Participatory community involvement in planning processes of building project - a social psychological approach

Abstract

This paper describes a consultancy project aimed at designing and implementing a public participatory process for the planning of two dams in Portugal. This intervention was inspired by a social psychological approach developed by Abrams, Hogg and Marques (2005). The project’s three specific aims were: (1) to change perceptions held by the dam developers: i.e., changing the organizational culture, the dominant attitudes and representations company members had towards the local communities, making them more inclusive; (2) to change knowledge about local actors: i.e., increasing the knowledge about the communities in order to create a more comprehensive understanding of them, and (3) to change organizational procedures, i.e., improving the communication strategies of the company with the communities in order to promote public participation and integrate local interests in the final decision. To address these goals, different methodologies were used (e.g., surveys, interviews, focus groups, participative workshops, observation, training sessions), involving both local communities and practitioners, and favoring interactive formats that allowed freedom of expression that fostered participation. Our experience shows that, on the one hand, the company gained valuable insights from the process, with the communities also benefiting in terms of increased confidence in articulating their interests, on the other.