Putting people first! Exploring how to improve public participation in planning: Case studies from Latvia and Estonia

Landscape planning requires the incorporation of stakeholders into the process, but how this is done and how to engage stakeholders in a meaningful way needs careful consideration. Several questions need to be asked: who is engaged, at what stage and how? Despite the message over several years that meetings do not work, there is still a reliance on meetings to inform stakeholders, which rarely engages the people most affected by the plans. When stakeholders do not attend it is often assumed that people do not care about their environment. Understanding stakeholders’ decision-making - both the rational and irrational processes - will help planners to engage better with communities. Additionally, using artists and storytellers to help to articulate people’s desires and thoughts regarding their environment has the potential to open communication channels between stakeholders and planners leading to greater legitimacy and relevance of landscape planning.