Evaluating citizen participation in motorway construction planning

Up to now, ifib has supported and evaluated predominantly online-based participation projects in the field of informal planning and communication. Presently however, two of our projects are related to citizen participation in the context of formal procedures in the planning of motorway construction. They receive funding by the Bertelsmann Foundation as part of a program promoting citizen participation (Politik gemeinsam gestalten). On behalf of the Bertelsmann Foundation, ifib is providing support and a final evaluation of the projects, which are not online-based and in which the internet plays only a marginal role.

One of the two projects deals with the question whether the Ministry of Energy, Infrastructure and State Development in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania should or should not initiate the construction of a bypass around the city of Waren on the Müritz. The minister in charge arranged a referendum that took place on the same day as the national election on September 22nd, 2013. Since the start of the process in the spring of 2013, ifib has evaluated all resources and events that were offered to the citizens for information and dialogue, and has provided the interim results in July. These results were compared to the aims and expectations that were formulated at the beginning of the process, and recommendations were made for the remaining time until the referendum. These recommendations were largely followed. With a turnout of 57% (10,500 citizens), the referendum was qualified in every respect.

The second project is aimed at the participation of citizens in planning the closure of a gap in the A 33 near Osnabrück, on the basis of a route already approved by the Federal Department of Transportation. The Ministry of Economics, Labour and Transport of Lower Saxony, the State Institute of Road Construction and Transportation of Lower Saxony, and the Bertelsmann Foundation have agreed that the formal procedure steps were to be supplemented by further citizen-friendly elements of information and dialogue. The latter were meant to be designed by a board of supporters and opponents. Here, too, ifib evaluated the elements of information and dialogue, provided interim results, made recommendations and identified open questions. In contrast to the Waren project, which was limited to a duration of eight months, this project has a running time of several years (regional planning procedure 2007-2009, route agreement 2012, planning of design until 2015, planning of building permit until 2018). Hence, the question that remains open is how the participants motivation and perseverance can be secured over such a long period.

Both evaluation reports follow a multidimensional stakeholder-centred approach, analyzing the expectations and experiences of the initiators, organizers, and members of the steering and advisory committees at the beginning, during, and at the end of the project. Further, we surveyed the opinions of those participating in individual events, and of those inhabiting the areas in question. Various methods were employed, such as interviews conducted in person or over the phone, paper-based surveys, representative opinion polls via telephone (through commercial research organisations), and log file analysis.

Whether these projects can serve as examples for other road planning projects or other projects in general will be discussed in the final reports: for the Waren project in December 2013 and for the A 33 project in the autumn of 2014.