Evaluating Public Involvement in Climate Change & Community Growth

This report delves into the significance of public participation in addressing climate change and fostering community development, using a case study from the University of Queensland, Australia. It highlights the importance of engaging the public in policy decisions related to climate change, drawing upon scholarly research to examine the structure, principles, and current events in this area. The report emphasizes that public involvement is crucial for ensuring that policies are inclusive, equitable, and sustainable. It further discusses the power of the people in civil decisions and policies, the decision-making structures involved, and the necessity of balancing technical expertise with democratic participation. The report concludes by advocating for greater commitment from governments and civil societies to translate the ideals of community engagement into practice, ensuring that public participation is inclusive, informed, and fair, ultimately leading to more effective and sustainable environmental policies.

Running head: PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 1
Public Involvement and Community Development
Name
Institution

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Executive Summary
Public participation is one of the critical ingredients in democratic societies. It is the
engagement of people to affairs that impact their lives either directly or indirectly. The main
objective of participation is to ensure public input in policies and ensure trust and sustainable
implementation of policies. In climate change, public participation ensures that all the
stakeholders are involved in the issues that affect climate and policies that seek to control further
depletion of the environment. It ensures people committed to the policies made because they feel
part of them and share in their aspirations.
In this report, public participation will be addressed in-depth using climate change public
participation at the University of Queensland in Australia. The event followed after worldwide
strikes of students, particularly in Brisbane. The ministry of environment in collaboration with
the ministry of education invited students for a workshop at the University of Queensland to
discuss and contribute to the global climate concerns and policy measures. The paper is divided
into a section with the first section giving background information about public participation and
global climate. The second part explores scholarly findings on various aspects of public
participation ranging from its importance, structure, principles, and current events in the climate
change arena. The description of the event and evaluation framework follow but before the
discussion of the event and recommendation to the team.

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Public Involvement and Community Development
Background Information
The discourse in climate change involves governments, agencies, and community. Public
participation is a democratic requirement that is critical in the ongoing debate about global
climatic change (Ojha, Ghimire, Pain, Nightingale, Khatri, & Dhungana, 2016). Different
approaches have been used to keep the public in touch with emerging issues besides
environmental changes (Lafont, 2015). Various methods have been ascribed to the public
participation regarding the contexts of involvement ranging from top-bottom and bottom-up
involvement which create a lot of tension in the typical application in terms of best practices,
public engagement structure, powers during participation (Berman, 2017). Therefore, it is
essential to focus on the approaches used in conducting public engagement and inclusion in such
a manner there is responsive decision and action.
The main question that arises in public participation is dynamics in people involvement
that should have shared goals for action (Taylor, 2017). Regarding the climatic changes, the
main concern is the vision of an equitable, low emission future. When talking about future, it
refers to the society where extensive knowledge is shared and inclusion holds a critical part in
driving practical and innovative climate-resilient solutions at the current time and for generations
to come (Kabisch et al., 2016). In this regard, it is well documented in all democratic
constitutions and regulations that together governments, civil societies, and various stakeholders
must have an orientation that is collaborative, country-driven, interdisciplinary, and culturally
adaptive. Therefore, rules and regulations are made to guide stakeholders to have a socially
inclusive policy and implementation in manners that reflect the societal dynamics. In essence,
the decisions on policy and implementation should be founded on the role of traditional,

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intergenerational, and gender-balanced knowledge and public participation (Birnmaum, 2016).
Public participation makes climate change everyone’s business. People value the decisions made
and actions taken converse the environment for future generations.
Therefore, public participation is a recognition that everyone has something important to
contribute towards the debate about climatic change. It not only seeks the opinion of the people
about policy decisions but also informs people on various ways they can relate and contribute to
a sustainable environment. It is a tradition for centuries scientists, and technical experts domineer
the discussion on environmental changes. In the contemporary world and particularly Australia,
growing private sector and civil societies are also taking center stage in making contributions to
form diversity of voices that are new, vocal, and innovative to finding environmental solutions.
Therefore, community participation is about forging long-term relationships, collaborations, and
conducting civic education among various interest groups. At the core of the community,
engagement is one of the critical element in the decision-making and implementation of a vision
for a greener earth. The engagement results in a transformative society that values the
environment since communities feel sharing in the core values, policies, decision, and actions
implemented as well as take individual action in making the difference.
At the core of this paper is the report on the community participation in global climate
change regarding public education, information, decision, and implementation processes. The
report evaluates the importance of public participation in climate change programs and ways to
make people identify with the government’s efforts and policies. The report will be based on a
community event in Australia convened to inform and gather opinions from the public on matters
climatic changes and mitigations for greener and cleaner environment. The paper will address the
delivery methods and framework for engaging the public. Therefore, it will offer an insightful

