scholarly journals Assessing the effects of public participation processes from the point of view of participants: significance, achievements, and challenges

2010 ◽  
Vol 86 (6) ◽  
pp. 753-765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Martineau-Delisle ◽  
Solange Nadeau
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Performance Measurement ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Forest Governance ◽  
Citizen Involvement ◽  
Advisory Committees ◽  
Criteria And Indicators ◽  
Stakeholder Consultation ◽  
Practical Information

Public participation practices are now common and recognized as a way of including a broader range of interests andsocial values in forest management. However, we know little about their real benefits. This article presents the results of astudy aimed at developing a deeper understanding of the diverse impacts of public participation and, in particular, of forest-related deliberative forums (i.e. committee types of processes). The study is based on an analysis of data collected from137 respondents–participants and coordinators–who have been involved in more than 120 forest-related public participationprocesses in the province of Quebec. The study examined the diversity of potential impacts of public participationprocesses, assessed the significance of the impacts, and evaluated the capacity of existing processes to achieve them.Overall, the study provides practical information to support the evaluation of public participation processes, a requirementthat is increasingly imposed on forest practitioners and decision-makers.Key words: forest governance, forestry, outputs/outcomes, impacts of citizen involvement/public participation processes,stakeholder consultation, advisory committees, evaluation, performance measurement, criteria and indicators, sustainableforest management, Canada, Quebec

scholarly journals First Nations’ involvement in forest governance in Québec: The place for distinct consultation processes

2010 ◽  
Vol 86 (6) ◽  
pp. 730-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Wyatt ◽  
Jean-François Fortier ◽  
Catherine Martineau-Delisle
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Aboriginal Peoples ◽  
Forest Governance ◽  
Aboriginal Rights ◽  
Distinct Process ◽  
Participation Mechanisms ◽  
Special Case

Aboriginal peoples in Canada present a special case of citizen involvement in forest governance, with rights and statusthat go beyond those of other stakeholders and individuals. Increasingly, participation processes aimed specifically atAboriginal representatives are being used to encourage their involvement in forest management. This article asks whatwould be the characteristics of a distinct process that could respond to Aboriginal rights, needs and expectations. We doso by combining the results of a broad Québec-wide study with those from a case study of forestry participation in a singlecommunity. A total of 68 consultation processes are analyzed. These experiences enable the identification of severalcharacteristics of consultation processes used for First Nations. We also note that distinct consultations typically reflectthe same practices that are used more generally for public participation in forestry, raising the question of whether or notthese consultations truly respond to Aboriginal rights, needs and expectations in Québec.Key words: Aboriginal peoples, Aboriginal forestry, forest management, public participation mechanisms, duty to consult,Canada

scholarly journals Taking the pulse of civic engagement in forest management

2010 ◽  
Vol 86 (6) ◽  
pp. 692-696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Robson ◽  
John R. Parkins
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Sustainable Forestry ◽  
Institutional Arrangements ◽  
Forest Governance ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Special Issue

Outdated and unresponsive institutional arrangements are the greatest single obstacle to the achievement of sustainableforestry in Canada. More open civic engagement processes and institutional arrangements are now emerging, however,compelling traditional actors to interact with many more issues and social forces. This article introduces a way of understandingand evaluating civic engagement processes for this special issue on civic engagement in forest management.It reviews the articles for this special issue and critically assesses where we have come from and where we might needto go as forest governance continues to evolve and meet the challenges of a 21st Century Canada.Key words: institutional arrangements, sustainable forestry, forest governance, civic engagement, public participation,evaluation

Public engagement in forest governance in Canada: whose values are being represented anyway?

