This thesis investigates the role and nature of comprehensive community planning (CCP) within B.C. Indian communities, and analyzes the outcomes of a specific CCP experience where an outside consultant and an Indian community concentrated on planning the nature, rather than the product, of the process. The approach used is a literature review of CCP in B.C. Indian communities and theoretical concepts relevant to this type of planning. The thesis develops a normative definition of CCP which proposes use of five process characteristics that should enhance Indian planning capabilities. These are: a comprehensive scope and approach; a formal/systematic method; a developmental approach; a participatory application; and mutuality of insider/outsider relationships. A case study method is applied to the Similkameen Indian Bands' Comprehensive Community Plan. Analysis of the case uses the CCP definition to identify the nature and outcomes of the process. Indian experiences and perspectives of community planning indicate control over the process, learning from the process, and communicating in the process are difficult to achieve when outsiders are involved. This thesis argues this is due to a lack of attention to planning the nature of the process itself. For Indian communities preparing for self-government CCP may be an important developmental tool if it: improves their planning process skills and self-management capabilities; and, uses outsiders to facilitate this capacity-building without loss of control over the process. The Similkameen experience indicates that application of the proposed normative characteristics of CCP is possible. The outcomes of this case suggest that increased attention to the planning process, by insiders and outsiders, improves the nature of the process as well as producing substantive outputs. Improvements to the nature of the process include extensive community participation by involving community members in 'planning for planning'. An intensive effort was made to fully engage community members in the planning process before determining specific directions for substantive planning. Community participation allowed formal/systematic planning methods to be applied with sensitivity to Indian culture. Developmental outcomes of this participatory process include improvements in the community's planning process skills and self-management competency. 'Planning for planning' also resulted in a mutuality of insider/outsider relations to develop. This relationship placed insiders and outsiders on equal terms which contributed to mutual learning and provided opportunities for the community to direct outsiders' work in ways that best served their needs. A community plan was produced in the Similkameen case that addressed a comprehensive scope of substantive planning areas such as: Band organization and administration; social development; recreation and culture; economic development; infrastructure; and, land use. This a significant outcome given the low completion rate among other B.C. Bands for this type of plan, and the importance of CCP's in guiding overall community development. Self-direction in the full range of community functions is at the heart of self-government. Use of a -comprehensive approach enabled the community to consider inter-relations between proposed substantive actions and to consciously develop priorities for implementation. Several instances of implementation of the Similkameen Plan were observed and expressed by community members which indicate it is being used to direct action in substantive areas. Case-specific opportunities and constraints faced in preparing the Similkameen Plan are also identified. Constraints included political and organizational complexity, loss of key participants, cultural differences within the community, potential for dependency on the consultant, and time. Opportunities included ease of communication, the Band's desire to improve self-management capabilities, Indian culture, insider/outsider trust, and access to Band planning funds. Implications of this study for similar communities are identified and areas for future research are suggested. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

While many communities have readily adopted "sustainability" as one of the community objectives in their planning documents, the actual application of sustainable practices has proven to be challenging for planners and communities. Some of the primary reasons for these challenges may include: • the disconnect between communities visual preferences and sustainable landscapes; • the limitations of current public consultation processes to solicit representational and meaningful input from the community due to the "shopping list" approach to developing official community plans encouraged by the Local Government Act; • the failure of conventional public consultation processes to reach certain segments of the community because of cultural differences or reluctance to publicly "speak one's mind"; and • the difficulties in the prioritization of the information from the public consultation processes into holistic planning policies. In the mean time, current research from various disciplines has established evidence to suggest incongruence between visual preferences and ecologically sustainable landscapes: preference for specific landscape typologies does not seem to be affected by the ecological performance of the landscape. The gap in ecological knowledge about sustainability may have contributed to this situation. The bridging of this gap between knowledge and preference was explored through the application of visual preferences for stormwater management in a rural context. The coastal community of Royston on Vancouver Island was used as a case study for a visual preference survey pilot project. The survey results were synthesized to identify a community aesthetic for Royston and to transform into criteria for selecting sustainable stormwater management best management practices that are appropriate to a rural community to reflect: • the community's preferred aesthetic based on the results from the visual preference survey to promote better acceptance of sustainable working landscapes; • the goals and objectives, and the policies adopted in the Royston Local Area Plan; • the economic realities of a small community; and • flexibility to address new development needs and the necessity to "retrofit" stormwater management practices into existing developments / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

This paper explores the practices of natural resources management, community development, and public arts by comparing the integration of social engagement as part of project management. All three of these practices originate from goals of social change and continue to advance in their disciplinary fields. Community-Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) is framed in the natural resources management discipline. Community Development (CD) practice is framed in public participation and city planning disciplines. Creative Placemaking (CP) practice is framed in the public art discipline. These disciplines point to the intent to transform existing culture with the goal of becoming more democratic, socially just, transparent, and inclusive. Through the analysis of project management traits, key components are identified for successful project implementation with the goal of resulting in healthy and vibrant communities.

