Ivan Marušič

Developing an Integrated Approach for Public Participation: A Case of Land-Use Planning in Slovenia

This paper draws on the importance of public participation in improving several aspects of the land-use planning and decision-making process and regards the lack of adequate tools as an important barrier hindering effective implementation of participation in planning practice. The hypothesis is that extensive research into local knowledge, especially regarding values and goals, followed by a careful and focused preparation of expert proposals could improve the effectiveness of the participatory process. The paper therefore focuses on the development of methodologies to obtain knowledge from local residents and to integrate it effectively with expert knowledge to produce an input for the communicative process, whereby interaction and communication can bring about consensual planning proposals. The methodology discussed in this paper is an innovative combination of several tools already recognized within spatial and/or participatory planning, such as public surveys and participatory workshops. Connecting these tools can be shown to ameliorate their individual drawbacks and to achieve synergetic effects in all aspects. The use of support tools, such as cognitive mapping, statistical analysis, and suitability modeling, to assist these processes is also discussed. The study was implemented as a pilot project testing the proposed methodology in a case study of land-use planning for a local community in Slovenia, which is currently undergoing significant change from a rural community into an urban community. The results have shown that the use of a traditional questionnaire, combined with the mapping of chosen responses, proved effective in the acquisition of existing local knowledge. The result also showed that in-depth analysis of local knowledge and values and consideration of both in preparing alternative expert planning proposals proved to be a valuable input into traditional participation workshops, thus fostering an interactive participative planning process, whereby conflicts could be resolved while searching for a consensual solution.

Some observations regarding the education of landscape architects for the 21st century

Abstract This article presents some questions concerning development in the education of landscape architects in the future. The questions arise from changes observable in programs of some schools of landscape architecture as well as in technical and scientific disciplines that share with landscape architecture activity in the landscape. The aim of the article is to highlight the relationship between landscape planning and science and the technical disciplines that are active in the landscape, as well as the special tasks landscape planning has in environmental conservation. The article stresses that landscape architecture—and landscape planning in particular—is from its inception based on scientific analysis, which, however, it builds upon with a search for solutions to problems of land use and management. Creativity is crucial in this process: it is capable of fulfilling the basic conservation requirement—to employ the environmental intervention alternative that is least harmful to the environment.

A cognitive map of Slovenia: Perceptions of the regions

Cognitive maps present an important theoretical concept and methodological tool for the acquirement of insight into the mental image of the environment. Part of the study, conducted in 1999–2000 on a representative sample of the inhabitants of Slovenia (N  =  1291), is presented in this paper, namely the part devoted to the perception of regions. Participants were questioned about different aspects of their image of Slovenia, including their preferences for residence in different parts of Slovenia, partition of the country into regions, travelling patterns, environmental problems and solutions, possibilities of development, etc. Cognitive maps appeared as highly selective, with certain general similarities, but also with individual idiosyncrasies, depending on the place of living and other demographic characteristics. Though respondents were not highly devoted to the formation of regions, a rather clear mental image of them appeared. Main findings are discussed and applicability of the cognitive map for p...