Managing public engagement to optimize learning: Reflections from urban river restoration

In the context of the growth in support for deliberative decision-making, this paper presents a new examination of an important and as yet largely ignored question of just how a deliberative process can capitalize on local knowledge and lead to shared (expert and public) learning and understanding. It speaks to both the academic and practitioner through a set of reflections upon the nature and demands of engagement management. Drawing upon a recent urban river restoration project in the UK, the subject of an innovative form of engagement, it identifies and examines the key management elements, i.e. the recruitment of representative interests; active facilitation; collaborative framing; optimizing interaction; and managing the unexpected. The paper concludes that both public and expert can learn if the right conditions for listening, sharing, reflecting on preferences and adapting are created and managed, and identifies the theoretical and practical implications.