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A participatory protocol for ecologically informed design within river catchmentsThe European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD) offers an unparalleled opportunity for improving river basin management, whilst moving towards a sustainable future. Sustainable management of water requires integrated planning, recognising interconnections between systems operating at different levels of scale. This is an endeavour in which systems thinking could provide useful tools. Systems orientated models can facilitate work across levels of scale, enhance dialogue, and improve perception of the ‘whole picture’. This research examined the emerging role of active participation in 'planning for sustainability' in the context of river catchments. The DesignWays process, developed by the author, was tested in the context of regeneration in the Mersey Basin of England. The development of DesignWays was a conscious attempt to embed ‘new paradigm’ living systems metaphors into a participatory protocol for ecologically informed design. The research tested DesignWays at the landscape and site levels of scale, using an action-based, interpretive methodology. Challenges posed by the WFD were identified, from which criteria were developed for assessing this approach. Interviews were conducted with participants before and after the process, providing data about changes in understanding resulting from their experience. Interviews with key decision-makers in the NorthWest were used to test and develop the findings.Project leader | : | Joanne Tippett | Email | : | jo@holocene.net | Telephone | : | 07951 006 242 | Other researchers | : | PhD Supervisors:
Prof. John Handley
Joe Ravetz
Walter Menzies | Project Categories | : | Sustainable Planning
| Project aim and objectives | : | The overall aim of this research was to explore the use of a systems thinking paradigm to inform participatory ecological design, with a view to developing a toolkit for ‘planning for sustainability’ from the site to the landscape level of scale.The objectives were orientated both to practice and theory. They were to:1. Test a process of ecologically informed participatory design in the context of river catchments, as the basis of a toolkit for ‘planning for sustainability’. 2. Provide recommendations to institutional players for increasing effectiveness of participation and partnership models in ‘planning for sustainability’.3. Develop the theoretical basis of the DesignWays planning process.4. Contribute to the emerging theoretical underpinnings of ecologically focused planning methodologies for long-term sustainable development. | Project locations | : | Irk Valley, North Manchester | Partner organisations | : | Mersey Basin Campaign
Irk Valley Project | Funding source | : | ESRC CASE Award with Mersey Basin Campaign | Further information | : | http://www.holocene.net/research/phd.htm
2005 The Value of Combining a Systems View of Sustainability with a Participatory Protocol for Ecologically Informed Design in River Basins. Journal of Environmental Modelling and Software, Special Edition - Policies and Tools for Sustainable Water Management in the European Union 20 (2): 119-139.
2005 ‘Think like an ecosystem' - embedding a living system paradigm into participatory planning. Systemic Practice and Action Research (formerly: Systems Practice) 17 (6): 603-622.
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