This study focusses on community participation in the delivery of incremental housing. The community participation approach and incremental housing approach share the same goals and have the aim of community driven development. The study outlines the goals and objectives of community participation and the principles of incremental housing. Meeting these objectives and principles in the delivery of incremental housing can help address the housing backlog in South Africa. Moreover, community participation and incremental growth of housing, if implemented according to their principles and objectives can ensure that beneficiaries needs are met. This is possible because the end users execute and drive their own development. As a result they are in a position to articulate their housing development priorities. For the purposes of this study, two theories are used. The two theories contextualise community participation and are relevant to the South African situation. There are different notions of community participation that have different implications for housing delivery. This study looks at the assumptions that the literature makes about the nature of community participation. The study reflects on international experiences with regard to the implementation of community participation approach. International experiences indicate that some projects have been a success, while others have not. This study's, recommendations forthe South African context are drawn from the findings of this study and other international projects which have been successful in implementing community participation. A survey in this study has been conducted for the purpose of highlighting realities regarding the implementation of community participation. The survey will enable the study to inform the current housing policy about the realities of practising community participation in the delivery of incremental housing. / Thesis (M.U.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.

An analysis of the literature on sustainability reveals that community decision making is an important component in the definition and implementation of sustainability. Although the importance of participation by all members of a community is stressed in the literature, analysis of marginalized groups focuses mainly on class and culture. When gender lines are explored, it is mostly within the context of the developing world. The purpose of this research was to examine the nature of women's participation in defining and implementing sustainability. This exploration had three objectives: to define effective public participation in the context of local level environmental decision making, to identify barriers to women inherent in public participation processes associated with environmental planning decisions and to make recommendations which eliminate barriers to women's participation in planning decisions. Barriers to women's participation were divided into three categories: institutional, community and societal. This research used a case study approach with multiple sources of evidence to examine these barriers. The public participation process involved in developing the Squamish Estuary Management Plan was analyzed to explore the nature and extent of women's participation. Research methods included document and newspaper coverage analysis, interviews and workshops. These revealed that specific barriers exist which discourage and prevent women from participating in planning decisions. At an institutional level, these included lack of trust, centralized decision-making, poor communication structures, an atmosphere that was not childfriendly and the failure to present the Plan in a way which was relevant to women's lives. Community barriers consisted of the fear of retaliation and the large number of community issues. Societal barriers identified were the devaluing of women's voices, level of income and the restrictions caused by women's societal roles. These barriers reduced the effectiveness of the public participation process. Results were used to develop a series of recommendations about how to encourage women's participation in decision-making, ensuring that women in communities are involved in shaping and defining sustainability.

These are challenging times for parks and protected areas in British Columbia as these areas have increased in size and use, while resources for managing them have shrunk considerably. Environmental nongovernment organisations (ENGOs) have recognized these threats and as a result are becoming increasingly involved in the stewardship of parks and protected areas. As the provincial government authority responsible for their management, BC Parks acknowledges that the needs and aspirations of people living in and around these areas must somehow be integrated in their management in order to ensure their long-term viability, and that ENGOs have valuable knowledge and skills to offer in this regard. As a result, cooperative arrangements, or partnerships, are being increasingly explored as a mutually beneficial means of forwarding BC Parks' mandate of conservation and recreation, and the mandate of similarly-minded ENGOs. The central purpose of this thesis is to identify essential criteria that must be met for cooperative arrangements between ENGOs and BC Parks to be successful. The study focusses on four current, successful partnerships. Research methods included a literature review and interviews with representatives from each of the participating BC Parks districts and ENGOs. The thesis presents a number of key findings that have significant import to the successful planning, implementation and management of cooperative arrangements for parks and protected areas. In addition to the criteria identified as central to their success, certain process-based actions have relevance to fulfilling the criteria. The level of trust between partners also has an impact on relations, which is enhanced when the criteria are met and over the course of time. The expectations of parties with regard to the extent of power-sharing and how this is exhibited in the cooperative arrangement also affects the perceived level of success of partners and therefore their commitment to the partnership.

