scholarly journals New England food policy councils: An assessment of organizational structure, policy priorities and public participation

Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathryn A. Porter ◽  
Catherine M. Ashcraft
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
New England ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Food System ◽  
Food Policy ◽  
Food Justice ◽  
Common Mechanism ◽  
The Public ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
Food Policy Councils

Food policy councils (FPCs) are an increasingly common mechanism to improve participation in food system decision-making. Including individuals from under-represented groups can foster greater understanding of their needs and experiences with food system barriers and is an important part of food justice. However, engaging under-represented groups in food systems decision-making remains challenging for FPCs. This paper presents the results from a survey of FPCs and networks in New England to: (1) identify FPC policy priorities, (2) characterize FPCs engaged in policy initiatives based on attributes which, based on the literature, may impact effective public participation: geographic scale, organization type, capacity, policy priorities, and membership, and (3) analyze methods for engaging the public in FPC policy initiatives and demographic groups and sectors engaged. Findings indicate only half of New England FPCs work on policy efforts. Many surveyed FPCs engage multiple food system sectors and under-represented groups through a combination of different public participation opportunities. However, results indicate that New England FPCs could benefit from a greater focus on engaging under-represented audiences. FPCs interested in engaging more diverse participants should commit to a focus on food justice, strive for representative membership through intentional recruitment, and offer multiple methods to engage the public throughout policy initiatives.

scholarly journals Application of the watershed sustainability index in the Piranhas-Açu watershed

Water Policy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 622-640
Author(s):  
D. D. Costa e Silva ◽  
H. M. L. Chaves ◽  
W. F. Curi ◽  
J. G. V. Baracuhy ◽  
T. P. S. Cunha
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sustainability Index ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Semi Arid Region ◽  
Brazilian Northeast

Abstract The current worldwide water resources issue is one of the crucial matters to overcome obstacles to sustainable development. This problem, formerly tackled in a sectored manner, is now pointing towards an analysis directed to treating the watershed as a management unit, with regards to all dimensions of knowledge and, especially, to the public participation in the decision-making processes. As an alternative to measure its performance, it has been sought out to develop indexes aimed to measure its sustainability, but there is still a lack of the use of composed efficient methodologies that also enable public participation in decision-making. This research presents a methodology comprising 15 indexes for the calculation of the Watershed Sustainability Index (WSI), followed by the application of the PROMETHEE multi-criteria analysis method and the COPELAND multi-decision-maker method. The methodology was applied to evaluate the performance of subwatersheds of the Piranhas-Açu watershed, located in the Brazilian northeast semi-arid region. The performance ordering, obtained through the application of the methods, emphasizes that subwatersheds' performances are uneven. It can be noticed that the subwatersheds' performances are still far from ideal in relation to water resources management, even in the ones that displayed satisfactory index levels.

scholarly journals The Role of Public Participation in Governance towards Achieving Sustainable Development. Part 1

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-404
Author(s):  
Maurice S. Nyarangaa ◽  
Chen Hao ◽  
Duncan O. Hongo
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Political Class ◽  
The Public ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Government

Public participation aimed at improving the effectiveness of governance by involving citizens in governance policy formulation and decision-making processes. It was designed to promote transparency, accountability and effectiveness of any modern government. Although Kenya has legally adopted public participation in day-to-day government activities, challenges still cripple its effectiveness as documented by several scholars. Instead of reducing conflicts between the government and the public, it has heightened witnessing so many petitions of government missing on priorities in terms of development and government policies. Results show that participation weakly relates with governance hence frictions sustainable development. Theoretically, public participation influences governance efficiency and development, directly and indirectly, thus sustainable development policy and implementation depends on Public participation and good governance. However, an effective public participation in governance is has been fractioned by the government. Instead of being a promoter/sponsor of public participation, the government of Kenya has failed to put structures that would spur participation of citizens in policy making and other days to activities. This has brought about wrong priority setting and misappropriation of public resources; The government officials and political class interference ultimately limit public opinion and input effects on decision-making and policy formulation, which might be an inner factor determining the failure of public participation in Kenya. The study suggests the need for strengthening public participation by establishing an independent institution to preside over public participation processes.

scholarly journals Wind Power Deployment: The Role of Public Participation in the Decision-Making Process in Ontario, Canada

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anahita A. Jami ◽  
Philip R. Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Knowledge Broker ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Energy Investment ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Opposition

A wider use of renewable energy is emerging as a viable solution to meet the increasing demand for global energy while contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. However, current literature on renewable energy, particularly on wind power, highlights the social barriers and public opposition to renewable energy investment. One solution to overcome the public opposition, which is recommended by scholars, is to deploy a collaborative approach. Relatively little research has specifically focused on the role of effective communication and the use of a knowledge-broker in collaborative decision-making. This study attempts to fill this gap through the proposition of a participatory framework that highlights the role of the knowledge-broker in a wind project decision-making process. In this paper, five illustrative wind projects in Ontario are used to highlight the current situation with public participation and to address how the proposed framework could have improved the process. Based on the recommended collaborative framework, perception must shift from the dominant view of the public as “a risk to be managed” towards “a resource that can be tapped”. The developers need to improve sharing what they know and foster co-learning around questions and concerns.