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (11) ◽  
pp. 1152-1159
Author(s):  
Felicitas Egunyu ◽  
Maureen G. Reed ◽  
A. John Sinclair ◽  
John R. Parkins ◽  
James P. Robson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Forest Governance ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Forest Sector ◽  
Advisory Committees ◽  
Caucasian Men ◽  
Local Pressures

Researchers and advocates have long argued that on-going engagement by broad segments of the public can help make forests and forest-based communities more sustainable and decisions more enduring. In Canada, public engagement in sustainable forest management has primarily taken one of two approaches: advisory forums through forest-sector advisory committees (FACs) and direct decision-making authority through community forest boards (CFBs). The purpose of this paper is to compare these two approaches by focusing on who participates and the values that participants bring to their deliberations. We conducted a national survey of FACs and CFBs involving 402 participants. Results showed that both models favoured well-educated, Caucasian men and fell short on the representation of women and Indigenous peoples. Additionally, despite different levels of authority in relation to forest management decisions, participants in CFBs and FACs shared similar forest values. Hence, we conclude that neither model of forest governance encourages participation from a diverse public. Our findings suggest the need to find new ways of recruiting diverse participants and to investigate more deeply whether local and extra-local pressures and power dynamics shape these processes. Such information can inform the establishment of more robust institutions for decision-making in support of sustainable forest management.

scholarly journals Participative forest planning: How to obtain knowledge

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. e002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xabier Bruña-García ◽  
Manuel Marey-Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Natural Resource Management ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Forest Planning ◽  
Criteria And Indicators ◽  
Information Preferences ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Regional Forest

Aim of study: To develop a methodology to obtain knowledge in public participation processes.Area of study: Fonsagrada-Os Ancares (Spain), region located in the northern Iberian Peninsula.Material and methods: This study proposes a new method for generating questionnaire survey in participative forest plan with four stages. The validation of this method is performed in the context of a tactical sub-regional forest plan.Main results: The questionnaires based on criteria and indicators proved to be effective in obtaining key information for planning. The method used offers tools to reach the consensus on natural resource management, through the knowledge gained by selecting relevant information (preferences, opinions, and expectations) from past, present, and future forest activity, focusing on solutions to conflicts.Research highlights: The use of appropriate indicators and criteria in the planning phase allows for obtaining knowledge concerning the preferences and future challenges for forest management.

Using perceptual maps to communicate concepts of Sustainable Forest Management – Collaborative research with the Office of the Wet'suwet'en Nation in British Columbia

2005 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-386
Author(s):  
S. Denise Allen
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Software Tool ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
North Central ◽  
Criteria And Indicators ◽  
Perceptual Maps ◽  
Forest Resources Management

This article discusses collaborative research with the Office of the Wet'suwet'en Nation on their traditional territories in north-central British Columbia, Canada, a forest-dependent region where contemporary and traditional forest resources management regimes overlap. In-depth personal interviews with the hereditary chiefs and concept mapping were used to identify social-ecological linkages in Wet'suwet'en culture to inform the development of culturally sensitive social criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management (SFM) in this region. The preliminary results demonstrate how the CatPac II software tool can be applied to identify key component concepts and linkages in local definitions of SFM, and translate large volumes of (oral) qualitative data into manageable information resources for forest managers and decision-makers. Key words: social criteria and indicators, sustainable forest management, qualitative research, Wet'suwet'en

scholarly journals Public participation in British Columbia forest management

2010 ◽  
Vol 86 (6) ◽  
pp. 697-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
H W Harshaw
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
British Columbia ◽  
Resource Management ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Consensus Building ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Forest Planning And Management ◽  
Planning Processes

Conceptions and challenges of public participation in British Columbia are reviewed to identify those characteristicsof planning processes that serve to benefit or constrain the interests and needs of public stakeholders. Perspectives onpublic participation, including representative and participatory democracies, and approaches to incorporating publicperspectives in decision-making (i.e., shared decision-making, consensus-building, and interest-based negotiation) arepresented to demonstrate the different approaches (and their benefits and challenges) available for providing opportunitiesfor public participation. Lessons from other natural resource management contexts are distilled and used to evaluatethe BC context. Three principal forest planning and management frameworks (the Commission on Resources and theEnvironment, Land and Resource Management Plans, and sustainable forest management certification) are examinedin light of whether meaningful opportunities for public participation were provided.Key words: public participation, British Columbia, Commission on Resources and the Environment, Land and ResourceManagement Plans, sustainable forest management certification

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