Dialogues in governance for sustainability

What is happening in your work package right now?

We have conducted a series of workshops with a group of planners in Uppsala. The planners have shared their stories about challenging situations as well as moments that they experienced as particularly meaningful in dialogues with citizens. Together with the planners, we analysed those stories through the lenses of power theory, and through that learned more about the meaning of leadership in dialogues. Our intention is to develop practical and theoretical knowledge which is useful in participatory planning practice.

What’s next?

We have summarised the findings from the workshops. Based on the findings we are now developing a tool intended to be used by facilitators of dialogues and collaboration. It is a tool for reflection, which will be presented at the webinar "Att leda dialoger och samverkan: Ett verktyg för reflektion" during the Environmental Communication days. We are also working on a paper, which will describe the ways in which the planners justify their use of power.

Do you see any challenges for the WP?

Due to the pandemic, there is a decrease in participatory planning activities in Uppsala, which limits our possibilities to do research on dialogue practice.

What are your plans for the WP for 2021?

We will train facilitators; continue to research dialogue practices in Uppsala; further develop our tool for reflection; and continue to conduct research into land use planning in Sami territory and dialogues on forestry.