Through a case study analysis of the Central Park placemaking initiative in Winnipeg, this Major Degree Project explores the process of collaborative planning with new immigrant communities. While existing research examines the potential of placemaking to promote physical improvements through collaborative planning, we know less about whether placemaking initiatives achieve the long-term social outcomes associated with collaborative planning theory. Located in downtown Winnipeg, Central Park is surrounded by a diverse multi-cultural community, consisting of many new immigrants. In 2008, the CentreVenture Development Corporation launched a placemaking initiative to revitalize Central Park. The community was a key collaborator in the planning and design process. This thesis examines the long-term social outcomes of this initiative. The main research methods for this project include key informant interviews, and archival and secondary source analysis of existing data. The research finds that collaborative planning processes offer the potential to promote sustainable inner city neighbourhood revitalization. Placemaking through collaborative planning can develop new institutional capacity for participants. By developing and harnessing relational, intellectual and political resources communities can mobilize co-ordinated action toward future initiatives. The findings of this research advance the literature and understanding of collaborative planning processes, particularly within the context of placemaking with new immigrant communities. This thesis adds to the literature of inner city neighbourhood revitalization and collaborative planning theory. / October 2015

Governing agencies increasingly employ collaborative forms of decision-making in fisheries management to improve decision quality and legitimacy. However, crafting fair and effective collaborative processes which will achieve these benefits is often difficult. In an effort to identify keys and obstacles to success, this research evaluated the Commercial Groundfish Initiative, a collaborative planning process tasked with reforming the management of Canada's Pacific groundfish fisheries. Using semi-structured interviews, I gathered the perspectives of participants from the two committees within the process: a consensus-based committee of commercial representatives and a committee broadly representative of other interest groups for which consensus was encouraged but not mandated. Control over the design of a proposal for management reform was asymmetrically divided between the two committees, giving the commercial committee the primary role. Participants from the commercial committee expressed high levels of support for their consensus process. Keys to this committee’s success in reaching a high quality agreement were (i) a strong incentive to cooperate, (ii) consensus decision-making, and (iii) independent process facilitation. The latter two functioned as security measures against the potential for process manipulation by participants or governing agencies. Results from an examination of the broader committee indicate non-commercial respondents were largely accepting of an “oversight” role provided that the scope for their input remained sufficient, which it did not. Early involvement in tasks such as designing the process and defining objectives were particularly critical to non-commercial respondents’ perceptions of procedural fairness and their ability to participate effectively. Several participants also raised concerns that the process was not appropriately representative of groups with an interest in groundfish management. The poor performance of the process in these respects overshadowed positive aspects of broadening participation beyond commercial users. Consensus approaches have gained currency among commercial participants as a result of their positive experience and made some of them more willing to consider meaningful collaboration with a broader range of interest groups. The ineffectiveness of the broader committee suggests there is still work to do in designing processes that will actually achieve this meaningful, broad collaboration.

This research explored the role of science and civil society environmental organizations in conservation planning, using a case study of Ontario’s Long Point region. Science is a dynamic field that is constantly adapting and evolving and is increasingly relied on as a basis for decision-making in conservation planning, policy and management. The role of civil society in conservation planning has also grown and organizations that operate outside of government now play an important role in acquiring land, conducting monitoring activities, and promoting local stewardship. Considering the activities of these organizations, and the underlying science that informs them, is essential given the increasing prevalence of this type of work and the increasing ability of civil society organizations to affect conservation planning outcomes. Through a literature review, document analysis, and semi-structured interviews, this research considered how characterizations of science, applications of science, and recent trends in science have influenced conservation plans, policies, and actions in the Long Point region. The results illustrate how different forms of information were considered and applied when prioritizing, justifying, and implementing conservation projects and provide a location-specific example of how the modern features of conservation planning and management are influencing environmental outcomes. Specifically, the results suggest how place-based knowledge can potentially be disseminated through policy and planning initiatives and also suggest how different forms of information may interact to influence overall project credibility. These findings have implications for both planning theory and practice by contributing to our understanding of the role of science in shaping conservation practices, the role of civil society in driving conservation innovation, and the importance of local knowledge in supporting effective conservation actions. / Thesis (Master, Urban & Regional Planning) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-05 20:55:39.924

