Module 1
Introduction to SP
What’s in Module 1
 Who are the stakeholders?
 Levels of engagement
 Participation as human and legal rights
 Benefits of participation
 The process
Who are the stakeholders?
Just what does it mean to be included?
Who has had experience of
participating?
Who has conducted something
like a SP campaign?
What were your experiences?
Did any aspect frustrate you?
Who are stakeholders?
Are they different from the
general public?
One possible answer…
“a stakeholder is anybody with an interest
or stake in a certain decision or action”
Let’s try to formulate
our own definition
Levels of engagement
What does participating
mean?
Are there different kinds of
stakeholder participation?
Some ideas…
• voting
• petitioning
• demonstrating
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surveys
workshops
interviews
posters
???
Again, time to write
down a few ideas…
The engagement spectrum
One-way
information flow
PROTEST
INFORM
Information
exchange
CONSULT
INVOLVE COLLABORATE EMPOWER
INCREASING LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT
Source: DEAT
“Public participation is not a single
process, but rather a continuum along
which there are a variety of possible
levels of engagement and interaction …
among stakeholders and decision
makers.”
Further ideas…
• It is not necessarily about reaching consensus…
• SP may not need to reach everyone, or necessarily
engage people in all stages of process
• Regardless of degree of participation, merely involving
people is not a guarantee of success, we need to
consider:
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Interests
Bias (e.g. gender, language, access)
Relative voice
Facilitation/environment (e.g. “leading the witness”)
Enable vs. control (involvement on whose terms?)
Decentralised vs. Centralised process
What has been your
experience thus far?...
Participation as human and legal rights
Whose responsibility is it to
conduct SP? Government?
NGO? Project?
Why/when should a
project/proponent do SP?
Rio Declaration’s Principle 10
• each individual shall have appropriate access to
information concerning the environment that is held by
public authorities, including information on hazardous
material and activities in their communities,
• and the opportunity to participate in decision-making
processes, states shall facilitate and encourage public
awareness and participation by making information
widely available.
• Effective access to judicial and administrative
proceedings, including redress and remedy, shall be
provided.
1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
It could be a legal requirement…
• Are there legal requirements in your country?
• E.g. during the EIA process?
• What about the constitution?
A good time to list a few
other reasons/ benefits…
South Africa’s constitution
Section 151(1) (e) - obliges municipalities to encourage
the involvement of communities and community
organisations in local government
Section 152 - the Objects of local government (are) to
encourage the involvement of communities and
community organisations in the matters of local
government
Section 195 (e) - in terms of the Basic values and
principles governing public administration – people’s
needs must be responded to, and the public must be
encouraged to participate in policy-making”
Benefits of participation
But why should
stakeholders participate what do they get from it?
Some benefits...
 Empowerment
 Capacity building
 Broader knowledge base
 Enhanced cooperation and sustainability
 Enhanced accountability in decision-making
 Conflict avoidance
 Trust building between stakeholders
 Increased awareness
 Increased visibility and appreciation of projects/ initiatives
 Common ground for developing solutions
The process
Process overview
How would you go about this?
Let’s try to define a
process outline…
In 4 simple steps...
1. Define what you want to achieve, what
are the objectives?
2. Who are the stakeholders and what is
their interest/ potential role in the process?
3. Plan communication/ participation
activities (there may be several rounds)
4. Don’t assume it’s a success, measure and
adjust approach