Water Planning Portal Tool News Citizen Jury Is the jury still out? Citizen's Juries in the Rhine Basin
Is the jury still out? Citizen's Juries in the Rhine Basin
This article, published online in the Journal of Ecology and Society, discusses the potential for policy learning offered by participatory processes, specifically citizens' juries. The authors argue for the need for policy learning by pointing to the increased complexity of water management tasks and challenges. Through a review of the literature, they found that previous research suggests that participatory processes will contribute to various forms of learning. However, they found that whilst high levels of learning is evident amongst jurors, the same cannot be said for participating policy makers.
The methodology used by the authors to assess the truth of assumptions about learning in participatory processes used case studies of citizens' juries on water management in the Dutch part of Rhine basin. The authors of this article were involved in the organisation of three citizens' juries; these were among the first ever to be held in that country.
They analyse whether three forms of learning (cognitive, normative and relational) have occurred among jurors, and among policy makers. In their approach, cognitive learning relates to factual learning without changing underlying norms, values, or belief systems. Normative learning is learning which encompasses a change in norms, values, and belief systems. Relational learning is described as a type of learning that relates to issues such as trust building, changes in the ability to collaborate, and changes in the ability to understand another party's goals and preferences.
They found high levels of cognitive, normative, and relational levels of learning for the jurors, but relatively low levels of learning for policy makers. The reasons for this divergence are explored, using Eric Mostert's themes of participation in water planning.
Citation
Huitema, D., C. Cornelisse, and B. Ottow. 2010. "Is the jury still out? Toward greater insight in policy learning in participatory decision processes-the case of Dutch citizens' juries on water management in the Rhine Basin." Ecology and Society 15(1): 16.
