Participatory Planning Processes in Action

Abstract

In this chapter, we describe planning process examples suitable for public participation in different scales, from managing the forests of one city park to preparing of national forest programmes. We also discuss the decision support methods and tools required for handling a participatory planning process. Planning problems with several decision-makers are often messy. Such cases require problem structuring methods, where the perceptions and characteristics of the problem, as well as decision criteria and constraints, are explored together with the stakeholders. There are several approaches specifically designed for this sort of work, like SCA, SODA and SSM, but it is also possible to utilise common multi-criteria analysis tools for this purpose. We also describe how surveys and hearings fit for collecting information from the public. The information collected can also be location-specific information collected and utilised though participatory GIS systems. Finally, we present how the multi-criteria analysis methods and tools presented previously can be utilised as group decision support in stakeholder working groups.