URBAN STREAM REHABILITATION

Social appraisal and Public Involvement

The aim of this presentation is to help you to think about social appraisal and public involvement: what it is; why to do it; and the choices to make in deciding how to do it.

8. Social appraisal and public involvement Driving forces for rehabilitation: amenity value social well being Main objectives: 1.preserving the landscape 2.easy, safe, and affordable public access to the riverfront. Access by foot, bike, public transport, or boat available to all. 3.making the river visually accessible as well as physically accessible

Article 14, Water Framework Directive, 2000 This specifies that Member States shall encourage the active involvement of all interested parties in the implementation of the Directive and development of river basin management plans.

Social appraisal and Public Involvement Legal requirements for public participation Stakeholders and Identification of Stakeholders Informing stakeholders Involving Stakeholders 8. Social appraisal and public involvement Contents:

Legal requirements legal requirements for public information and involvement have been mentioned for almost half of the projects how did project managers deal with this legislation? Involvement ranges from public information to comprehensive participation of diverse stakeholder groups 8. Social appraisal and public involvement Social appraisal and Public Involvement

8. Social appraisal and public involvement Social appraisal and Public Involvement Legal requirements

Defining a stakeholder Public participation guidance for the Water Framework Directive says that stakeholders are: ‘Any person, group or organisation with an interest or "stake" in an issue, either because they will be directly affected or because they may have some influence on its outcome. Members of the public who are not yet aware that they will be affected.’

Listing Stakeholders citizen: residents, property owners NGOs on national, regional and local level commercial associations (Anacostia River Business Coalition) Politicians (Isar) Identification of stakeholders (Kaitzbach, Skerne ) 8. Social appraisal and public involvement Social appraisal and Public Involvement

8. Social appraisal and public involvement Social appraisal and Public Involvement Stakeholders

What you might want from stakeholders What you want Example Action ‘Are you interested in helping with…..’ Opinion ‘Which option should we go for?’ Ideas ‘How could we make this area more attractive?’ Information ‘Where do children play?’ Understanding ‘Can I explain that....’

Increasing Stakeholders understanding increase of social awareness and appraisal first step to public participation Guided tours Information boards onsite Exhibitions Installations 8. Social appraisal and public involvement Social appraisal and Public Involvement

8. Social appraisal and public involvement Social appraisal and Public Involvement Methods for increasing understanding

Finding out what stakeholders think and want Prove It! is a ready made social appraisal tool developed by nef (the new economics foundation), in the UK. This has been tried and tested over several years. Prove It! is most relevant to: Smaller projects Participative projects Projects interested in the effect of urban waterways projects on ‘social capital’.

What is social capital? In simple terms: “Trust in other people”. In more detail: “Networks, norms, relationships, values and informal sanctions that shape the quantity and co-operative quality of a society’s social interactions.”

Prove It! and evaluation Likely also to be used to look back on and review a project Works best for projects where the desired evaluation is formative (that is, learning as you go along) rather than summative (demonstrating impact at the end of the project).

Prove It! – the options Use Prove It! only with the project participants Use Prove It! also with the wider community Use Prove It! but adapt it: So that you can do a statistical analysis To include a wider range of indicators. See Work Package 10 for some suggestions.

Alternatives to Prove It!  The Public Participation Guidance for the Water Framework Directive contains a variety of methods in annex 1.  Nef publication, ‘Participation Works!’, can be freely downloaded at: ail.aspx?PID=16 Appraisal techniques that it includes:  Community appraisals  Community indicators  Participatory appraisal  Planning for Real

Sources on surveys and statistics This is very well covered on the free Research Aids section of There is additional material in a handbook on Prove It! which can be downloaded from the nef website at blicationdetail.aspx?pid=2 This provides more specialized advice in the urban renewal context. blicationdetail.aspx?pid=2

Tools in the Prove It! toolkit A project Storyboard, for understanding how a project’s intended activities will lead to change A Survey Questionnaire that can be completed at the start and end of a project, both by project participants and by members of the wider community. A Poster Evaluation Session, for people involved in or affected by the project, so that they can reflect on the impacts a project has made and the lessons that have been learnt.

How the tools are presented On the website of the UK Countryside Agency at: (You will need to register.) Through a series of MS Word and Excel documents combining the materials (Spreadsheets, Questionnaire, Poster) and instructions on how best to use them. If you have any difficulties,

What people like about Prove It! Flexibility Ease of use Provides a framework and structure Helps with community participation Seems to capture the effect of a project on social capital I think it’s fantastic. It assists – it’s not a burden. It isn’t dry either – it helps you to be imaginative about the project.

Example from a rowing and canoeing project in London One parent commented: “The exposure to different people – outside of the community and new experiences all help to form well rounded children and adults of the future”