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Governing agencies increasingly employ collaborative forms of decision-making in fisheries management to improve decision quality and legitimacy. However, crafting fair and effective collaborative processes which will achieve these benefits is often difficult. In an effort to identify keys and obstacles to success, this research evaluated the Commercial Groundfish Initiative, a collaborative planning process tasked with reforming the management of Canada's Pacific groundfish fisheries. Using semi-structured interviews, I gathered the perspectives of participants from the two committees within the process: a consensus-based committee of commercial representatives and a committee broadly representative of other interest groups for which consensus was encouraged but not mandated. Control over the design of a proposal for management reform was asymmetrically divided between the two committees, giving the commercial committee the primary role. Participants from the commercial committee expressed high levels of support for their consensus process. Keys to this committee’s success in reaching a high quality agreement were (i) a strong incentive to cooperate, (ii) consensus decision-making, and (iii) independent process facilitation. The latter two functioned as security measures against the potential for process manipulation by participants or governing agencies. Results from an examination of the broader committee indicate non-commercial respondents were largely accepting of an “oversight” role provided that the scope for their input remained sufficient, which it did not. Early involvement in tasks such as designing the process and defining objectives were particularly critical to non-commercial respondents’ perceptions of procedural fairness and their ability to participate effectively. Several participants also raised concerns that the process was not appropriately representative of groups with an interest in groundfish management. The poor performance of the process in these respects overshadowed positive aspects of broadening participation beyond commercial users. Consensus approaches have gained currency among commercial participants as a result of their positive experience and made some of them more willing to consider meaningful collaboration with a broader range of interest groups. The ineffectiveness of the broader committee suggests there is still work to do in designing processes that will actually achieve this meaningful, broad collaboration.

This study explores leadership dynamics in collaborative governance. The research features a collaboration case study of sixteen federal and state agency and NGO stakeholders. The collaboration is conducting a ten-year, basin-scale monitoring project of salmonid habitat restoration projects in the Middle Fork John Day (MFJD) River basin in Eastern Oregon. The monitoring project is known as an intensively monitored watershed (IMW), one of sixteen throughout the Pacific Northwest. The research is guided by the following question: How do leadership dynamics in the MFJD IMW collaborative governance structure facilitate effective collaborative process or create limitations to that process? This study uses qualitative research methods in evaluating multiple research sources. Insights from this study may prove valuable in providing guidance on effectively structuring and managing basin-scale collaborative habitat monitoring projects, including future IMW projects. This study further aims to contribute to research on collaborative leadership for the greater scholarship on collaboration.

Effective coastal planning is inclusive and incorporates the variety of user needs, values, and interests associated with coastal environments. This requires understanding how people relate to coastal environments as ‘places’, imbued with values and meanings, and accordingly, tools that can capture place and connect with people’s ‘sense of place’ have the potential for supporting effective coastal management strategies. Realistic, immersive geographical visualizations, i.e., geovisualizations, theoretically hold potential to serve such a role in coastal planning. However, significant research gaps exist around this application context. Firstly, place theory and geovisualizations are rarely explicitly linked in the same studies, leaving questions around the (potential) relationship between these tools and sense of place. Secondly, geovisualization work has focused on terrestrial environments, and research on how to realistically model coastal places is currently in its infancy. This dissertation aims to address these gaps by pursuing two research objectives. The first objective is to explore the ‘human component’ of geovisualizations, referring to how these tools operate within the social and cultural dimensions germane to environmental management plans and processes. In accordance with the discussion above, this exploration is framed through place theories and concepts, and regards realistic geovisualizations as ‘place-based’ tools. The second objective concerns the coastal context, and it involves elucidating the considerations around developing and using terrestrial-to-marine geovisualizations as tools for inclusive coastal planning and management. The dissertation is composed of five manuscripts, which have been prepared as standalone articles for submission to academic journals. Each manuscript details a study designed to support an aspect of the research objectives, respectively serving (1) to develop a theory of geovisualizations as place-based tools, (2) to explore the theory in the coastal context, (3) to examine the relationship between sense of place and one’s mental visualization of place, (4) to develop a coastal geovisualization under place-based considerations and examine its capacity for connecting to sense of place, and (5) to assess the geovisualization’s potential as a tool for inclusive coastal planning efforts. The first and second study consist of literature review work. The third study involves a survey administered to residents of the Capital Regional District, which collected data for examining a potential relationship between the way people visualize coastal places and how they value and relate to these places. The fourth and fifth study involve developing a coastal geovisualization of Sidney Spit, and then employing focus groups to examine its ability for connecting with people’s sense of place (i.e., fourth study) and utility as a tool for inclusive planning (i.e., fifth study). Outcomes from the first study include a theory on how geovisualizations can function as place-based tools, and this was developed by integrating place concepts with ideas and conceptual models from human-media interaction and sense of presence research. The second study produced insight on how values and interests of different coastal user groups can influence understandings and perceptions of coastal places, and it used this insight to develop recommendations for coastal geovisualizations - full navigability, dynamic elements, and flexibility (i.e., allowing for continual modification and scenario building). The third study produced empirical evidence that place-based values and interests (i.e., framed through sense of place and concerns for place) can influence one’s mental visualization of place in terms of the types of elements people include and perspectives they take in said visualization. The fourth study demonstrated that the presence of certain elements in coastal geovisualizations (such as people, dogs, birds, marine life, vegetation, and boats) can contribute to realism and sense of place; however, simultaneously, deficiencies in numbers and varieties of these elements can detract from realism and sense of place. In addition, the fourth study found that the incorporation of soundscape and viewshed elements is significant for the tool’s ability to connect with sense of place. The fifth study demonstrated the geovisualization’s usefulness for assessing certain qualities of management scenarios, such as aesthetics and functionality of fencing around a restoration area and potential viewshed impacts associated with locations of moored boats. The study also found that incorporating navigability into the geovisualization proved to be valuable for enhancing understandings around scenarios that hold implications for the marine environment because it allowed users to cross the land-sea interface and experience underwater places. / Graduate

