Barriers to Deliberative Participation in EIA: Learning from Waste Policies, Plans and Projects

Despite increased legislative, political and social support for extended public engagement in environmental assessment, questions remain over the best means to integrate more analytic-deliberative processes within extended and fragmented decision-making frameworks. Using evidence from waste management decision-making in Britain this paper discusses institutional, cultural and technical barriers to effective integration of analysis and deliberation. The barriers are seen to limit effective participation intra decisions but particularly inter-decisions and hence to limit public impact on assessments and achievement of consensus on the optimum integrated waste management strategies. Institutional, technical and cultural barriers to effective process are discussed that compound the problems of enhancing public participation and promote maintenance of the status quo. Thus, environmental assessment still largely proceeds in advance of discussion with the public rather than through discussion with them.