Beyond traditional stakeholder engagement: Public participation roles in California's statewide marine protected area planning process
Introduction
Resource managers are continually challenged with making high-quality decisions while remaining responsive to the public those decisions affect (Beierle, 1998). Meeting this challenge within the environmental policy arena presents particular hurdles, as issues are often technically complex and value-laden, and multiple interests operate in a fluctuating atmosphere of dissention and distrust (Beierle, 1998; Fischer, 2000a, b; Jasanoff, 2005). Advancing solutions to environmental problems often requires changes in individual behavior, demanding policymakers to target and involve the public as they would corporations and other affected organizations (National Research Council, 2008). Addressing this challenging set of conditions requires flexible and transparent decision-making that embraces local knowledge and a diversity of values (Reed, 2008). The California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative (Initiative) provides a notable example of addressing – and adapting to – the complexities, uncertainties, and value conflicts common to environmental planning and decision-making.
Since the 1970s, requirements have been embedded in virtually all U.S. environmental legislation (Creighton, 2005), as well as many countries worldwide (Buchy and Race, 2001; OECD, 2001; Nylen, 2002), to ensure the public's involvement and full access to policy information. Traditionally, “public participation” has been defined as legally required, one-way dialogue between the public and lawmakers (e.g., voting, forming interest groups, demonstrating, lobbying) in which agencies inform the public after determining a course of action (Beierle, 1998; Innes and Booher, 2004). While this approach may provide a mechanism for decision-makers to deliver pre-determined information to the public, it misses the opportunity for the public to directly inform and influence environmental policy processes, products, and outcomes.
To improve the quality, legitimacy, and capacity of environmental decisions, public participation has begun to include more direct roles for involvement and dialogue, such as formal comments, public hearings, and citizen suits (National Research Council 2008). In recent years, the public has also helped to inform a wide range of planning and decision-making processes by participating in stakeholder, also referred to as citizen, advisory groups (Crowfoot and Wondolleck, 1990; Beatley et al., 1994; Patterson, 1999; McCool and Guthrie, 2001). While critics raise concerns about the drawbacks of a more involved public (King, 1998; Innes and Booher, 2004; Bora and Hausendorf, 2006; Abels, 2007; Reed, 2008), the benefits of two-way interactions between the public and decision-makers have been widely advocated as a way to increase the legitimacy and quality of government decisions (National Research Council, 1996; Rowe and Frewer, 2000; Abelson et al., 2003; Daley, 2007; Fox et al., 2013a). This includes decision-making within the field of resource management (Fischer, 2000a, b; Beierle, 2002; Reed et al., 2009) and more specifically, marine spatial planning (Pomeroy and Douvere, 2008).
While improvements have been made to broaden traditional participation models, people leading decision-making processes still struggle to offer inclusive engagement opportunities reflective of the diverse communities such policy decisions affect. A “collaborative participation” model challenges traditional forms of participation and proposes a new way of conceptualizing participation and engaging the public in planning and decision-making (Innes and Booher, 2004). Collaborative participation engages the public, process participants, and decision-makers in a multi-dimensional dialogue so that policies, interests, and the public co-evolve (Innes and Booher, 2004).
This paper explores the implementation of innovative and unconventional outreach and engagement strategies to promote participation beyond traditional stakeholder and public involvement in a statewide marine protected area (MPA) planning process. From 2004 to 2011, the Initiative adopted a collaborative approach to support a multi-way dialogue and interaction among the public, scientists, resource managers, agency staff, appointed stakeholder advisory groups, and policy advisors. Regional1 outreach and engagement strategies were designed to recognize the value in relationship building among a diverse public, the power of open and honest multi-dimensional dialogue, and the advantages of integrating public input and interests into process outcomes. Considering the diverse and complex communities that make up the State of California, outreach and engagement strategies required “out of the box” thinking, and were adapted to public feedback, lessons learned assessments, community needs, and available resources. “Best practices” highlighted in literature were also incorporated, including: involving the public early and investing in the advance planning of public participation (Chess and Purcell, 1999; Webler and Tuler, 2006); ensuring participants have the power to influence decisions (Fiorino, 1990; Laird, 1993; Chase et al., 2004; Tippett et al., 2007); understanding the needs and concerns of participants and communities (Salm et al., 2000); using multiple methods for participation (e.g., workshops, meetings, advisory committees, etc.) (Torgerson, 1986); providing technical assistance to the public (Richards et al., 2004); encouraging participation of native peoples (Elder, 1982; Torgerson, 1986); and conducting vigorous outreach and engaging liaisons to encourage public participation (Young et al., 1993).
For the purposes of this paper, “public participation” refers to the Initiative's collaborative participation model designed to actively engage local communities and members of the general public in multi-directional dialogue (and as explored in Innes and Booher (2004)). Conventional and unconventional outreach and engagement strategies described in this paper denote the mechanisms and tools developed to support and promote this collaborative approach. All other types of public participation, including legally mandated participation and/or involvement of stakeholder advisory groups are separately identified or referred to as “traditional” outreach. The co-authors of this paper were directly involved in the Initiative planning process; thus, the paper reflects a “participant-observer” perspective.
Section snippets
Background
Enacted in 1999, the MLPA directs the state of California to reevaluate and redesign its system of MPAs to increase its coherence and effectiveness at protecting the state's marine life, habitat, and ecosystems (Fish and Game Code § 2853 (a)).2
Meeting each region
When developing, applying, and adapting outreach and engagement strategies, it is fundamental to have a clear understanding of the internal workings of regional communities and target audiences. While strategies developed by the Initiative focused on engaging a diverse public in multi-dimensional dialogue, in each region there was a general formula to introducing the public to the MLPA and the Initiative, as well as offering the public key opportunities to participate.
Before any MPA planning
Tailoring strategies to reflect community needs and foster collaborative participation
The Initiative's collaborative evolution was rooted in outreach and engagement strategies that focused on a number of key themes, including building and maintaining relationships, understanding and responding to public needs and concerns, creating formal and informal opportunities for public engagement, reaching underrepresented groups, and developing a comprehensive media strategy. As outreach and engagement strategies were implemented, sufficient flexibility was retained to be responsive to
Considering trade-offs of a collaborative approach
The Initiative's collaborative participation approach involved a number of trade-offs, including project funding, delivery of neutral messaging, and the perceived value of engaging the public in a multi-dimensional dialogue. The Initiative did not seek additional funding to hire public engagement specialists or a media liaison in the south coast and north coast regions. Rather, the Initiative budget was reallocated to create the new Initiative contract positions and associated outreach tools
Conclusion
Experiences from the Initiative reveal that adopting a collaborative, inclusive participation model to support environmental planning and decision-making helps to: inform and involve a more diverse public audience; deepen mutual understandings and cross-interest relationships; explore and integrate new ideas and solutions that may not have been otherwise considered; and ensure that planning and decision-making is informed by the needs and interests of the affected communities. Key findings from
Acknowledgements
KS, CS, DC, AR, EP, MH, EP, DM, and BO were partially or fully supported by the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative during the MPA network planning process, with funding provided by the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation. The authors received no support from the Initiative in writing this manuscript. The authors wish to thank all members of the public who participated directly and indirectly in the Initiative for their meaningful contributions to improving California's network of MPAs.
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