ICOMOS/Heritage Council Conference - Your Place or Mine. This presentation by Alison Harvey sets out the key principles and critical requirements for effective collaboration and public participation in Ireland.

1. The Heritage Council Experience
Promoting Collaboration and
Public Participation in Ireland
Royal Irish Academy, 18th April 2012
Alison Harvey MIPI AILI
Planning and Development Officer

2. Introduction – Four Parts
1. The Theory - What is meant by
Collaborative and Participative planning ‘Models’?
2. Barriers to Participation – Cultural and
Social
3. Social Structures - Existing and New
4. Heritage Council Initiatives – IWTN,
Public Realm Plans, Village Design
Statements - Incentives.

3. But first – an Overview!
a
LIFE SPACE/
ENVIRONMENT
b
STATE
POLITICAL
COMMUNITY
CIVIL
SOCIETY
CORPORATE
ECONOMY
a’
GLOBAL ECONOMIC SPACE
‘THE GLOBAL VILLAGE’
b’

4. 1. What is Participation?
• The corporate economy must be reined in –
leading towards an ‘Active Society’ (Etzioni,
1968)
• Social Learning = Social Empowerment
(Friedman, 1992)
• Community Spirit – need to strengthen the
community as a moral infrastructure (Etzioni
1993) – Moral Compass?
• Empowerment is Participation (Wilcox, 1994).

5. Why Participation?
• Working together allows everyone to
achieve more that they could do on
their own – ‘Synergy’ and ‘Power To’
rather than ‘Power Over’
• Concept of Social Capital and
Capacity Building
• Striving for a fair, open and
collaborative planning system

6. 10 Key Ideas
1.
2.
Level of Participation
Initiation and Process – participation does
not just happen!
3. Control - who is the Initiator?
4. Power and Purpose – information and
money
5. Role of Practitioner
6. Stakeholders and Community
7. Partnership – Trust/Commitment
8. Commitment v Apathy
9. Ownership of Ideas – “We thought of that!”
10. Confidence and Capacity
(Wilcox, 1994)

7. Ladder of Participation
8. Citizen Control
7. Delegated Power
Degree of Citizen
Power
6. Partnership
5. Placation
4. Consultation
Degree of Tokenism
3. Informing
2. Therapy
Non Participation
1. Manipulation
(Source: Sherry Arnstein, 1969, cited in A. Harvey, 1995)

8. Participation – Skills Required
from Communities?
•
•
•
•
•
Leadership
Mediation
Teamwork
Understanding
‘Shared’ Vision: 5-10 yrs
(or longer)
(Walzer 1991, Healey, 1996, Albrechts 2002)

9. Participation - Core Elements
•
•
•
•
•
Trust and Understanding
Access and Information
Voice and Values
Negotiation and Mediation
Resources – time and technical
The ‘3 Cs’
Collaboration
Co-operation & Co-ordination

10. 2. Barriers to Participation
Cultural:
Social:
- Lack of education
- Social segregation
- Lack of appropriate skills
- Alienation from
government
- Lack of confidence
- low social capital
- Lack of structural ties with
existing organisations
- marginalisation
- Lack of interest
- Lack of time and money
- Lack of Trust
- Lack of access to the Web
- Lack of experience in
negotiating

12. 3. Social Structures –
Existing and New?
Existing:
• Tidy Towns, Irish Rural Link, Church Groups, GAA
and LEADER Groups
• Individual Civic Trusts – e.g. Dublin and Limerick
Civic Trusts
• Heritage in Schools Programme
• Irish Planning Institute – other Professional Institutes
New?:
• Irish Civic Trust – umbrella group?
• Planning Forums?
• Planning and Conservation Courses in Schools?
• Planning Aid?

13. 4. Heritage Council Initiatives
•
•
•
•
Heritage Officer Programme – 28 HOs
National Heritage Week – 18-26th August 2012
National Grant Programmes x 3
All-island Irish Walled Towns Network (IWTN)
- 27 Members
• Collaborative Public Realm Plans (PRPs) for
historic towns, e.g. Birr and Fethard
• Landscape Character Assessment CPD – 10
Institutes involved & local communities
• Community-led Village Design Statements Julianstown, Sandymount and Mulranny

14. Incentives for Participation?
• Establish All-island ‘Networks’ – “Ireland is a
relationship-based society” (Source: OECD)
• Multi-sectoral Planning/Conservation Training
• Contracts – Formal and Informal – ‘Project
Charters’
• Trained Intermediaries
• Multi-annual Budget for implementation/
delivery
• ‘Civic Champions’ Programme
• National Planning and Conservation Aid

15. Critical Success Factors
• Trust, Understanding and
Communication – ‘Sharing’
• Collaboration, Co-operation
and Co-ordination
• Creative ‘Processes’ – trying
something new!
• Working outside normal
business hours
• Celebrating achievements
• Building a Great Team Spirit
• Collaborative Leadership

16. Summary
•
•
•
•
•
What is Participation – Theory & Models
Ladder of Participation – 8 rungs
Core elements – Trust and Understanding
Barriers to Participation - Cultural and Social
Social Structures – Tidy Towns, Irish Rural
Link, GAA, etc.
• Heritage Council Initiatives – IWTN, Public
Realm Plans, Village Design Statements, etc.
• Incentives – Networks, Training, etc.
• Critical Success Factors – CSFs
www.heritagecouncil.ie/planning/