Is the Jury Still Out? Toward Greater Insight in Policy Learning in Participatory Decision Processes&amp;#8212;the Case of Dutch Citizens' Juries on Water Management in the Rhine Basin

Huitema, D.; Cornelisse, Corinne; Ottow, Bouke

doi:10.5751/es-03260-150116

Cited by 60 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The factors are drawn from several sources [3,5,[18][19][20][21]. This typology has been used in several empirical studies to conceptualise and measure learning in collective settings relevant to environmental governance [3,27,30,31]. The first two learning types resonate strongly with the policy learning literature [27] whereas relational learning reflects the notions of understanding others' roles and capacities, which are developed in the social learning literature [28,32].…”

Section: Definition and Typology Of Policy Learningmentioning

confidence: 98%

Stimulating Learning through Policy Experimentation: A Multi-Case Analysis of How Design Influences Policy Learning Outcomes in Experiments for Climate Adaptation

McFadgen

Huitema

2017

Water

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Abstract:Learning from policy experimentation is a promising way to approach the "wicked problem" of climate adaptation, which is characterised by knowledge gaps and contested understandings of future risk. However, although the role of learning in shaping public policy is well understood, and experiments are expected to facilitate learning, little is known about how experiments produce learning, what types of learning, and how they can be designed to enhance learning effects. Using quantitative research methods, we explore how design choices influence the learning experiences of 173 participants in 18 policy experiments conducted in the Netherlands between 1997 and 2016. The experiments are divided into three "ideal types" that are expected to produce different levels and types of learning. The findings show that policy experiments produce cognitive and relational learning effects, but less normative learning, and experiment design influenced three of six measured dimensions of learning, especially the cognitive learning dimensions. This reveals a trade-off between designing for knowledge development and designing for normative or relational changes; choices that experiment designers should make in the context of their adaptation problem. Our findings also show the role leadership plays in building trust.

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Section: Definition and Typology Of Policy Learningmentioning

confidence: 98%

Stimulating Learning through Policy Experimentation: A Multi-Case Analysis of How Design Influences Policy Learning Outcomes in Experiments for Climate Adaptation

McFadgen

Huitema

2017

Water

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“…Because the arguments we are making are based on articles already published in this journal (see Huitema et al , 2010 we will be succinct and the reader who is interested in a full explanation, including for instance a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of the four prescriptions, is referred to these earlier publications.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We feel such a restricted focus is warranted because learning logically precedes course reversals, or the dismantling of flexible infrastructures. To analyze learning, we apply the typology, i.e., cognitive, normative, and relational learning, that was described in this journal by Huitema et al (2010). Therefore, we answer three questions, centered on the management of the Venice lagoon in Italy:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive Comanagement in the Venice Lagoon? An Analysis of Current Water and Environmental Management Practices and Prospects for Change

Munaretto¹,

Huitema²

2012

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Adaptive comanagement (ACM) is often suggested as a way of handling the modern challenges of environmental governance, which include uncertainty and complexity. ACM is a novel combination of the learning dimension of adaptive management and the linkage dimension of comanagement. As has been suggested, there is a need for more insight on enabling policy environments for ACM success and failure. Picking up on this agenda we provide a case study of the world famous Venice lagoon in Italy. We address the following questions: first, to what extent are four institutional prescriptions typically associated with ACM currently practiced in the Venice system? Second, to what extent is learning taking place in the Venice system? Third, how is learning related to the implementation or nonimplementation of the prescriptions of ACM in the Venice system? Our analysis is based on interviews with stakeholders, participatory observation, and archive data. This paper demonstrates that the prescriptions of ACM are hardly followed in the Venice lagoon, but some levels of cognitive learning do take place, albeit very much within established management paradigms. Normative and relational learning are much rarer and when they do occur, they seem to have a relatively opportunistic reason. We propose that in particular the low levels of collaboration, because the governance system was deliberately set up in a hierarchical and mono-centric way, and the limited possibilities for stakeholder participation are implicated in this finding because they cause low levels of social capital and an incapacity to handle disagreements and uncertainty very well.

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“…For example, while stakeholder engagement and empowerment are often cited attributes of participatory processes, there is little evidence of the effectiveness of participation regarding empowerment, little acknowledgement of the many barriers to effective engagement, and very rare evaluation of engagement protocols (Carter, 2010;Cleaver, 1999). Similarly, while the main expected outcome from participation is mutual learning, which in turn is expected to lead to better informed decisions and better acceptance of decisions (von Korff et al, 2012), the learning-approach that underpins the participatory process is often poorly conceptualized, and the efficacy of participatory protocols with respect to learning is rarely evaluated (Huitema et al, 2010;Newig and Fritsch, 2009;Rowe and Frewer, 2000). There is therefore a need for participatory protocols that clearly define the pathway that leads to effective stakeholder engagement and mutual learning, and provide the mechanisms that allow the evaluation of the participatory process and outcomes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating knowledge exchange and the assessment of dryland management alternatives – A learning-centered participatory approach

Bautista

Campanyà

Ocampo‐Melgar

et al. 2017

Journal of Environmental Management

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a b s t r a c tThe adoption of sustainable land management strategies and practices that respond to current climate and human pressures requires both assessment tools that can lead to better informed decision-making and effective knowledge-exchange mechanisms that facilitate new learning and behavior change. We propose a learning-centered participatory approach that links land management assessment and knowledge exchange and integrates science-based data and stakeholder perspectives on both biophysical and socio-economic attributes. We outline a structured procedure for a transparent assessment of land management alternatives, tailored to dryland management, that is based on (1) principles of constructivism and social learning, (2) the participation of stakeholders throughout the whole assessment process, from design to implementation, and (3) the combination of site-specific indicators, identified by local stakeholders as relevant to their particular objectives and context conditions, and science-based indicators that represent ecosystem services of drylands worldwide. The proposed procedure follows a pattern of eliciting, challenging, and self-reviewing stakeholder perspectives that aims to facilitate learning. The difference between the initial baseline perspectives and the final self-reviewed stakeholder perspectives is used as a proxy of learning. We illustrate the potential of this methodology by its application to the assessment of land uses in a Mediterranean fire-prone area in East Spain. The approach may be applied to a variety of socio-ecological systems and decision-making and governance scales.

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Is the Jury Still Out? Toward Greater Insight in Policy Learning in Participatory Decision Processes—the Case of Dutch Citizens' Juries on Water Management in the Rhine Basin

Cited by 60 publications

References 18 publications

Stimulating Learning through Policy Experimentation: A Multi-Case Analysis of How Design Influences Policy Learning Outcomes in Experiments for Climate Adaptation

Stimulating Learning through Policy Experimentation: A Multi-Case Analysis of How Design Influences Policy Learning Outcomes in Experiments for Climate Adaptation

Adaptive Comanagement in the Venice Lagoon? An Analysis of Current Water and Environmental Management Practices and Prospects for Change

Integrating knowledge exchange and the assessment of dryland management alternatives – A learning-centered participatory approach

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