Enhancing public participation through social learning and local identity: the case of climate adaptation in small and medium sized municipalities
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In: Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 2025.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Enhancing public participation through social learning and local identity
T2 - the case of climate adaptation in small and medium sized municipalities
AU - Reifenstahl, Tim
AU - Augenstein, Karoline
AU - Möller, Sebastian
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - Climate adaptation presents significant challenges for small and medium-sized municipalities (SMM) that often operate with limited resources and expertise. However, well-designed and organized public participation can not only address these challenges but also build citizen capacities that are crucial for future adaptation projects. Building on existing studies on the relationship between the design and effectiveness of public participation processes, we address the question how effective public participation in climate adaptation can be designed in SMM particularly. Analyzing two German case studies of voluntary citizen engagement aimed at improving urban green infrastructure, we find that social learning with a focus on co-ownership and citizen empowerment, and citizens’ identification with the local context are important overarching objectives that have gained insufficient attention in the literature. We argue that social learning and local identification can become catalysts for achieving a wide range of participation objectives and addressing the particular challenges faced by SMM.
AB - Climate adaptation presents significant challenges for small and medium-sized municipalities (SMM) that often operate with limited resources and expertise. However, well-designed and organized public participation can not only address these challenges but also build citizen capacities that are crucial for future adaptation projects. Building on existing studies on the relationship between the design and effectiveness of public participation processes, we address the question how effective public participation in climate adaptation can be designed in SMM particularly. Analyzing two German case studies of voluntary citizen engagement aimed at improving urban green infrastructure, we find that social learning with a focus on co-ownership and citizen empowerment, and citizens’ identification with the local context are important overarching objectives that have gained insufficient attention in the literature. We argue that social learning and local identification can become catalysts for achieving a wide range of participation objectives and addressing the particular challenges faced by SMM.
KW - climate adaptation
KW - local government
KW - local identity
KW - public participation
KW - social learning
KW - Environmental Governance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105014610224&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/09640568.2025.2545982
DO - 10.1080/09640568.2025.2545982
M3 - Journal articles
AN - SCOPUS:105014610224
JO - Journal of Environmental Planning and Management
JF - Journal of Environmental Planning and Management
SN - 0964-0568
ER -