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basis for better and effective public participation in future to the government agencies and civil
societies.
Literature Review
Importance of Public Engagement
Despite most scholars protesting against public participation and terming it slow,
cumbersome, and wrought with conflicts (Funder & Mweemba, 2019; Eden, 2016; Scott, 2016).
Berry, Koski, Verkujil, Strambo, and Piggot (2019) researches have indicated that public
participation for sustainable environmental protection is critically essential. Public participation
requires multiple meetings, planning, and processes that need a lot of resources and time. It is
argued that the higher the number of involvement, the more the likelihood of different opinions
surfacing and hence to solve these opinion conflicts take time and resources. Regardless, public
engagement has redeeming value in that lack of open and engaging process can result to even
more conflicts (Rega and Baldizzzone, 2015). The involvement of people ensures there are
different perspectives from the community likely to be impacted by the policy decision.
Participation is critical in helping craft solutions on issues impacting the community. Ultimately,
public engagement is necessary but expedient and determines the sustainability of the project.
According to Fox and Stoett, there are more than 75 million people globally that take part in the
United Nation’s online survey on the 2030 Agenda (Fox and Stoett, 2016). The public
participation in environmental issues is embedded in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
with goal 16 calling for “responsive, inclusive, and participatory and representative decision-
making at all levels” (Stuart, 2017).
Regardless of the outcomes of public participation, policy-makers and environmental
advocates have termed it be intrinsic good. It is an essential requirement to involve impacted

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communities and other stakeholders in decision-making. Other researchers have identified public
engagement as a means to an end (Berry, Koski, Verkujil, Strambo, & Piggot 2019). For
instance, in making environmental decisions, people contribute to the quality of the decision
made by offering better and innovative insights. The lay-man perspective offers an essential
knowledge that is critical in the implementation of international climate commitments such as
Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development. Although these policies are at the international
levels, their implementation happens at the national, regional, and local levels. As such,
policymakers and decision-makers have a role in translating global decisions to locally available
knowledge (Fenton & Gustafsson, 2017). The bottom-up translation is required rather than a top-
down translation that disregards the civic engagement and hence, local priorities and context
(Fox & Stoett, 2016).
Community involvement is fundamental in policy implementation and increases the
legitimacy of the decision made and actions taken. It reduces conflicts in decision making and
implementation. Various research has found that regardless of the public opinion on the decision
and efforts made, the acceptability depends on their view on whether the participation process
free and fair (Ojha, Ghimire, Pain, Nightingale, Khatri, & Dhungana, 2016; Taylor, 2017).
Public involvement and education increase democratic progress in decision-making and hence
reduces public distrust on leaders and public agencies and decision and actions they make.
Similarly, public participation solves the problem of distrust in solving the environmental
issues which have been predominantly made by experts (Berman, 2017). Scientific contribution
to environmental issues is vital in such issues as global warming and climate change that can
only be understood from the scientific perspective. However, over-reliance on the technical
experts can cast a shadow on the civic participation and hence increase political interference on

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decisions made reduce accountability and equity. As a result, the debate on environmental
changes will be filled distrusts and gridlock. Public participation in policy-making and decision-
making reinvigorate civil debate and push decision forward.
Therefore, the delivery of promises of community engagement is vested on the
government and civil society commitment in translating the ideal into practice. For example,
participation will not be democratic if it is not inclusive. Also, the right people are needed, and
right information has to be given if quality decision-making is to be realized. Similarly,
community engagement can equally cause distrusts and conflicts if people perceive that the
process was not fair. Conclusively, four affirmations summarize the need for public
participation, which includes: People are more responsive to issues that impact them most. The
local community has better perspectives on decisions made and tend to make rational decisions
regarding their living environment and situations. Resources are needed in creating people’s
voice and reactiveness, and local people participation enhance the sustainability of the project or
policy implementation.
The Power of People in Civil Decisions and Policies
The power of the people can take many forms depending on the intended changes. In
environmental changes, the power is distributed across a broad spectrum of the government, civil
societies, and locals (Cuajunco & Anderson, 2015). People power are manifested during
consultation through public participation and at the time of policy or decision implementation.
The civil power is a process that provides private individuals an opportunity to influence the
public decision in a democratic process. In essence, the power of people can be explained in
terms of 3Ps; that is, people, power, and politics (Cuajunco & Anderson, 2015). Civil decision
making is a system that involves government, civil societies, and communities. Each of these

