Bert Enserink

Public participation in China: sustainable urbanization and governance

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to focus on the governance aspects of Chinas environmental policy making and the conditions for meaningful public participation in sustainable urbanization policy making. China is facing a big urbanization challenge. Rapid economic growth and inefficient use of natural resources lead to excessive pollution and rapid depletion of Chinas natural resources. Water scarcity, especially in the north‐eastern part of the country, already is a big problem. The Chinese government has formulated policies and legislation to protect the environment and to produce a more sustainable growth, but implementation is lagging. Moreover, rapid modernization of Chinese society also led to first experiments with the organization of public hearings on environmental issues. Design/methodology/approach – Literature is presented on governance and public participation in environmental policy making supplemented with material from case study research and expert meetings in China. Findings – The findings show the interrelatedness of environmental governance and public participation, which leads to policy recommendations for public participation in sustainable urbanization processes. Originality/value – This paper highlights the potential environmental gains through public participation in sustainable urbanization strategy policy in China.

Athletics in electronic brainstorming: asynchronous electronic brainstorming in very large groups

When very large groups have to brainstorm in smaller subgroups, meeting organizers have a choice between two options: (1) Let every subgroup start from scratch, or (2) Let every next subgroup build on the results from the previous subgroup. We refer to these options as the Decathlon and Relay modes of brainstorming respectively. During a case study we investigated which brainstorming mode would be move productive and result in higher levels of participant satisfaction. Consistent with the hypotheses, Relay groups appeared to be more productive than Decathlon groups, in particular in terms of elaborations to previous contributions. Relay groups were also found to be more satisfied. This study also introduced the elaboration coefficient, an indicator to quantify the amount of task relevant discussion in brainstorming groups. The results of this study hint at a number of meeting design guidelines for very large brainstorming groups.

A quick scan for infrastructure planning: screening alternatives through interactive stakeholder analysis

Neglect of stakeholder values is considered to be a main source of opposition and resistance to new infrastructure in the Netherlands. A new way of dealing with stakeholder values is needed. In the initial problem definition phase, quickly acquiring the essential strategic information and insight into which part of the public will be highly involved is considered to be strategically important. The quick scan approach assists planners to define a problem and reduce uncertainty. Stakeholder values are central elements in the design, and stakeholders should be actively involved. The proposed quick scan gives speed (time) and transparency to the problem specification process, and can be used to assess and pre-select promising alternatives. Moreover, its use allows active stakeholder participation in the decision-making process by disclosing the relevant information to everyone involved.

From impact assessment to effective management plans: learning from the Great Brak Estuary in South Africa

In 1990, the environmental impacts of an upstream dam on the Great Brak town and estuary were assessed and a management plan and monitoring programme were devised. In a recent review of the monitoring results, planned water releases and interventions in the form of timely mouth breaching were found to have ensured that, although the estuarys abiotic functioning has altered, its biotic health has not deteriorated over the last ten years. The lessons learned are captured in the revised management plan of 2004, which exhibits a clear shift to explicit communication plans and operational procedures, indicating that the initial environmental impact assessment (EIA) products were rudimentary. We argue that learning-through-doing and active public participation in the Great Brak case are essential ingredients in the adaptive management that is fundamental to successful EIA follow-up.

Thinking the unthinkable – the end of the Dutch river dike system? Exploring a new safety concept for the river management

Since 1100 the Dutch relied on their continuously expanding extensive dike system for keeping dry feet and dry goods. But how durable and safe is this traditional dike concept, now the sea-level is rising and rainfall patterns seem to change? Can they continue to raise their dikes in the future or should they give more room to the river? In the Dutch mind higher dikes are saver. In practice, however, higher dikes may lead to higher risks as the consequences of failure rise. What is wrong with the risk perception of the Dutch citizen? How should risks be communicated to the public, how should a public debate on safety regimes be organized? In a study project a new safety concept in which the Dutch rivers got a free flow was explored and communicated. In an effort to reframe the issue a transition path, scenarios, impact studies and ex ante evaluations of this new safety management regime were made. A new safety paradigm seems to be taking shape. Context scenarios show under what circumstances frequent flooding can be made acceptable to the Dutch citizen and the inhabitants of the Dutch polders.