Health impact assessment (HIA) has emerged in the U.S. as one promising process to increase social and environmental justice through addressing health equity issues within planning. HIA practice is guided by values such as democracy and equity and grounded in broad social determinants of health. The most readily applied definition of democracy is problematic because it implies an element of direct, participatory engagement with the public. This is at odds with HIA practice that largely relies on stakeholder engagement strategies. This dissertation critically examines the engagement strategies of three transportation planning HIA cases to more fully understand how the HIA process may or may not promote democratic values and protect community health interests. It employs a multi-case study design that uses qualitative content analysis to trace community health interests through the HIA process, HIA document, and target plan. It finds that while the field is overstating the participatory nature of HIA, commitments to health equity and broad determinants of health protect community health interests with and without robust engagement of community stakeholders.

No description available.

A dissertation submitted to the faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Johannesburg 1997 / South Africa has recently begun a number of conservation Initiatives which link conservation with the development of people This follows a worldwide trend in which it is acknowledged that conservation cannot be undertaker without the participation of local communities who are most affected by the establishment of protected areas The Thukela Biosphere Reserve In KwaZulu/Natal South Africa iS such an Initiative The research provides an assessment of the potential of the TBR to successfully introduce a sustainable land use strategy in the region This assessment is achieved through an investigation of the historical situation as well as local communities perceptions and attitudes toward the TBR and environmental degradation These attitudes are compared to a more scientific analysis of land degradation The research made use of participatory methodologies to assess these perceptions Findings indicate that local Afrrcan communities are intensely aware of environmental degradation in the TBR A number of factors however prevent them from accepting the TBR as an effective land use option These include oppressive historical polices leading[Abbreviated [ Abstract. Open document to view full version]

Gordon Kwok Tung Fong. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes Bibliographical references (p. 275-289). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

In 1990 many in Colquitt, Georgia considered themselves to be a dying town due to the loss of jobs and outmigration that occurred when labor intensive farming transitioned to the machine. In response citizens brought in a theater director from Chicago who helped them launch a performance series of inclusive stories that were acted by local volunteers. The resulting series called Swamp Gravy has run from 1992 to present (2012), and has led to purported claims of community revitalization. The purpose of this study was to discover what this ongoing narrative community engagement meant to the people of Colquitt in regards to: community experiences that produced new relationships (including those between Blacks and Whites); personal empowerment; the coproduction of an emerging and diverse community identity; and institutional and economic development. Methods for this case study included narrative interviews of participants, attendees and local citizens, as well as observation of the town and the performances, and document analysis. Many participant volunteers and attendees became Swamp Gravy enthusiasts, and describe their experiences as coming out into a meaningful experience of community, which included forming relationships with diverse others (including those of a different race). The enthusiasts speak of growing into larger community responsibilities with others for the common good, and feel that ongoing and inclusive storytelling is very important to coproducing a diverse heritage that informs the future of their city. Other attendees (predominantly the business community) describe the benefits of Swamp Gravy as instrumental to having given the town recognition (identity) as an entertaining tourist attraction that exposed individual talent, boosted individual confidence, and enhanced social connectivity. Others in Colquitt were indifferent or resistive to the coming out that the performances invite. Most everyone recognizes that Swamp Gravy has attracted outside tourists which has boosted economic development, occasioned the renovation of downtown Colquitt square and the formation of institutions to continue to attract and accommodate visitors from afar. This case is theorized in terms of the emerging communicative turn in planning that juxtaposes the planner as mediator or facilitator, and stakeholders as co-producers. The findings in this case study support that the Swamp Gravy form of narrative process has some potential for guiding stakeholders to a just diversity in cities, neighborhoods and towns, and as such should be studied further. Urban planning in situations of urban renewal may be one place where utilizing this form of meaningful engagement could lead to discovery of new identities, which may both inform and motivate a just plan to be coproduced.

