Abstract
The paper focuses on the example of a local island community in Greece, to illustrate the difficulties of effective consensus building, in support of sustainable policies. In the first section the issue of sustainability and the importance of participation are discussed, before moving to a brief outline of the nature of participation and its sources since the 1960s. It follows an analysis of the epistemological framework of consensus building process which is considered as the most integrated and sophisticated version of participatory planning. This analysis serves as a background for judging the appropriateness of consensus building for the resolution of an environmental problem harassing a Greek island community. It is about the problem of water availability and management in the small Aegean island of Leros. The paper shows how illegal practices in the use of water, administrative fragmentation and confusion over knowledge of the problem and its solutions lead to divisions in the stakeholder groups and to obstacles in the way of participation. The intrinsic problems embedded in Greek (and probably not alone) society and political culture, which prevent collective action and participation, account in part for the anticipated risk of unwelcome, illegitimate outcomes of a potential consensus building process. Nevertheless, if communicative planning is to gain universal acceptance, it should first resolve some critical theoretical and practical shortcomings related to its normative, ethical and philosophical assumptions.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
A. Agrawal (1995) ArticleTitle‘Dismantling the divide between indigenous and scientific knowledge’ Development and Change 26 413–439
S. Baker (2000) ‘The European Union: Integration, competition, growth and sustainability’ W.M. Lafferty J. Meadowcroft (Eds) Implementing Sustainable Development Oxford Oxford University Press 303–336
P. Brown E Mikkelson (1990) No Safe Place: Toxic waste Leukemia and Community Action University of California Press Berkeley
A. Buttimer (1972) ‘Community’ M. Stewart (Eds) The City: Problems of Planning Harmondsworth Penguin 195–216
S. Campbell S. Fainstein (Eds) (1996) Readings in Planning Theory Oxford Blackwell
J Carew-Reid et al. (1994) Strategies for National Sustainable Development London Earthscan Publications
S.L. Carpenter W.J.D. Kennedy (1991) Managing Public Disputes: A Practical Guide to Handling Conflict and Reaching Agreements Jossey-Bass Management Series, Jossey-Bass San Francisco
C. Cockburn (1977) The Local State Pluto Press London
Council of European Communities: 1993, ‘Towards Sustainability: A European Community programme of policy and action in relation to the environment and sustainable development’, Official Journal of the European Communities, NoC138/17.5.1993.
E. Craven (1978) ‘Issues on representation’ R. Davies P. Hall (Eds) Issues in Urban Society Penguin Harmondsworth 242–267
R. Darke (2000) ‘Public participation, equal opportunities, planning policies and decisions’ P. Allmendinger (Eds) et al. Introduction to Planning Practice Wiley Chichester 385–412
P.A. Eddison (1972) ‘Comprehensive planning for local government’ M. Stewart (Eds) The City: Problems of Planning Penguin Harmondsworth 409–424
M. Fagence (1977) Citizen Participation in Planning Pergamon Press Oxford
F. Fischer J. Forester (Eds) (1993) The Argumentative Turn in Policy Analysis and Planning Duke University Press NC and London
R. Friedland (1982) Power and Crisis in the City Macmillan London
H.J. Gans (1972) People and Plans Penguin Harmondsworth
M.S. Gibson M.J. Langstaff (1982) An Introduction to Urban Renewal Hutchinson London
M. Grindle J. Thomas (1991) Public Choices and Policy Change Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimores
J. Habermas (1981) The Theory of Communicative Action: Reason and the Rationalization of Society (T. McCarthy Trans.) Beacon Press Boston
J. Habermas (1984) The Theory of Communicative Action Beacon Press Boston
J. Habermas (1989) The Theory of Communicative Action. Lifeworld and System: A Critique of Functionalist Reason (T. McCarthy Trans.) Beacon Press Boston
P.J. Harter (1997) ArticleTitle‘Fear of commitment: an affliction of adolescents’ Duke Law Journal 46 1389–1428
G. Haughton (1999) ‘Environmental justice and the sustainable city’ D. Satterthwaite (Eds) The Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Cities Earthscan Publications London 62–79
M. Hill (Eds) (1993) The Policy Process: A Reader Hemel Hempstead Harvester Wheatsheaf
J.E. Innes (1990) Knowledge and Public Policy: The Search for Meaningful Indicators [Transaction Books, Introduction] EditionNumber2 Rutgers New Brunswick, NJ
J.E. Innes D.E. Booher (1999) ArticleTitle‘Consensus Building and Complex Adaptive Systems–A Framework for Evaluating Collaborative Planning’ Journal of the American Planning Association 65 IssueID4 412–423
J.E. Innes (1998) ArticleTitle‘Information in Communicative Planning’ Journal of the American Planning Association 64 52–63
A. Irwin B. Wynne (Eds) (1996) Misunderstanding Science? The Public Reconstruction of Science and technology Cambridge University Press Cambridge
D.H. McKay Cox A.W (1979) The Politics of Urban Change Croom Helm London
Ch.W. Moore (1987) The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict Jossey-Bass Social and Behavioral Science Series no. 1 EditionNumber1 Jossey-Bass San Francisco
Municipal Water Supply and Sewerage Company of Leros: 2000, Statistical data on water consumption.
InstitutionalAuthorNameNTUA (National Technical University of Athens) (2001) A Spatial Plan for the Sustainable Management of Water Resources in Northern Dodecanese Report of a research project INTERREG IIC, Ministry for the Economy and Finance Athens
E. Ostrom (1990) Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action Cambridge University Press Cambridge
M. Rein (1972) ‘Social planning: The search for legitimacy’ M. Stewart (Eds) The City: Problems of Planning Penguin Harmondsworth 425–452
P. Saunders (1983) Urban Politics: A Sociological Interpretation Hutchinson London
L. Susskind J Cruikshank (1987) Breaking the Impasse: Consensual Approaches to Resolving Public Disputes Basic Books New York
L. Susskind P Field (1996) Dealing with An Angry Public: The Mutual Gains Approach to Resolving Disputes The Free Press New York
Wassenhoven, L.: 2002, ‘Is there still a theory of spatial planning?’, in Proceedings of the 10th Panhellenic Architectural Conference: Architecture and the Greek City in the 21st Century, Technical Chamber of Greece, pp. 393–399 (in Greek).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sapountzaki, K., Wassenhoven, L. Consensus Building and Sustainability: Some Lessons From an Adverse Local Experience in Greece. Environ Dev Sustain 7, 433–452 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-004-2376-0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-004-2376-0