Stakeholder participation for environmental management: A literature review

Abstract

The complex and dynamic nature of environmental problems requires flexible and transparent decision-making that embraces a diversity of knowledges and values. For this reason, stakeholder participation in environmental decision-making has been increasingly sought and embedded into national and international policy. Although many benefits have been claimed for participation, disillusionment has grown amongst practitioners and stakeholders who have felt let down when these claims are not realised. This review first traces the development of participatory approaches in different disciplinary and geographical contexts, and reviews typologies that can be used to categorise and select participatory methods. It then reviews evidence for normative and pragmatic benefits of participation, and evaluates limitations and drawbacks. Although few of the claims that are made have been tested, there is evidence that stakeholder participation can enhance the quality of environmental decisions by considering more comprehensive information inputs. However, the quality of decisions made through stakeholder participation is strongly dependant on the nature of the process leading to them. Eight features of best practice participation are then identified from a Grounded Theory Analysis of the literature. These features emphasise the need to replace a “tool-kit” approach, which emphasises selecting the relevant tools for the job, with an approach that emphasises participation as a process. It is argued that stakeholder participation needs to be underpinned by a philosophy that emphasises empowerment, equity, trust and learning. Where relevant, participation should be considered as early as possible and throughout the process, representing relevant stakeholders systematically. The process needs to have clear objectives from the outset, and should not overlook the need for highly skilled facilitation. Local and scientific knowledges can be integrated to provide a more comprehensive understanding of complex and dynamic socio-ecological systems and processes. Such knowledge can also be used to evaluate the appropriateness of potential technical and local solutions to environmental problems. Finally, it is argued that to overcome many of its limitations, stakeholder participation must be institutionalised, creating organisational cultures that can facilitate processes where goals are negotiated and outcomes are necessarily uncertain. In this light, participatory processes may seem very risky, but there is growing evidence that if well designed, these perceived risks may be well worth taking. The review concludes by identifying future research needs.

Introduction

Environmental problems are typically complex, uncertain, multi-scale and affect multiple actors and agencies. This demands transparent decision-making that is flexible to changing circumstances, and embraces a diversity of knowledges and values. To achieve this, stakeholder participation is increasingly being sought and embedded into environmental decision-making processes, from local to international scales (e.g. Stringer et al., 2007). Widespread acceptance and promotion of participation has partly been driven by increasing public scepticism about science, increasing knowledge and interest in environmental decisions (Irwin’s (1995) “citizens’ science”) and ongoing policy trends that emphasise sustainable development and partnership working (Younge and Fowkes, 2003, Richards et al., 2004). Participation in environmental decision-making is increasingly becoming regarded as a democratic right (and is enshrined as such in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s 1998 Arhus Convention), and this right is increasingly being used by proliferating environmental interest and pressure groups. In addition to normative arguments such as this, many pragmatic benefits have been claimed for participation; by involving stakeholders, it is argued that the quality and durability of decisions is likely to be greater (e.g. Fischer, 2000, Beierle, 2002, Reed et al., 2008). However, such claims have rarely been tested, and there is growing disillusionment among environmental managers and conservationists who have failed to see these claims realised. Others have sought to address and move beyond these critiques, learning from the mistakes of the participation panacea, to develop a more sensitive, post-participation approach.

This literature review aims to examine evidence for the claims that have been made for and against stakeholder participation and, on this basis, to identify suggestions for best practice participation. This is done in the context of a brief history of participatory approaches to environmental decision-making, and the typologies that have been developed to understand the basis for stakeholder participation. In this article, participation is defined as a process where individuals, groups and organisations choose to take an active role in making decisions that affect them (Wandersman, 1981, Wilcox, 2003, Rowe et al., 2004). This definition focuses on stakeholder participation rather than broader public participation, if stakeholders are defined as those who are affected by or can affect a decision (after Freeman, 1984). This article focuses on stakeholder participation because for purposes of efficiency, most conservationists focus on engaging those who hold a stake (whether directly or indirectly) in the scope of their initiative, rather than attempting to meaningfully engage with the wider public.