The Role of Information in Public Participation
A large body of scientific literature on public participation research evaluates specific methods, describes outcomes and impacts of a process or deals with participants’ and officials’ expectations. Yet, there is surprisingly little work on a key part of most participatory processes that deal with...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Westminster Press
2013-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Deliberative Democracy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://delibdemjournal.org/article/id/424/ |
| _version_ | 1797985281035468800 |
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| author | Niklas Gudowsky Ulrike Bechtold |
| author_facet | Niklas Gudowsky Ulrike Bechtold |
| author_sort | Niklas Gudowsky |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A large body of scientific literature on public participation research evaluates specific methods, describes outcomes and impacts of a process or deals with participants’ and officials’ expectations. Yet, there is surprisingly little work on a key part of most participatory processes that deal with complex issues: the information passed to participants. Topics like Global Warming cannot be grasped easily. Even if global warming is happening very quickly on a geological time scale, for human beings it is not easily perceivable. Such a discrepancy between everyday experiences and scientific knowledge can influence one’s opinion tremendously. Therefore, providing sound information and respecting the power of information is essential for meaningful outcomes of participatory processes. In this paper we examine different communication and information pathways within participatory processes. As the main object of interest, we analyzed ‘World Wide Views on Global Warming’. In this distinct process of information and deliberation, citizens formulated recommendations for the decision makers of the 2009 UN climate summit in Copenhagen and voted on different aspects of how to deal with global warming. Results from this process connected to insights from a literature review, contribute to a refined picture of the role information plays within participatory processes and social learning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T07:14:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6a2570e656054fd4a4da0785a6d9c27d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2634-0488 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T07:14:37Z |
| publishDate | 2013-04-01 |
| publisher | University of Westminster Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Deliberative Democracy |
| spelling | doaj.art-6a2570e656054fd4a4da0785a6d9c27d2022-12-22T04:38:02ZengUniversity of Westminster PressJournal of Deliberative Democracy2634-04882013-04-019110.16997/jdd.152The Role of Information in Public ParticipationNiklas Gudowsky0Ulrike Bechtold1University of Vienna, Dept. of AnthropologyAustrian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Technology AssessmentA large body of scientific literature on public participation research evaluates specific methods, describes outcomes and impacts of a process or deals with participants’ and officials’ expectations. Yet, there is surprisingly little work on a key part of most participatory processes that deal with complex issues: the information passed to participants. Topics like Global Warming cannot be grasped easily. Even if global warming is happening very quickly on a geological time scale, for human beings it is not easily perceivable. Such a discrepancy between everyday experiences and scientific knowledge can influence one’s opinion tremendously. Therefore, providing sound information and respecting the power of information is essential for meaningful outcomes of participatory processes. In this paper we examine different communication and information pathways within participatory processes. As the main object of interest, we analyzed ‘World Wide Views on Global Warming’. In this distinct process of information and deliberation, citizens formulated recommendations for the decision makers of the 2009 UN climate summit in Copenhagen and voted on different aspects of how to deal with global warming. Results from this process connected to insights from a literature review, contribute to a refined picture of the role information plays within participatory processes and social learning.https://delibdemjournal.org/article/id/424/Worldwide Views on Global Warmingdeliberationinformation flow in participationinformation provision within participatory approachesPublic participation |
| spellingShingle | Niklas Gudowsky Ulrike Bechtold The Role of Information in Public Participation Journal of Deliberative Democracy Worldwide Views on Global Warming deliberation information flow in participation information provision within participatory approaches Public participation |
| title | The Role of Information in Public Participation |
| title_full | The Role of Information in Public Participation |
| title_fullStr | The Role of Information in Public Participation |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Role of Information in Public Participation |
| title_short | The Role of Information in Public Participation |
| title_sort | role of information in public participation |
| topic | Worldwide Views on Global Warming deliberation information flow in participation information provision within participatory approaches Public participation |
| url | https://delibdemjournal.org/article/id/424/ |
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