Twentieth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Stakeholder involvement and public participation have become essential elements of environmental decision making in recent years. This participatory approach to decision-making acknowledges the significance of including all interested and affected parties in decision-making processes. This includes stakeholders such as governmental agencies, corporations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the general public, and other interest groups. The literature revealed that involving the public in decision making improves transparency and promotes accountability in governance. Studies have highlighted several goals and rationales for involving citizens in decision making. Normative reasons are among the rationales for public participation, participation based on normative reasoning is based on democratic principles and aims for citizen empowerment. This promotes inclusion, fairness and equity in decision making. However, most of the literature on reasons for public participation focuses on reasons for policy makers or governments to involve the public, very few studies approach this topic from the public’s side. This study uses a qualitative document analysis approach to investigate reasons for public’s involvement in environmental decisions. Understanding reasons and motivations behind citizens’ involvement in environmental decision making may help to design participation processes that are suitable to the needs and expectations of both citizens and policy makers. It may help to manage expectations and better resolve conflicts in decision making.