Public Participation in Local Regeneration Programmes in Poland

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 44-60
Author(s):  
Magdalena Miśkowiec ◽  
Katarzyna Maria Gorczyca
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Urban Regeneration ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Ict Tools ◽  
Public Decision ◽  
Public Decision Making

This article describes how the public participation is understood as involvement of individuals, groups and local communities in public decision making. On 9 October 2015, the Urban Regeneration Act was passed in Poland. The purpose of the Act is to integrate the local activities of the stakeholders in regeneration. Engaging stakeholders is essential for proper implementation of regeneration programmes and is aimed at preventing degradation of urban space and crisis phenomena by enhancing social activity. The main aim of the article is to focus on different forms of public participation in urban regeneration. The study includes an analysis of the public participation procedures employed during the implementation of Communal Regeneration Programmes in Poland, as exemplified by the Olkusz Commune. The analysis is summarised to form a model of public participation in regeneration programmes, including suggestions for the use of ICT tools for consultation purposes.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION MAKING: EXAMINING THE AARHUS CONVENTION

1999 ◽  
Vol 01 (02) ◽  
pp. 229-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUAN R. PALERM
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Conflict Management ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Communicative Action ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
The Public ◽  
Environmental Decision Making ◽  
Aarhus Convention ◽  
Management Procedures ◽  
Environmental Decision

After reviewing the development of public participation in environmental decision making, empirical/theoretical principles for public participation are proposed, based on Habermas's theory of communicative action. These principles are used to assess the Aarhus convention (AC), as well as the implications of the AC for the interpretation of EIA directive 85/337/EEC (amended by directive 97/11/EC) and the proposed directive on SEA.The results show that the AC falls short of the proposed principles in four fundamental aspects: (1) its need to ensure the participation of cognitively and lingually non-competent actors; (2) the need to have a two-way communication process; (3) the need to ensure normative and subjective claims are adequately recognised; and (4) the need to establish conflict management procedures. As well, the results show that the AC will set stricter standards for the interpretation of the public participation provisions in both the EIA directive and the proposed SEA directive.

scholarly journals Social justice-oriented narratives in European urban food strategies: Bringing forward redistribution, recognition and representation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara A. L. Smaal ◽  
Joost Dessein ◽  
Barend J. Wind ◽  
Elke Rogge
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Food Policy ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Decision Rules ◽  
Food Justice ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Target Groups ◽  
Theory Of Justice

Abstract More and more cities develop urban food strategies (UFSs) to guide their efforts and practices towards more sustainable food systems. An emerging theme shaping these food policy endeavours, especially prominent in North and South America, concerns the enhancement of social justice within food systems. To operationalise this theme in a European urban food governance context we adopt Nancy Fraser’s three-dimensional theory of justice: economic redistribution, cultural recognition and political representation. In this paper, we discuss the findings of an exploratory document analysis of the social justice-oriented ambitions, motivations, current practices and policy trajectories articulated in sixteen European UFSs. We reflect on the food-related resource allocations, value patterns and decision rules these cities propose to alter and the target groups they propose to support, empower or include. Overall, we find that UFSs make little explicit reference to social justice and justice-oriented food concepts, such as food security, food justice, food democracy and food sovereignty. Nevertheless, the identified resources, services and target groups indicate that the three dimensions of Fraser are at the heart of many of the measures described. We argue that implicit, fragmentary and unspecified adoption of social justice in European UFSs is problematic, as it may hold back public consciousness, debate and collective action regarding food system inequalities and may be easily disregarded in policy budgeting, implementation and evaluation trajectories. As a path forward, we present our plans for the RE-ADJUSTool that would enable UFS stakeholders to reflect on how their UFS can incorporate social justice and who to involve in this pursuit.

Analysis on Public Participation in Decision-Making of Nuclear Power in China

2013 ◽  
Vol 291-294 ◽  
pp. 555-560
Author(s):  
Yun Na Wu ◽  
Mandula Naren ◽  
Yi Li Han ◽  
He Ping Wang
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Case Analysis ◽  
Chinese People ◽  
Close Attention ◽  
The Public ◽  
Limited Experience ◽  
Participation In Decision Making ◽  
Chinese Public

In recent years, like many people from other countries, the Chinese people pay close attention to nation’s development and policy of nuclear power, especially after the Fukushima incident. Furthermore, the concerns become exacerbated with the discussion about building the inland nuclear power plant. At the same time, the enthusiasm of the public participation which has its own characteristics has greatly improved in China. There is limited experience in the field of nuclear power decision-making in China. In this context, this paper comprehensive analyzes the Chinese public participation in decision-making of the nuclear power industry, summarizing the characteristics of public participation in this field. Then a typical case analysis with On-site visit and interview is made for verifying our theory. Based on these studies, some suggestions are put forward.

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