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groups has privileges and powers in policy-making, but public participation supersedes the rest
in that the people have to be involved in decisions that impact them. Fundamentally, people have
the power to decide on issues that affect them either directly or indirectly. The power of people is
manifested through their contributions during public participation. For instance, the debate on
climate change focuses on the policies and actions as measures for mitigation. The policies are
implemented at the national, regional, and local levels. Therefore, the effectiveness of policy
implementation is determined by the levels of involvement and trust. Reason being, people have
control over the implementation process, especially on issues affecting them and hence lack of
participation in decision-making hamper progress.
Decision-Making Structure
The theory of public participation gives the broad categories of structures in decision-
making. The theory identifies the technocratic approach and democratic approach (Stie, 2015).
Each of these approaches is used depending on the circumstance in decision making. The
technocratic approach involves the application of technical knowledge, expertise, techniques,
and methods of policy-making actions (Stie, 2015). Democratic approach, on the other hand,
involves civil participation in planning and policy making and implementation (Stie, 2015).
The technocratic decision-making is applied in making complex decisions. The approach
requires a trained expert to make technical decisions (Ojha, Ghimire, Pain, Nightingale, Khatri,
& Dhungana, 2016). Climate change requires both democratic and technical approach where
scientific opinion and decisions are made as a guide to democratic decisions. For instance,
making decisions regarding Ozone layer depletion and global warming heavily rely on the
scientific findings which inform the public decision making. However, it is considered to not
only contribute to social problems like distrusts and conflicts in decision-making but also fail to

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solve them. Nevertheless, the approach can be used as an alternative solution to public policy
issues.
On the other hand, democratic decision making is vested on the assumption that people
have the right to be involved in making decisions that impact on them (Carvalho, van Wessel, &
Maeseele, 2017). The public participation, in this case, can be either through representatives by
the use of the pluralistic model. It is essential to evaluate policies in a democratic process so that
the policies made are accessible and reflect social and political issues in society.
Tenets of Best Practices
It is generally agreed that the government and other civil societies and agencies cannot
direct the actions of the public without their co-operation. It is assumed that progressive climate
change policies can only be realized if the individuals, communities, and public serves are
engaged in the decision-making process. As such, public participation is guided by basic tenets
of best practices as discussed below (Kanu, Tyonum, & Uchegbu, 2018). The public
participation has to be:
a. Adapted to the context: The fundamental idea is to understand and appreciate the social
institution, values, and culture that underlies the community of interest. In this endeavor,
the agency in public participation has to uphold respect for historical, cultural,
environmental, political and social backgrounds as they pertain to the global climate
change and which are impacted by the policy decision.
b. Informative and proactive: The public has to be informed about the policy-making
event and how the policy is likely to impact on their lives. The notification to the people
increases their interests and motivation to participate.

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c. Adaptive and communicative: Each approach to public participation has to consider the
heterogeneous state of the public in terms of demographics, knowledge, power, values,
and interests. Thus, the team needs to have a guide on the rules of effective
communication in a diverse population.
d. Inclusive and equitable: The participation should put into consideration the inclusion of
all the interests’ groups without excluding the marginalized or underrepresented. Creation
of inclusion and equitability in public participation ensures that the underrepresented
groups, including women, children, elderly, and people with disabilities, are defended.
Also, equity is created when policies and decisions are made in consideration of a
sustainable environment for future generations.
e. Educative: The participation should carry the principles of education to enhance
understanding of all stakeholders. The educative participation should put to consideration
the varied values, interests, rights, and obligations in the individuals and groups.
f. Cooperative: The primary aim of public participation is to promote cooperation,
convergence, and consensus but not confrontation. The event should be engaging to bring
together the conflicting public opinions and values into a consensus that is generally
accepted and fair to the majority. The decision made should be practical and sustainable.
g. Imputable: The event should be used to improve the climate policy taking to account the
opinion of the individuals, community, and other social groups. Therefore, the public
participation process should include reporting and feedback to the public about the
process and how their opinion has helped and contributed to the policy decision.
Strikes and Social Movements

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Lack of public participation in climate policies has led to strikes in various parts of the
world. According to the report by The Guardian, people have engaged in mass action over global
climate concerns and government inaction. Glenza, Evans, Ellis-Peterson, and Zhou (2019)
reported on world strikes over climate change. On March 15th, 2019, “youth strike to act on
climate change” went for a peaceful strike in Nantes to demonstrate the need for action in global
climate change. In the same month, a young student in Santa Fe in New Mexico, Hannah Laga
Abram demonstrated for radical change to address the ever-worsening condition global climate.
Student poses for a photo at Metropolitan Cathedral in Zocalo in Mexico City. (Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/live/2019/mar/15/climate-strikes-2019-live-latest-
climate-change-global-warming)
Strauss (2019) reported that thousands of students around the world skipped school to
protest and demand action on climate change.

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Protestors throw a ball depicting the earth during the “Global Strike For Future” at Stockholm.
(Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/05/24/students-around-world-skip-
school-protest-demand-action-climate-change/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.da244552fd59
Additionally, Smith (2019) through The Conversation reported on the many strikes that
have taken place in Australia protesting inaction on climate change.
Students in Brisbane’s strike in March 2019. (Source: https://theconversation.com/young-people-
wont-accept-inaction-on-climate-change-and-theyll-be-voting-in-droves-116361)
Purpose of the Event