CBI Resources

In this conversation transcript, CBI's founder Larry Susskind debates with his Australian counterparts in the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) regarding the theory and practice of "public engagement." Download the complete conversation transcript.

EASING THE PAIN—AND COST—OF LAND USE DISPUTES
American Planning Association Workshop to Feature New Report Detailing Effective Strategies in US and Canada

This paper considers psychological barriers—a term that we use to encompass both cognitive barriers and construal biases—in participatory land-use planning processes.

• Are you about to update your community’s master plan?
• Are you planning to run a public meeting on a controversial project?

This report is one in a series of policy focus repo

The attached monogram is published by the Program on Human Rights & Justice at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is included here with permission.

Cities, particularly those in coastal areas around the world, need to pay close attention to the risks posed by global warming and climate change. These risks are substantial, and the costs of not taking them into account are likely to be enormous. Planners should take the lead in preparing climate mitigation and adaptation plans, although these need to be approached somewhat differently from other planning assignments. Adaptation planning, in particular, should be viewed as a collective risk management task. As such, new tools for collaboration such as scenario planning, joint fact-finding and the use of role-play simulations to build public support in the face of high levels of uncertainty and complexity are required.

To read the full text of this monograph by Lawrence Susskind, download the PDF.

"... For consensus building in the public arena to work, we probably need to institutionalize a set of ground rules—that is, to say what the qualities are of good processes—to make sure there is a supply of capable, qualified, professional neutrals, who subscribe to a clear code with regard to their unique responsibilities working in the public policy realm.

"Why wouldn’t public officials prefer to know a way to proceed that would be viewed as meeting everybody’s interests? If we can show that an informed consensus can be produced in a reasonable amount of time, at a reasonable cost, in a way that doesn’t leave anybody out, in a way that deals with inequalities across groups, in a way that ensures that hard-to-represent interests are presented, why wouldn’t that be preferable?"

To read the full text of Lawrence Susskind's keynote address as delivered to an audience at Fordham University (including Q&A), download the PDF.

Lawrence Susskind
Keynote Address: Mediators Beyond Borders Conference
Los Angeles, March 5, 2011