| dc.description.abstract | Climate change and rising sea levels are an increasing risk for the livelihoods of coastal communities worldwide. Creative and strategic planning measures are being taken to protect residents of these regions by local or national governments, businesses, and non-profit organisations alike. However they risk failure if input from citizens are not integrated into the decision making and implementation processes, especially for communities most vulnerable to flood risk because of physical, social, cultural or economic factors.
To gain further insight into how vulnerable communities can be included in the processes of flood risk governance, this thesis examined the current academic discussions about the role of civic participation in flood risk governance. It focuses on New Orleans, an extreme example of the negative effects of insecure flood risk governance.
This research identified through a literature review modes that are currently and historically used to involve citizens in city planning and public service provision, with specific focus on flood risk management (FRM) strategies. These include: primary formal education, city wide public awareness campaigns and local neighborhood meetings. The research then identifies those factors which facilitates and hinders the involvement of individuals and communities in flood risk governance. The modes and influential factors identified and the findings of this study can be applicable more widely allowing future research to complement and build on this thesis.
The research then examined New Orleans as a case study, a city that in recent history experienced devastating effects from both the physical and environmental effects of flooding and the social, cultural and economic effects. A combination of expert interviews, a review of case specific publications and observations were used to examine the current state of civic participation in flood risk governance and to identify the dominant perceptions about modes and influential factors among key governance actors involved in developing FRM strategies.
The study found that civic participation in flood risk governance in New Orleans is low, in general and in particular among more vulnerable communities. Whilst there is some experimentation with less traditional modes of civic participation, there is an over reliance on traditional methods that have continuously proved ineffective to meaningfully engage citizens. Stakeholders have prioritised certain factors, including citizen competence in respect to flood risk governance and civic participation, trust between citizens and institutions, investment from all governance actors, self efficacy of citizens, citizen’s sense of responsibility and collaboration among entities and with citizens. Engagement with vulnerable communities requires awareness of competing priorities and factors limiting participation, experimenting with multiple approaches while being mindful of over consultation, meeting citizens where they are and evaluation. | |
