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Stakeholder awareness-raising of multi-value of Green Infrastructure through interactive games
Published on 14 August 2018
United Kingdom
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
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About this good practice
Joint delivery of new GI projects relies on inter-departmental coordination and political support; this GP tackled how to raise awareness of the value of multi-use GI with politicians and stakeholders from different professions with mixed levels of knowledge.
PERFECT partners and stakeholders from the Netherlands and Austria also attended as part of peer networking.
New techniques for discussion and group working were used during this two-day event including a planning ‘game’, a challenge game, expert presentations and site visits. This mix of activities stimulated discussion and broke down professional barriers.
Day 1 examined how Cornwall Council and stakeholders plan, provide and manage GI; and Day 2 took place at the proposed West Carclaze Garden Village, with highway and drainage adoption teams, plus peer support from Austria and the Netherlands to help examine practical changes needed to the way that Cornwall plans, provides and adapts GI.
The GI game, developed by the TCPA, gets participants to lay out images of a typical town centre and consider how GI can affect, say, flooding, access, or mobility by adding/removing/moving cards to improve a local area. Challenge cards are sheets of simple questions and participants are allowed 5 minutes to call out their responses. This means that no single view or person dominates.
Both techniques are non-technical and can be used across a wide audience. They can be used separately but work better when used together
PERFECT partners and stakeholders from the Netherlands and Austria also attended as part of peer networking.
New techniques for discussion and group working were used during this two-day event including a planning ‘game’, a challenge game, expert presentations and site visits. This mix of activities stimulated discussion and broke down professional barriers.
Day 1 examined how Cornwall Council and stakeholders plan, provide and manage GI; and Day 2 took place at the proposed West Carclaze Garden Village, with highway and drainage adoption teams, plus peer support from Austria and the Netherlands to help examine practical changes needed to the way that Cornwall plans, provides and adapts GI.
The GI game, developed by the TCPA, gets participants to lay out images of a typical town centre and consider how GI can affect, say, flooding, access, or mobility by adding/removing/moving cards to improve a local area. Challenge cards are sheets of simple questions and participants are allowed 5 minutes to call out their responses. This means that no single view or person dominates.
Both techniques are non-technical and can be used across a wide audience. They can be used separately but work better when used together
Resources needed
Games free to use. Please contact TCPA to access the game.
Challenge Cards, UK Government (‘Change Cards’ in the toolkit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/open-policy-making-toolkit/low-cost-tools).
Resources needed to organise training, case studies; develop questions, facilitation and site visits.
Challenge Cards, UK Government (‘Change Cards’ in the toolkit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/open-policy-making-toolkit/low-cost-tools).
Resources needed to organise training, case studies; develop questions, facilitation and site visits.
Evidence of success
Activities stimulated discussion and broadened the awareness of the multi-use of GI. Engaging participants from different backgrounds challenged silo thinking and stimulated debate of GI uses, solutions and opportunities. This has led to the drafting of new policy advice and more rounded use of existing Local Policy, paving the way for improved policy making in the revision of the plan. The exercises have stimulated debate in Cornwall, broadening the imagination of decision makers/stakeholders.
Potential for learning or transfer
The technique is non-technical and not specific to any particular regulatory system and can therefore be adapted for use in other localities very easily. Across Europe, stakeholders, communities and politicians need to work together to find solutions to climate impacts and this approach can break down communication barriers, build confidences and find solutions through consensus from participants without an expert background. The game has no written content, it is all images or simple statements/provacations which can be changed to suit the audience. It is therefore easily adaptable for the local socio-economic-environmental considerations as well as site specific challenges in any region.
The GI game has already been transferred successfully to PERFECT partners in Slovakia and Amsterdam, with Graz and Ljubljana interested to develop the cards to explore new GI concepts with politicians and communities.
The GI game has already been transferred successfully to PERFECT partners in Slovakia and Amsterdam, with Graz and Ljubljana interested to develop the cards to explore new GI concepts with politicians and communities.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
Organisation
Cornwall Council
United Kingdom
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
Contact
Planning Policy Group Leader