Thesis (MS en S)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Public participation has already been a point of discussion from as early as 1960, with Arnstein's presentation of eight levels of participation. Various advantages and disadvantages have been published, but theorists agree that the advantages still overshadow the disadvantages. The United States have started much earlier than South Africa with the studies on public participation. It has been realised that public participation forms an integral part of the formal environmental impact assessment which succeeded the formal legislation of 1996. It is generally accepted that public participation is inseparable from the planning process. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of public participation on the planning of the Gautrain project, which is the intended rapid rail link between Johanesburg and Pretoria. It will be investigated whether the consult firm Bohlweki Environmental, that has been appointed to implement the environmental impact assessment of the Gautrain project, complied with the criteria to ensure public participation, and whether the public process made a difference to the planning of the project. It has been apparent that Bohlweki Environmental used various methods of involving the public - inter alia numerous public meetings that have been advertised in the press and elsewhere. From the public inputs changes have been made to the route of the train. These changes however, have made other people discontented. The research concludes with the finding that the public participation process of the environmental impact assessment had a positive influence on the planning of the project, even though everyone, due to the extend and the nature of the project, could not be satisfied, and that the study has been expensive and time consuming. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Publieke deelname was reeds 'n besprekingspunt van so vroeg as 1960 met Arnstein se voorstelling van agt deelnemingsvlakke. Oor die jare van navorsing is verskeie voordele en nadele van publieke deelname gepubliseer, maar teoretici is dit eens dat die voordele steeds die nadele oorskadu. In Suid-Afrika is daar veel later as in die Verenigde State studies oor publieke deelname begin. Ook hier is daar uiteindelik besef dat publieke deelname 'n onlosmaakbare deel van die formele omgewingsimpakstudie vorm en het die formele wetgewing in 1996 gevolg. Vandag word algemeen aanvaar dat publieke deelname en die beplanningsproses onafskeidbaar is. Die doel van hierdie werkstuk is om die impak van publieke deelname op die beplanning van die Gautrein projek te ondersoek - dit is die beoogde sneltrein tussen Johannesburg en Pretoria. Die vraag is of die konsultant firma Bohlweki Environmental, wat aangestel is om die omgewingsimpakstudie van die Gautreinprojek te loods, voldoen het aan die kriteria om publieke deelname te verseker, en of die publieke proses 'n verskil gemaak het aan die beplanning van die projek? Uit die analise het dit geblyk dat Bohlweki Environmental van verskeie metodes gebruik gemaak het om die publiek te betrek, onder andere talle publieke vergaderings wat goed geadverteer is in die pers en elders. As gevolg van die groot publieke inset is veranderinge aan die roete van die trein aangebring. Hierdie veranderinge het egter weer ander mense ontevrede gemaak. Die slotsom van die navorsing van hierdie werkstuk is dat die publieke deelname proses van die omgewingsimpakstudie wel 'n betekenisvolle positiewe uitwerking op die beplanning van die projek gehad het, alhoewel almal, uit die aard van die omvang van die projek, nie tevrede gestel kon word nie, en dat die studie duur en tydrowend was.

The Shenandoah Valley Civil War Sites Study Act of 1990 permitted the National Park Service (NPS) to investigate which unprotected battlefields (I5) might be preserved. After collaboration with the NPS, I was allowed to research the battlefield site of Opequon Creek (Third Battle of Winchester) in Frederick County, Virginia. In return, the NPS would receive a copy of this thesis for their use. A questionnaire, submitted to local residents, determined if a park was wanted, what type of park it might be, and what programming activities would be selected. A combination park of recreation, historical, and natural definitions was developed on the residents desires. The Opequon Creek Park process was developed first to alleviate any pre-NPS planning process influences. After Opequon Creek Park was designed, a process comparative analysis was made with the existing NPS model of Antietam Battlefield Park located in Sharpsburg, Maryland. The analysis determined if the NPS's planning process needed refinement. The NPS uses the "Planning Process Guidelines, NPS-2, 1985", to create each park's General Management plan (GMP). Two participatory stages, open houses and public hearings, were found mid-way through the development of Antietam's GMP. The Opequon process allows for participatory input at the start of park development but, did not allow for post design comments. Antietam's park definition was determined before public input was solicited and used based on early project funding requirements. The Opequon process, if implemented immediately upon a new parks legal creation, would save the NPS time and money in the research and development of new parks. Future parks will be carved from urbana as America's population doubles by 2038. The NPS needs a refined participatory planning method to do business with the public of today, the shrinking budgets of tomorrow, and the preservation of needed green space in the future. / Master of Landscape Architecture