Framework for an analytical-deliberative process for municipal waste management decision making.

Local authorities need to find more effective ways to involve stakeholders and communities in decision-making since public acceptance of municipal waste facilities is integral to delivering effective waste strategies. This study explores the potential for adopting an analytical-deliberative process in a UK waste management context. It addresses questions of perception, interests, the decision context, the means of engagement and the necessary resources and capacity for adopting an iterative decision process. A mixed methods approach was used to gather empirical data through combined interviews and questionnaires with local authorities, waste industry experts, government officials and regulators, environmental campaigners and other community groups. The main output from the research is an empirical framework which captures and builds on theories of public involvement and the experiences of practitioners, and is intended to offer guidance for integrating analysis and deliberation in different waste management situations. The framework includes guidelines for greater inclusivity in decisions on contentious technologies or where there are high levels of uncertainty regarding the outcome of decisions. The empirical findings reveal that one of the more fundamental challenges to adopting an analytical-deliberative process in a UK waste management context is creating effective dialogue in a regulatory culture where participatory democracy is not the dominant political ideology. This appears to be more significant at the strategic planning level, where past institutional assumptions about public ignorance and incompetence may still hold, posing important methodological challenges to adopting analytical-deliberative processes. At the facility planning stage, there is greater awareness (among local authorities) of the benefits of analytical-deliberative structures. These benefits are associated with greater opportunities for trading-off impacts to the local community, thus addressing concerns around perceptions of social equity, fairness and legitimacy of the decision process. Overall, the research reveals the importance of engaging different stakeholders early in the decision process, specifically where issues are contentious or uncertain, to obtain a better understanding of decision needs and establish appropriate rules for successful public involvement.