Un intérêt grandissant pour le rôle du citoyen dans la prise de décision concernant la vie publique se développe depuis les dernières années. Le développement et la mise en oeuvre de divers mécanismes de participation citoyenne, comme les conférences citoyennes, témoignent de cet intérêt. Nombre de ces expériences ont fait l'objet d'une évaluation, mais essentiellement au niveau de l'efficacité ou du succès de l'exercice. Peut-on les évaluer sur le plan de l’éthique? Quels sont les défis éthiques posés par les mécanismes de participation citoyenne? Ce mémoire évalue une expérience de conférence citoyenne portant sur les avancées de la biologie humaine à l’ère de la génomique mise sur pied par le Groupe de recherche en bioéthique (GREB) de l’Université de Montréal en 2005. À l’aide du concept de l’éthique de la discussion, telle que proposée par quatre auteurs québécois, une analyse qualitative est effectuée sur six documents rédigés dans le cadre de la conférence. Deux catégories de résultats sont discutées. D’abord, les divers éléments relatifs à la conférence citoyenne qui ont soulevé notre attention. Ensuite, les préoccupations des participants en lien avec la science, la société et la participation. Une meilleure compréhension des aspects éthiques auxquels on devrait accorder une attention particulière contribuera à l’amélioration du mécanisme de conférence citoyenne et à son utilisation à long terme. / In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the role of citizens in public decision-making. This interest is reflected in the development and implementation of various citizen participation mechanisms, such as citizen conferences (also known as consensus conferences). Many of these experiences have been evaluated, but mainly in terms of their effectiveness or success. What are the ethical challenges posed by citizen participation mechanisms? This study looks at a citizen conference on advances in human biology in the era of genomics, held by the Groupe de recherche en bioéthique (GREB) of the Université de Montréal in 2005. The concept of discourse ethics, as developed by four Quebec authors, is used to conduct a qualitative analysis of six documents from the conference. Two categories of results are discussed: noteworthy aspects of the citizen conference and participants’ concerns with regard to science, society and their participation. A better understanding of key ethical issues will help to improve citizen conferences and their long-term use.

Efforts to resolve environmental planning and decision-making conflicts usually focus on participant involvement, mutual understanding of the problem situation, evaluation criteria identification, data availability, and potential alternative solutions. However, as the alternatives become less distinct and participant values more diverse, intensified negotiations and more data are usually required for meaningful planning and decision-making. Consequently, questions such as "What collaborative spatial decision making design is best for a given context?" "How can the values and needs of stakeholders be integrated into the planning process?" and "How can we learn from decision making experiences and understanding of the past?" are crucial considerations. Answers to these questions can be developed around the analytic and discursive approaches that transform diffused subjective judgments into systematic consensus-oriented resolutions. / This dissertation examines the above issues through the design, implementation, and assessment of the Collaborative Spatial Delphi (CSD) Methodology. The CSD methodology facilitates spatial thinking and discursive strategies to describe the complex social-technical dynamics associated with the knowledge-structuring-consensus nexus of the participation process. The CSD methodology describes this nexus by synthesizing research findings from knowledge management, focus group theory, systems theory, integrated assessment, visualization and exploratory analysis, and transformative learning all represented within a collaborative geographic information system (GIS) framework. / The CSD methodology was implemented in multiple contexts. Its use in two contexts - strategic planning and management of urban green spaces in Montreal (Canada); and priority setting for North American biodiversity conservation - are reported in detail in this dissertation. The summative feedbacks from all the CSD planning workshops help incrementally improve the design of the CSD process. This dissertation also reports on the design and use of questionnaire surveys to incorporate local realities into planning, as well as the development of an evaluation index to assess the face validity and effectiveness of the CSD process from the perspective of workshop participants. / The accumulated evidence from the CSD implementations suggests that many core issues exist across spatial problem solving situations. Thus, the design and specification of a core collaborative process model provides benefits for knowledge exchange. General systems theory was used to classify the core technical components of the collaborative GIS design, and soft systems theory was used to characterize the human activity dynamics. Object oriented principles enabled the generation of a flexible domain model, and the unified modelling language (UML) visually described the collaborative process. The CSD methodology is used as a proof of concept. / This dissertation contributes to knowledge in the general areas of Geography, Geographic information systems and science, and Environmental decision making. The specific contributions are threefold. First, the CSD provides a synthesis of multi-disciplinary theories and a tested tool for environmental problem solving. Second, the CSD facilitates a fusion of local and technical knowledge for more realistic consensus planning outcomes. Third, an empirical-theoretical visual formalism of the CSD allows for process knowledge standardization and sharing across problem solving situations.

Community-university projects have been a common practice in most western countries since the 1960s. However, such projects are very rare in Israel. This thesis explores the possible methods by which architecture and urban planning schools and low-income communities can cooperate and examines the ways these methods can be implemented in Israel. / The research investigates several community-university projects practiced in North America between the 1960s and 1990s. A set of interviews conducted with directors of schools of architecture and urban planning as well as with different actors in community-based organizations in Israel enlarges, hopefully, the understanding of the eventual possibility for such projects to exist in Israel. / This research reveals that although involvement of Israeli architecture and urban planning students in community issues has been so far rather limited, there are both demand and will among schools of architecture and community-based organizations to cooperate in the future. In conclusions, basic guidelines for a community-university project are given, tailor made for the Israeli context.

