Paper short abstract:

Environmental interventions tend to ignore local contexts and communities. This paper will focus on recent methods and case studies on public participation that have strived for more active involvement of populations in the implementation of various projects.

Paper long abstract:

Environmental interventions are often seen by local communities as unwanted or ill-prepared intrusions, with no regard to its specific circumstances and needs. In fact, most technological projects tend to ignore or underestimate the cultural and social context where they will be developed. This paper underlines recent concepts, methods and case studies on public participation that should be used to actively involve local populations and citizens in the design and implementation of such processes.

There has been a "democratic turn" in the field of public understanding of science and technology, emerging from criticisms against one-way relations between experts and lay people. Scholars as Alan Irwin, Brian Wynne, or Sheila Jasanoff, have argued that non-experts can meaningfully engage in discussions, and that their scepticism is mainly due to mistrust of science, governments and their representatives. Involving the public since the early stages is a way to mitigate this unease, to create new mechanisms of dialogue, to access valuable local knowledge, to adapt and legitimate projects, and to empower local communities.

The paper presents the distinct rationales, strengths and shortcomings of participatory methods that foster public engagement, such as public hearings, focus groups, consensus conferences, citizen's advisory councils, future and scenario workshops, etc. Moreover, several case studies are reviewed, for example a national travelling exhibition on coastal management in Spain, future scenarios for nuclear waste management in France, or even public participation geographical information systems in Scotland that involve communities from the data collection stage, to the analysis, presentation and communication of information.