Evaluating collaborative planning methods

A recent study aimed to develop and demonstrate a framework for evaluating collaborative planning methods that support natural resource management. This should provide help for planning consultants in selecting an appropriate method. An analysis of 43 collaborative planning methods was conducted to examine their potential to be applied within Programme-based Planning of Natural Resources (PBPNR). The evaluation is based on a list of key criteria for the three phases of a collaborative planning process: problem identification, problem modelling and problem solving. The features of each method were qualitatively assessed and peer-reviewed by a team of experts. The results indicate that most of the methods are able to deal with qualitative data, support processes to increase transparency in planning and capture the preferences of the participating stakeholders. They also produce understandable results for the three phases. Contrarily, many methods do not offer features to handle uncertainty, nor do they satisfactorily stimulate creativity and innovation in the planning process. The results show that the overall applicability of the reviewed methods for the three planning phases varies according to a cluster analysis basing on the capabilities of the methods. Methods such as “Planning for Real”, “Open Space” and “A'WOT” seem to be particularly promising for a broad range of planning situations.

A short introduction to the study can be found here:

The full text of the study can be downloaded here: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.05.029