This study reviews some of the trends in the theory and practice of public participation processes as an element of policy development. It attempts to locate public participation within a theoretical framework for policy development based on the work of Kingdon (Agendas, Alternatives and Public Policies, 2nd ed. 1995) on policy streams, and that of Roe (Narrative Policy Analysis. 1994) on the use of discourse analysis. It uses the KwaZulu-Natal Waste Management Policy process as a case study and shows that it is possible to combine these two theories to come to a better understanding of the way in which policy is arrived at. The policy streams proposed by Kingdon are identified in the case study and the 'crisis', which moved the issue of waste management onto the decision agenda, is described. Two dominant narratives that emerge from a series of interviews are discerned, together with two counter narratives. By comparing and contrasting these a metanarrative is developed that meets Roe's criteria for telling a better story and so becomes the basis for the final policy. Public participation is shown as being a useful way of ensuring that alternative 'stories' are included in the shaping of policy and so allowing a metanarrative to emerge. Some conclusions about the implications of the analysis for future processes are drawn. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

For over a century, wildlife in Southern Africa has come under the exclusive management of states, which tends to centre on the exclusion of local communities from wildlife areas. In many cases, this approach has led to the hostility of wildlife management policies by excluded communities. This widespread dissatisfaction has caused a paradigm shift in conservation thinking towards a more community-based conservation (CBC) approach. A major assumption of this new approach is that providing socio-economic benefits on a sustainable basis to formerly excluded communities will result in conservation. Indeed, some advocates of this management regime have stressed community incorporation and inclusion as the only path to conservation. As a result, numerous CBC initiatives have been implemented throughout the African sub-region over the past ten years with varied success. As there is no alternative to the CBC concept that attempts to enhance all three elements, namely the economic, social and biological components, of the sustainable development premise in conservation areas, it is imperative to ensure that CBC initiatives are monitored and evaluated in order to determine what the recurring problems and challenges are in implementing and running such initiatives so as to achieve the three sustainable development goals. By establishing what these recurring challenges are during the implementation process, a broad framework of necessary principles, criteria, pre-requisites and co-requisites can be established to guide future CBC initiatives. The purpose of this study is to identify the successes, challenges and problems that have either enhanced or detracted from the socio-economic and biological elements of CBC initiatives during the implementation processes of different projects. Previous documented project examples from around the sub-region, as well as two case study examples of CBC initiatives in KwaZulu-Natal, namely the Mabaso Community Game Reserve and the Usuthu Gorge Community Conservation Area, are used in this thesis to best determine how to enhance the social and economic elements of the sustainable development premIse III order to achieve, in theory, the biological components necessary for a successful conservation strategy. The findings within this study, from the case study examples and secondary research, show that there are several recurring challenges and problems shared by initiators of CBC initiatives throughout the sub-continent. Issues include long project implementation periods due to government bureaucracy, planning procedures and the necessity to gain community support; debates over devolution of authority to local municipalities or tribal authorities; the risks of elite capture and/or the free rider concept whereby individuals do not change their hunting practices despite communal benefits accruing from wildlife conservation; community participation and benefit distribution; as well as the need to have clear communication channels between the community and the project implementers. The main conclusions drawn from this study emphasise several needs necessary for making CBC initiatives sustainable for the long term. Firstly, CBC initiatives need to conserve as well as create a variety of different ways for communities to earn a living and to minimise any disruption by CBC projects of pre-existing livelihood strategies carried out by local residents. Secondly, there needs to be a provision of outside assistance to facilitate local projects and to ensure the development of the necessary skills for local communities to eventually take on the initiatives themselves. Thirdly, clearly defined property rights, as well as conflict resolution mechanisms and the enforcement of any rules and regulations are further crucial criteria. Fourthly, it is important for communities to avoid exploitation and to maximise any benefits accruing from private investors utilising local community resources by developing favourable legal contracts. Fifthly, it was found that the inclusion of tribal structures in both the case study examples increased the trust and feeling of ownership by the respective communities. Finally, it was found that CBC projects require specific locations and the right criteria to be in place for their successful implementation. Not all communities or communal areas meet these criteria, which is why CBC should be seen more as an important and necessary supplement to conservation strategies as opposed to a holistic conservation policy tool. / Thesis (M.Dev. Studies)-University of Natal, Durban, 2004.

