Stakeholder Dialogues in Natural Resources Management

Participatory Processes for Natural Resource Management Ortwin Renn University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany Need for analytic-deliberative processes Inviting the public to be part of the decision making process in natural resource management has been a major objective in European and American environmental policy arenas. The US-National Academy of Sciences has encouraged environmental protection agencies to foster citizen participation and public involvement for making environmental policy making and natural resource management more effective and democratic (Stern and Fineberg 1996). The report emphasizes the need for a combination of assessment and dialogue which the authors have framed the "analytic-deliberative" approach. Unfortunately, early public involvement of the public in deliberative processes may compromise, however, the objective of efficient and effective policy implementation or violate the principle of fairness (Cross 1998, Okrent 1998). Another problem is that the public consists of many groups with different value structures and preferences. Without a systematic procedure to reach consensus on values and preferences, the public's position often appears as unclear (Coglianese 1997, Rossi 1997). Participatory processes are thus needed that combine technical expertise, rational decision making, and public values and preferences. How can and should natural resource managers collect public preferences, integrate public input into the management process, and assign the appropriate roles to technical experts, stakeholders (i. e.

Inhalt
Setting the Scene.- Foreword.- Towards a More Effective and Democratic Natural Resources Management.- Theories and Tools.- Integrative Theory of Reflexive Dialogues.- Participation' in Development Thinking Coming to Grips with a Truism and its Critiques.- Evaluating Stakeholder Dialogues.- Tools for Stakeholder Assessment and Interaction.- To See or not to See, that is the Question: Geoinformation Visualisation Tools as a Means to Facilitate Stakeholder Dialogues in Land and Water Management Planning.- Case Studies in Environmental Policy, Management and Science.- Science-based Stakeholder Dialogues in Climate Change Research.- Science in Support of the Forest Biodiversity Programme for Southern Finland.- Public Participation during Site Selections for Natura 2000 in Germany: The Bavarian Case.- Experiences with Stakeholder Dialogues in Natural Resources Management in Ecuador.- Incorporating Local People through Economic Incentives at Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda Africa Works!.- Perspectives.- Linking Case Studies to the Integrative Theory of Reflexive Dialogues.