Governing agencies increasingly employ collaborative forms of decision-making in fisheries management to improve decision quality and legitimacy. However, crafting fair and effective collaborative processes which will achieve these benefits is often difficult. In an effort to identify keys and obstacles to success, this research evaluated the Commercial Groundfish Initiative, a collaborative planning process tasked with reforming the management of Canada's Pacific groundfish fisheries. Using semi-structured interviews, I gathered the perspectives of participants from the two committees within the process: a consensus-based committee of commercial representatives and a committee broadly representative of other interest groups for which consensus was encouraged but not mandated. Control over the design of a proposal for management reform was asymmetrically divided between the two committees, giving the commercial committee the primary role. Participants from the commercial committee expressed high levels of support for their consensus process. Keys to this committee’s success in reaching a high quality agreement were (i) a strong incentive to cooperate, (ii) consensus decision-making, and (iii) independent process facilitation. The latter two functioned as security measures against the potential for process manipulation by participants or governing agencies. Results from an examination of the broader committee indicate non-commercial respondents were largely accepting of an “oversight” role provided that the scope for their input remained sufficient, which it did not. Early involvement in tasks such as designing the process and defining objectives were particularly critical to non-commercial respondents’ perceptions of procedural fairness and their ability to participate effectively. Several participants also raised concerns that the process was not appropriately representative of groups with an interest in groundfish management. The poor performance of the process in these respects overshadowed positive aspects of broadening participation beyond commercial users. Consensus approaches have gained currency among commercial participants as a result of their positive experience and made some of them more willing to consider meaningful collaboration with a broader range of interest groups. The ineffectiveness of the broader committee suggests there is still work to do in designing processes that will actually achieve this meaningful, broad collaboration. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

More democratic planning processes are acknowledged to facilitate several positive outcomes including acceptance, support, better solutions and ownership, which are even more critical in developing countries where resource limitation is debilitating. But the paradox lies in needing to institute more democratic planning processes inside less democratic systems. In seeking explanations as to why collaboration in planning is lacking in urban Ethiopia, the research adopts a different analytical perspective that conceptualizes the state not only as a direct participant through its different agencies but also as the main architect of social structure. As the state in less democratic systems is stronger in shaping society, the contextualization of sense-making in the wider environment of the South requires focusing on the influence of government systems to discover associations and patterns that determine the structure of planning processes. Adopting flexible and pragmatic methodological procedures, methods and techniques that balance what is possible with epistemological interest, the research introduces a different lens to planning that links trust, collective action and cooperation with confidence in government by taking into consideration the embeddedness of actors within the framework of existing realities. Through the case of Amdework, the thesis presents implications on planning by the different attributes of the state and state-society relations. It shows how and to what extent partial and undemocratic government systems create power asymmetry, impede the development and the integrity of organized civil society, affect social capital such as trust, cooperative norms and the motivation to participate in collective action. These in turn penetrate planning processes by destroying the basic level of trust, balanced power of participants and democratic culture, and the we-intention for joint action. And through five more cases that focus on conceptions and cooperation at the micro-level (in the autonomous community of Awra Amba, the foreign NGO spearheaded joint action of the BuraNest initiative, and different projects in or related with Addis Ababa), it provides empirical evidence that planning, whether government entities are direct participants or not, also heed to pressures exerted by the overall of intuitional/political environment where the state rules rather than governs. / Doctorat en Art de bâtir et urbanisme (Architecture) / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

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