This paper highlights the efforts by the Seremban Municipal Council in encouraging participation among local community at their administrative area. Public participation is the most vital component in a good governance model for local governments in achieving effective and efficient administration. It is very important for the local government to ensure the local community participates in the activities carried out by the council. Through interviews with public administrators of local authorities and secondary data gathered from the Seremban Municipal Council as well as the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the findings showed that there are challenges in public participation at the local government level. This is due to the public"s perceptions towards the local authority"s activities. In managing this challenge, awareness campaigns on local government activities should be conducted regularly. The findings from this study are significant in ensuring two-way communication and rapport between the communities and the local authority. This way, value added benefits can be shared between the stakeholders on a win-win situation.Contribution/ Originality: This study contributes in the public participation literature by revealing that the public has an idea and perception that they should not interfere in the administration of the council. The wrong understanding should be managed by the council to ensure that public participation can successfully be implemented.
Objective - The role of local government in LA21 is important in order to harness local level participation. In Malaysia, as in many other countries, the need to engage the public in sustainable development issues has shifted the focus to more decentralized and bottom up approaches in harnessing public participation in achieving sustainable development. This means that local authorities as the leading partners in LA21 need to work with the local community and the private sector to develop community action plans for sustainability under Local Agenda 21(LA21). Thus, the overall goal of the study is to determine how participation can best be implemented in LA21 programmes in selective councils by evaluating the key participatory mechanisms that have been employed by the councils.
Methodology/Technique - This is a qualitative study that was conducted on four specific councils in West and East Malaysia to determine the effectiveness of the participatory mechanisms used in LA21 programs. The main methods of data collection were through the use of semi-structured interviews, focus groups and document analysis.
Findings - The overall conclusion is that the councils were still using the conventional methods to encourage public participation and hence were not able to enhance public participation in the LA21 program.
Novelty - The study will not only create a framework for local councils intending to implement a bottom-up approach to participation but also establish a base-line description of participatory mechanisms in LA21 programmes to encourage further research in this area of evolving LA21 research.
Type of Paper: Empirical
Keywords: Public Participation; Participatory Mechanisms; Local Government; Local Agenda 21; Sustainable Development.
JEL Classification: H83, Q01.
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