The Ethics of Participatory Processes: Dynamic Flux, Open Questions

Abstract

Collaboration and participation are widely emphasized in environmental planning and management. This chapter describes a discussion group on the ethics of participatory processes, raises the possibility of translating the non-equilibrium or dynamic flux view of ecological complexity into a view of ethics and social action, and introduces five ideals for a “dynamic flux ethics”—engagement, participation, cultivating collaborators, transversality, and fostering curiosity. These ideals are linked to a schema woven out of the discussion group’s contributions. What sense of stewardship might come from participatory processes informed by this initial exploration of dynamic flux ethics is left as an open question.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Why Emphasize Collaboration in Environmental Research?

(Drawn from Taylor et al. 2011)

• A. Sum of the Parts

  • Combining multiple perspectives

    • When research is tied up with planning and management that involves meetings and networks of representatives of established and emerging stakeholder groups, research projects also need to integrate knowledge and questions from the different groups and kinds of research (Margerum 2008; Wondolleck and Yaffee 2000).

    • When researchers are concerned about social justice, they can shape their inquiries through on-going work with and empowerment of people whose lives stand to be most affected by some change in social policy or technological development, such as digging of deep wells for irrigation (Greenwood and Levin 1998).

    • When the knowledge and research skills of more than one person/speciality are needed, multi-disciplinary research teams are established.

    • When the labor of research, especially in data collection, is beyond any research group, amateurs—“citizen scientists”—can be sought as collaborators (Wikipedia n.d.; Barrow 2000).

    • Workshops and other organized multi-person collaborative processes in environmental research constitute a self-conscious example of what sociologists of science and technology have called “heterogeneous engineering” (Law 1987, i.e., the mobilization of heterogeneous resources by diverse agents spanning different realms of social action) (Taylor 2005, p. 93ff).

  • Extending over time

    • The nature of environmental complexity means that ongoing assessment (as against a one-time analysis) is needed, so an ongoing organization or group is formed to conduct the assessment, as recognized in the field of Adaptive Environmental Assessment and Management (Resilience Alliance n.d.; Gunderson et al. 1995).

  • Spanning distance

    • Researchers in separate projects and disparate locations use the tools of eco-informatics to link their data into a larger picture (Halpern et al. 2008).

• B. Greater than the Sum of the Parts (i.e., outcomes over and above A.)

  • Generating new perspectives

    • Knowledge and further research questions can be generated that the collaborators (individually or in sum) did not have when they came in (Olson and Eoyang 2001).

  • Durable

    • Guided by skillful facilitators, collaborators can become invested in the plans, policy, and ongoing collaborations that emerge from the research (Stanfield 2002, p. 17ff).

  • Developing capacities

    • Collaborators develop skills and dispositions for collaboration in various settings, as warranted by the rise of citizen participation and of new institutions of “civil society” (Burbidge 1997; Taylor 2005, p. 204ff).

Appendix 2: A Case of Participatory Community Planning in Northern Ontario

(Drawn from Taylor 2005)

As described in Stanfield (2002), the workshops of the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) elicit participation in a way that brings insights to the surface and ensures the full range of participants are invested in collaborating to bring the resulting plans or actions to fruition. Such investment was evident, for example, after a community-wide planning process in the West Nipissing region of Ontario, 300 km north of Toronto. In 1992, when the regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC) enlisted ICA to facilitate this process, industry closings had increased the traditionally high unemployment to crisis levels. The EDC wanted specific plans, but it also sought significant involvement from community residents. Twenty meetings with over 400 participants moved through the first three phases—vision, obstacles, and directions. The results were synthesized by a steering committee into common statements of the vision, challenges, and strategic directions. A day-long workshop attended by 150 community residents was then held to identify specific projects and action plans, and to engage various groups in carrying out projects relevant to them. A follow-up evaluation five years later found that it was not possible simply to check off plans that had been realized because the initial projects had spawned many others. Indeed, the EDC had been able to shift from the role of initiating projects to that of supporting them. It made more sense, therefore, to assemble the accomplishments under the headings listed in the original vision and strategy documents. Over 150 specific developments were cited, which demonstrated a stronger and more diversified economic base, and a diminished dependence on provincial and national government social welfare programs. What is especially noteworthy about this example is that the community came to see itself as responsible for these initiatives and developments, eclipsing the initial catalytic role of the EDC-ICA planning process. The EDC saw beyond their catalytic role and came to appreciate the importance of the emergent process and initiated a new round of facilitated community planning in 1999 (West Nipissing Economic Development Corporation 1993, 1999).

Postscript: In late 2002, a major employer in the West Nipissing region, Weyerhaeuser, closed its containerboard plant. A local newspaper article (Haddow 2003) quoted a Weyerhaeuser spokesperson: “[T]he decision to close the facility is not a reflection on the employees of Sturgeon Falls and their abilities and efforts… It was made for economic reasons beyond their control.” The spokesperson went on to explain that “the company’s preference would have been to keep all facilities running, but the market changes and current economic conditions forced their hand.” “If we as a company do not adapt, then we will not survive and none of our employees will have jobs.” The community sprang into action and threatened lawsuits, but the plant closure was not reversed.