How to achieve impact?
CIPAST in Practice – Doing Citizen Participation
Pierre-Benoit Joly, INRA/TSV
Many initiatives and think tanks on public participation
Right 2 be heard
Involve!
Demos
America speaks!
Centre for deliberative polls
(…)
“PARTICIPATION WORKS!”
21 techniques of community participation for the 21st century
http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/
But what about the impacts of participation?
Have the initiators enough value for money?
Does participation fulfill citizens’ expectation?
1. Typology of public participation
impact
Some limitations of the notion of impact:
–
–
From « single decision » / « the one best
solution » to policy process
From government to governance
-
Collective learning / Distributed intelligence
Interests / strategies / power games
Roles of participation in Tech. Assessment
Raising
Knowledge
Forming
Attitudes
Initialising
Action
Tech/
Science
Aspects
Scientific
Assessment
(options,consequences)
Agenda setting
(influence and
stimulate public
debate,
Introduce visions etc.)
Reframing of debate
(propose new initiatives
– find new orientation)
Societal
Aspects
Social
Mapping
(stake holders,
conflicts)
Mediation
(help actors reflect
and communicate –
bridge building)
Propose new decision
making processes
(new ways of governance
– new debate)
Policy
aspects
Policy analysis
(explore objectives,
assess policies)
Restructure policy
debate
Decisions about:
Pol innovations
New legislation
3. How are various actors interested to be
engaged / take on board the results of
Citizen Participation?
Costs and benefits for:
–
–
–
–
–
Policy makers
Research organisations
Stakeholders
Media
Etc.
Hidden agendas,
Diversity of objectives
Ambiguity as a major characteristic of
participatory experiences
4. Learning from experience and use of best
practices in the design of Citizen
Participation
Impact of participation has various faces:
• How to impact “public opinion” / public
understanding?
• How to impact public policy/public decision
making?
• Public participation and inclusive /distributed
innovation processes
1. How to impact “public opinion” /
public understanding?
–
–
–
How to maximise dissemination?
Which role of the media?
Which role of science museums?
2. How to impact public policy?
– Keys to an increase legitimacy of Citizen
Participation (equity, fairness, competence,
independent evaluation, publicity, traceability)
– Institutionalisation of participation / How can
public authorities be engaged in a participatory
exercise?
Introduce a legal provision?
Obligation to « take into account » / detailed
answer of the commissionner explaining
agreement-disagreement and the link with
decision making process.
3. Public participation and inclusive
/distributed innovation processes:
Co-operative research processes
e.g.: OSS, role of patients associations,
participatory research projects in plant breeding
Be professionnal!
Don’t hesitate to invest a lot for high quality!
Stick to the basic principle of participation!
Think impact from the beginning of the
participatory process on!