Category: Citizens’ Jury

Community representatives are being recruited to take part in a Citizens’ Jury on forests

LANDPATHS sub-projects on Citizen dialogue and Forest Landscapes are now in the process of recruiting local citizens in the municipalities of Ovanåker, Ljusdal, and Bollnäs to discuss forest-related issues in a Citizens’ Jury. Tim Daw (Stockholm Resilience Centre) spoke more about the Jury during the Förmiddagen i P4 Gävleborg radio show on September 2, 2024.

View over Voxnadalen
View from Växbo in Bollnäs municipality. Photo: Max Whitman.

The Citizens’ Jury aims to provide local people with an opportunity to discuss how municipal forests should be used. According to Tim, Citizens’ Juries provide a great tool for tackling complex issues like the polarized debate over forest use. The use of the forest for production, recreation, and the preservation of biodiversity are often seen as conflicting priorities.

Participants in a Citizens’ Jury are randomly selected and receive an invitation letter with instructions for how to sign up to the process. No prior knowledge is required, as experts will be present to give brief presentations. In addition, participating citizens are encouraged to contribute their local knowledge and values to the process. Those taking part will have plenty of time for discussion and the goal is to provide a platform that allows for a deeper discussion than what typically occurs in polarised debate in (social) media. It is the intention that the Citizens’ Jury will offer an opportunity for local people to listen to one another and foster a better understanding of each other’s views and values regarding the forest. Listen to Tim’s interview with Sveriges Radio P4 here.

“Deliberative mini-publics, such as the Citizens’ Jury, are a promising method to discuss wicked and complex challenges in polarized societies, such as the question of forest management in Voxnadalen. In addition, they provide a great tool to listen to and incorporate local knowledge of residents living in the biosphere reserve. We are working together with those managing the Voxnadalen biosphere reserve to assess whether this method can be a valuable tool for incorporating local residents’ knowledge into management plans. This is a rather novel approach, so we are excited to witness what will happen with the Citizens’ Jury in Voxnadalen this autumn.”

FANNY MÖCKEL, DOCTORAL STUDENT IN LANDPATHS

The Citizens’ Jury about forest use will take place over two Saturdays in October and November.

Earlier this year, Tim successfully led a Citizens’ Assembly on Climate, which created an open forum for discussing climate-related issues among community representatives from across Sweden. The process resulted in recommendations that were submitted to political representatives.

For more information, contact Tim Daw (Stockholm Resilience Centre) or Fanny Möckel (Uppsala University).

Coming in 2024 – Deliberative mini-public in Voxnadalen Biosphere Reserve

In autumn 2024, LANDPATHS will collaborate with the Voxnadalen Biosphere Reserve to test a new method for involving citizens in research on multifunctional landscapes. Fanny Möckel, doctoral student at Uppsala University and a researcher in the sub-project Barriers and Opportunities for Change, tells us a little more about the planned ‘Deliberative mini-public’.

What would a multifunctional landscape in Voxnadalen look like in the future? Based on the conversations about this question at the LANDPATHS stakeholder workshop series, the next step is discussing the priorities in the biosphere reserve with citizens. This process will be led by myself and Tim Daw (Stockholm Resilience Centre), in collaboration with the Voxnadalen Biosphere Reserve.

Citizen engagement in sustainable planning

There are many ways to engage citizens, but LANDPATHS wants to try a new method. We will use a deliberative mini-public, which involves a randomly selected group of citizens taking part in moderated discussions in small groups on a topic of common interest. This method differs from other forms of citizen engagement, enabling participants to deliberate on ideas and proposals in more depth. There are several different formats, such as a citizen panel or a citizen jury, which have been used in several countries to discuss complex issues, including sustainable development and climate change.

Group of people

In a deliberative mini-public, citizens are selected according to criteria that ensure a broad representation of the public in a small group. Over 2-3 days, citizens hear different perspectives, opinions, and expert knowledge, and then discuss the issue in depth. The process usually concludes with a common conclusion or recommendations. Citizens are compensated financially for their participation in the process.

How should the biosphere reserve develop?

Key aspects of this process are that citizens discuss a topic that affects and concerns them, and that the outcome has the potential to influence decision-making and action related to the issue. The deliberative mini-public in Voxnadalen will focus on the future development of the biosphere reserve.

The Voxnadalen biosphere reserve coordination team has committed to integrating the results of the mini-public into the forthcoming development plan for the reserve.

Planning for the deliberative mini-public is now underway – keep an eye on the blog for more updates, or contact Fanny for more information.

Bird in a tree

The UNESCO Voxnadalen Biosphere Reserve spans an area of 342,00 ha in Hälsingland and Dalarna. Read more at voxnadalen.org. This article is a summary of ‘Medborgarberedning i Biosfärområde Voxnadalen’, written by Fanny Möckel in the magazine ‘Det händer I Biosfärområde Voxnadalen – Information om Biosfärområde Voxnadalen 2023’, p.15.

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