For decades, South Africa has been heavily infested by invasive alien plants. As a result there is concern over the increasing rate at which the alien plants are replacing indigenous vegetation. Another concern regarding the invasive alien plants is the indirect stress they pose on the environment due to their excessive water consumption. As a result of this, government of South Africa, through the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Acts (43 of 1983) and other environmental legislation, mandates and encourages the removal of invasive alien plants from the landscapes of South Africa. The need for removal of these invasive alien plants led to the formation of the Working for Water Programme (WfW), which is based on a novel approach to environmental management. It contends that the invasion of ecosystems by invasive alien plants could have detrimental effects on water yields from catchment areas, and that employing people to deal with the problem could both protect this vital resource and provide employment and upliftment in poor rural communities. It has been suggested that the supply of information to the public about invasive alien plants is generally poor, to the extent that many people are the causal agents of these plants entering their communities (McNeely 1999). If this lack of awareness is the case, then understanding the drivers of local knowledge which will feed into public awareness is essential to change public perceptions and values surrounding invasive alien plants. It is important to understand local knowledge in order to determine gaps in information transfer and enable them to make decisions that are grounded in local cultural interpretations of place and their environment (Ebohon et al 2000). It is also important to ii understand what the local communities know and what they need to know about these invasive alien plants. This study is premised on developing an understanding of local knowledge and perceptions about invasive alien plants. The assumption is that those involved in the programme would display positive values towards the environment. It is also assumed that those involved in the programme have developed their local/traditional knowledge of invasive alien plants through the educational component of WfW programme. A case study approach of Upper Illovu Working for Water project was adopted. The research was carried out by means of questionnaire interviews. The respondents were drawn from Indaleni community in Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal. Thirty respondents were interviewed and this was inclusive of the field workers, contractors, project manager and people who were not involved in the project but from the same community. Those not involved in the project were used as a control group. Five objectives were utilized to investigate the aim of this study. They were to: a) Determine the respondents’ relationship to, and perceptions of the Upper Illovu WfW project b) Establish the respondents’ understanding and perceptions about the levels of invasive alien plants in the area c) Determine the respondents’ knowledge and perceptions pertaining to prevention of the spread of invasive alien plants iii d) Establish the respondents’ competencies in controlling and managing invasive alien plants and e) Establish the respondents’ perceptions about the project’s ability to deliver on its objectives. The results of this study indicate that most of the respondents were aware of the Upper IIlovu WfW project and its ecological and social upliftment objectives. The pattern of the responses was such that those that did not participate in the project (control group) were for the most part not sure about their responses. Although those who participated in the project displayed better knowledge of issues concerning invasive alien plants, there were many occasions when they failed to provide some responses without being prompted – given clues or examples. To conclude, there was, therefore, a significant knowledge gap about invasive alien plants and information pertaining to them between the two groups. The implications are that those involved with the project must have received some form of information through public awareness about invasive alien plants. That is their traditional knowledge about these invasive plants has been developed by the education from the programme, WfW. But most importantly, the programme remains a key for economic reasons from the perspective of the participants. The need for constant improvement and development of local knowledge regarding these invasive alien plants is important in dealing with their spread and management of their effects on the environment. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

Colonial conservation emerged as colonial conservationists perceived the threat of deforestation, climatic change and famine. The sense that there were limits to nature's capacity to meet human demands, led to colonial conservationism which portrayed nature as separated from human life. Protected areas (PA's), both forest and game reserves, were created that excluded local people in terms of both access and management. In South Africa the National Forests Act 84 of 1998 has created new conditions in which there is a greater opportunity for communities to benefit from indigenous forests, which apart from their other uses are a valuable resource from the point of view of ecotourism. This study thus seeks to assess moves from exclusivist to community based forms of environmental decision-making (EDM) at Dlinza Forest Nature Reserve. This study provides an example of an ecotourism project started during the democratic period in South Africa and at the height of the global move to community conservation. First however it traces the management history of the forest in order to assess change in the management style over time. The study investigates rural people's attitudes towards the forest and it was found that although the forest was preserved for many years, the rural people still feel much attached to it as a result of the beliefs they have about it. The study contrasts different visions of the forest in terms of competing use and non-use values, and demonstrates that each group exercised its will and attempted to display "ownership" of the forest through a number of activities undertaken at the forest. An analysis of the public participation followed in terms of the ecotourism project was undertaken to determine the extent to which the rural community was involved. Theoretical models of environmental decision-making were applied in order to identify the mode of decisionmaking used historically and in the present. The results of the study show that poor rural people are still marginalized in EDM despite the new philosophies of PA management and the democratising shifts taking place in the country. Resistance to the policies and regulations of the reserve has been observed and this may lead to severe degradation of the resources that the reserve is meant to protect. The study thus recommends strengthening locally based EDM via partnerships as partnerships do not only provide relief for the consequences of conflict, they also strive for a win-win situation. The study concluded that greater involvement of the rural community requires a change in the mindset of conservation authorities, in particular with regard to the issue of representivity in EDM. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2004.