Module 3:
Developing a Public Participation Strategy

Purpose

The purpose of Module 3 is to guide participants through a strategic thinking process designed to help them critically examine the environmental problem they face and develop a comprehensive public participation action strategy to address the problem. Creating an individual participation action strategy is the central task for participants throughout the training. Participants are encouraged to examine the contents of each subsequent module and determine its relevance to developing their own strategy for action.

Objectives

At the end of this module training, participants should have:

an understanding of the process of problem identification and a succinct description of their own environmental problem and its affects;
an understanding of the goals and objectives they hope to achieve for their own case;
an understanding of the process of stakeholder analysis and a detailed list and description of all actors involved either directly or indirectly in their case;
an understanding of a variety of public participation techniques, both legal and nonformal instruments, and their applicability to their own case;
an action strategy for their specific problem or case.

Contents: Developing a Public Participation Strategy

Worksheet: Case Selection

Selecting a Case:

The intention of this module is to develop a public participation strategy for a given environmental problem. The hope is that all participants will have come to the training with their own real problem, however, in some instances you may need to think of a hypothetical case for the exercise. In selecting an appropriate case, whether real or hypothetical, you should keep the following criteria in mind:

The problem should be an environmental one.
The problem should be practical, realistic and manageable.
The problem should consist of some public participation component.
The problem should be one you know well. You should have access to information about the case, know relative detail about the issues, players and cause of the problem.
The problem should be one in which either you or your organization is involved.

Worksheet: Problem Identification

Sample Problems:

A local factory is dumping waste into the river.
A company wants to build a landfill in your neighborhood.
A train regularly transports liquid gas on an old train track through a residential neighborhood.
An airport is causing a high amount of noise and vibration to neighboring communities.
Someone has begun dumping waste by the roadside.
Someone has begun cutting down large areas of trees to construct buildings on undeveloped land.

Your Problem:
In one sentence, briefly state your problem:

Worksheet: Effects or Potential Effects

Sample Effects:

Problem: A local factory is dumping waste into the river.
Effects: The water is no longer drinkable; local citizens are getting sick.
Problem: A company wants to build a landfill in your neighborhood.
Effects: The proposed landfill would be located too close to the residential area, could affect drinking water and would smell.
Problem: A train regularly transports liquid gas on an old train track through a residential neighborhood.
Effects: The community is concerned about potential accidents, the contents of the gas are toxic and a spill could have a serious health threat.
Problem: An airport is causing a high amount of noise and vibration to neighboring communities.
Effects: Noone can sleep.
Problem: Someone has begun dumping waste by the roadside.
Effects: The area is dirty and is attracting rats and dogs.
Problem: Someone has begun cutting down large areas of trees to construct buildings on undeveloped land.
Effects: The forest will be permanently destroyed and the ecosystem ruined.

Your Problem:
Briefly describe the primary effects/impacts or potential effects/impacts of your problem:

Worksheet: Information Checklist

Generally, the more information you have about an environmental problem, the easier it will be to convince other people and the government that the problem exists and that it deserves attention. To obtain more information and to create as complete a picture of the problem as possible, you can use a variety of sources. Refer to Chapter 2: "How to Get Started" in the Manual on Public Participation in Environmental Decisionmaking, (English version pages 74-78) and try to answer as many of the initial questions as possible.

In what areas do you need more information? Make a note of which questions you cannot answer or need more information:

Government

The Community

Industry

Worksheet: Objectives/Goals

What objective(s), if achieved, will help solve the problem(s) and most benefit your community's or country's environmental health? Based on all the information you have about the environmental problem, determine the long-term goal and the short-term objectives which in your view must be achieved to help solve the problem:

Such goals or objectives may include:

Eliminating the problem's source, such as a closure of a factory, denial of permission to construct a facility, a ban on certain substances, or a ban on the clear-cutting of trees.
Placing limitations on the problem's source, such as more stringent permit conditions or restrictions on the source's location.
Establishing areas of protection from further destruction, such as a nature preserve.
Securing adoption or amendment of laws and regulations by the government that will protect you from the dangers created by the problem.
Ensuring the government's proper implementation or enforcement of environmental laws and regulations.
Increasing public education and awareness about the problem and its dangers.

Your problem:
Circle the numbers of the type of objective(s) above you would like to achieve to address your problem.

What is your primary goal?

What are your short-term objectives?

Worksheet: Stakeholder Analysis

Stakeholders are those individuals or institutions who are affected by the problem, either directly or indirectly, either positively or negatively. Identifying these actors is a difficult, but necessary, process before appropriate strategies can be identified for a problem.

In the diagrams on the following pages identify all the stakeholders in your problem/project. The following questions should help guide you in identifying those relevant parties:

Who is responsible for or caused the problem?
Who in the community is directly affected by the problem?
Who in, near or outside the community is indirectly affected by the problem?
Who might be affected, whether positively or negatively, by the problem?
Who cares about this issue enough to join in or help?
Who are the "voiceless" for whom special efforts may have to be made?
Who are the representatives of those likely to be affected?
Who may also have the same problem in other communities/countries?
Who would be interested to know about the problem?
Who is responsible for monitoring/regulating the problem?
Who has the power to give you what you want?
Who has power over the people who have power to give you what you want?
Who are your opponents?
In whose benefit is it to maintain status quo?
Who is likely to mobilize for or against what is intended?
Who can contribute financial and technical resources?
Whose behavior has to change for the effort to succeed?

Worksheet: Stakeholder Analysis by Impact/Interest

Identify your stakeholders in the following categories:

Worksheet: Stakeholder Analysis by Sector

Identify your stakeholders in the following sectors:

Worksheet: Stakeholder Analysis by Geographic Location

Identify your stakeholders by geographic location:

Worksheet: Stakeholder Analysis by Allies/Opponents

Identify your stakeholders by allies and opponents:

Worksheet: Techniques/Methods

What public participation techniques in the subsequent module(s) are useful in addressing your objectives? What level of participation do they promote? What stakeholders do they address?

Objective	PP Technique	PP Method		Level of Participation
Objective	PP Technique	Legal	Nonformal	Information	Citizens Feedback	Consultations	Joint Planning	Citizen Control

REC * PUBLICATIONS * AWAKENING PARTICIPATION * MODULE 3

Module 3: Developing a Public Participation Strategy