy Making in a Democracy. In The Power of Public Ideas, Reich, R. B., ed. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Selin, S., and Chavez, D.. 1995. Developing a Collaborative Model for Environmental Planning and Management. Environmental Management, 19(2):189–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
US Environmental Protection Agency. 1995. A Phase I Inventory of Current EPA Efforts to Protect Ecosystems. EPA841-S-95-001. Office of Water (4503F), US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC.Http://www.epa.gov/ecoplaces/index.html.Google Scholar
Walker, G. B., and Daniels, S. E.. 1996. The Clinton Administration, the Northwest Forest Conference, and managing conflict: when talk and structure collide. Society and Natural Resources 9:77–91.Google Scholar
Yaffee, S.L., Phillips, A. F., Frentz, I. C., Hardy, P. W., Maleki, S. M., and Thorpe, B. E.. 1996. Ecosystem Management in the United States. Island Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar