Re-focusing research and researchers in public participation

Abstract

According to recent articles on public participation, the practice of involving citizens and organized stakeholders in decision making is continuing to expand in North America, Britain, Europe and the world at large. Despite this “rise of public participation” two pivotal questions that have been asked for a long time have not yet found conclusive answers: 1) Why should public participation be pursued at all? And 2) If participation is valid, how should it be implemented? Two distinct professional approaches have been used to find answers: One approach can be called “research-based” because both empirical research and the systematic study and development of theory are used. The other approach is named “craft-based” as it uses applied principles and methods and the resulting practical experiences to answer the two questions. This article argues that it is time for both researchers in public participation and researcher-practitioners to pay more attention to the craft-based approach. The article develops the argument in detail by discussing the situation of researcher-practitioners with regard to public participation, by resuming the answers which have been provided by research with regard to the two pivotal questions, and by discussing those answers that have been provided by the field of craft. The article concludes with a proposal of what the current situation in researchand craft-based disciplines of public participation” should entail for researchers.

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