A Policy Sciences View on Policy Analysis

Lets pretend theres a way of getting through into it, somehow, Kitty. Let’s pretend the glass has got all soft like gauze, so that we can get through. Why, it’s turning into a sort of mist now, I declare! It’ll be easy enough to get through… In another moment Alice was through the glass, and had jumped lightly down into the Looking-glass room. The very first thing she did was to look whether there was a fire in the fireplace, and she was quite pleased to find that there was a real one, blazing away as brightly as the one she had left behind.

Visual problem appraisal--Kerala's coast: a simulation for social learning about integrated coastal zone management

Integrated management of coastal zones is crucial for the sustainable use of scarce and vulnerable natural resources and the economic survival of local and indigenous people. Conflicts of interest in coastal zones are manifold, especially in regions with high population pressure, such as Kerala (in southwest India). The simulation of a consultancy mission to Kerala described in this article was designed for a classroom situation but it can also be applied in settings with local stakeholders as a tool for social learning. Filmed interviews with real stakeholders contributed largely to the realism of the simulation and stimulated learning: Students aligned with local stakeholders and acquired professional skills as future analysts; local people learned about their own situation and the frames of other stakeholders.

Cultural issues in making and using the visual problem appraisal “Kerala’s Coast”

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) is a complex multi-actor issue. Staff members of Cochin University (CUSAT) from India and colleagues from the Netherlands interpreted this issue as a challenge to initiate and enhance multi-stakeholder dialogue and action and the idea was born to produce a Visual Problem Appraisal (VPA). VPA is a film-based learning system that aims to induce social learning, to increase problem and policy analysis competencies, to reduce self-referentiality, to increase commitment for concerned stakeholders, and to enhance intersubjective consensus. In 2003 Indian and Dutch university staff members and Indian filmmakers produced two documentaries and 23 films portraying the Keralite stakeholders in their natural environment, exposing their engagement with, and different perspectives on, ICZM. Although produced for formal education, the notion emerged that the VPA might as well work in the reality of ICZM in Kerala. It was a fascinating conversion of questioning the nature of some events and frictions that occurred during the production process. As critical incidents were attributed to various cultural disparities such as local/foreign, male/female, higher/lower status, the hypothesis was formulated that if producing the VPA had already set a deep impact; how about using it directly with involved stakeholders? This hypothesis was tested in 2004 in workshops with publics, ranging from CUSAT students to local stakeholders of the Thycattussery Panchayat. The process of producing and testing the VPA Kerala’s Coast was a complex and intriguing multidisciplinary and multicultural project. We wondered what made the project a success. Framing the project as a space of cultural communication gave guidance to the questions that articulated our search to understand the process we had been immersed in. In this article we describe the events and analyze critical incidents that occurred during the production and the use of the VPA. The outcome leads to valuable recommendations for international and intercultural teams working on similar production and research projects.

Integral assessment — putting safety on the agenda for mitigation and preparedness

Infrastructure planning in densely populated areas like the Netherlands is a complex endeavour. Despite high construction costs, underground constructions and tunnelling have become popular solutions in highly congested areas as they can mitigate many of the negative external effects of infrastructures. Under such circumstances integral assessment of alternatives is considered important but in practice uncommon. In the Netherlands, for instance safety issues are largely neglected in planning procedures. In this paper a participatory Quick Scan approach is presented: a methodology for strategic impact assessment that can be used to help select promising solutions in the early stages of decision making. Special consideration is given to the methodological issues of which risks should be taken into account when considering an integral assessment. It is argued that involving representatives of safety management organisations in the problem formulation stage guarantees attention for safety issues and regulations throughout the design and planning processes.

Assessing the Residential Energy Rebound Effect by Means of a Serious Game

Residential energy efficiency improvements often have a smaller effect than expected. Although there is agreement on the existence of this effect, called the rebound effect, there is no agreement on the size of the effect. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of using serious games to assess this effect. We used a game in which participants play home owners who manage their households in terms of energy consumption. Results of experiments with 50 players showed signs of the rebound effect when players with a low efficiency house reduced their energy consumption more than players with a high efficiency house. In addition, some issues related to previous studies were addressed, such as the possibility to perform an ex-ante assessment and to conduct the study in a controlled environment. Calculations of the size of the rebound effect depended on the approach used to determine the expected effect and showed differences between appliances.