Prerequisite:

Second-cycle Bologna degree in the relevant track or a university (level VII) degree.

Content (Syllabus outline):

• introduction to participatory research and planning
• public participation and democratic legitimacy of planning
• actors in the development process
• ladder of participation
• social power, influence, interests and participatory planning
• conflict and agreement in planning processes
• the role of participation in various planning theories
• methods in the participatory research and planning
• participatory planning in the practice
• social initiatives and movements as a for of social participation
• participatory planning in the Slovene legislation

Readings:

• Arnstein, S. R. (1969): A Ladder of Citizen Participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners 35-4. Cambridge.
• Delyser, D., Sui, D. (2014): ‘Crossing the qualitative-quantitative chasm III: Enduring methods, open geography, participatory research, and the fourth paradigm’, Progress in Human Geography 38 (2): 294-307.
• Dicks, B. (2014): ‘Participatory community regeneration: a discussion of risks, accountability and crisis in devolved Wales’, Urban Studies 51 (5): 959-977.
• Flanegance, M. (1997): Citizen Participation in Planning. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
• Forester, F. J. (1999): The deliberative practitioner : encouraging participatory planning processes- Cambridge MIT.
• Fraser, D. G. E., Dougill, A. J., Mabee, W. E., Reed, M., Mcalpine, P. (2006): ‘Bottom up and top down: Analysis of participatory processes for sustainability indicator identification as a pathway to community empowerment and sustainable environmental management’, Journal of Environmental Management 78, 2: 107-208.
• Gantar, P., Kos, D. (1993): Če bo vodnjak, bo tudi bomba. V: O hišah, o mestih, o podeželjih. (Ur. Alenka Bogovič). Ljubljana: KUD France Prešeren. Str. 97-122.
• Israel, B. A., Schulz, A. J., Coombe, C. M., Parker, E. A., Reyes, A. G., Rowe, Z., & Lichtenstein, R. L. (2019): ‘Community-based participatory research’, Urban health
• Kos, D. (2002): Praktična sociologija za načrtovalce in urejevalce prostora. Ljubljana: FDV.
• Legacy, C. (2017): ‘Is there a crisis of participatory planning?’, Planning Theory 16(4): 425–442.
• Minkler, N., Wallerstein, N. (2008): ‘Introduction to community-based participatory research’, in Minkler, N., Wallerstein, N. (eds): Community-Based Participatory Research for Health: From Process to Outcomes. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, pp. 5-24.
• Pain, R. 2004: ‘Social geography: participatory research’, Progress in Human Geography 28, 2: 652-663.
• Shannon, J., Hankins, K. B., Shelton, T., Bosse, A. J., Scott, D., Block, D., Fischer, H., Eaves, L. E., Jung, J.-K., Robinson, J., Solís, P., Pearsall, H., Rees, A., & Nicolas, A. (2020): ‘Community geography: Toward a disciplinary framework’, Progress in Human Geography: 1-22.
• Wynne-Jones, S., North, P., & Routledge, P. (2015): ‘Practising participatory geographies: Potentials, problems and politics’, Area: 47(3): 218–221.

Objectives and competences:

The aim of the course is to introduce basic principles of participatory research and planning and thus train the students to:

• identify key actors in the planning process,
• engage stakeholders in the research and decision-making processes,
• understand the triggers of the individual and group decisions,
• know the foundations of the transdisciplinary and result oriented research in geography and planning

Intended learning outcomes:

• knowledge on theories, concepts, models and methods in the field of participatory research and planning
• ability to define key development tendencies and to link them with the planning theories
• knowledge on engaging stakeholders in planning activities
• identification of proper methodological approaches in the participatory research and planning, able to gain representative results
• put social participation in the context of social power and influence upon decision-making
• evaluate the role of participation in various planning theories

Assessment:

Oral exam (100 %).