Constructing delta realities; Joint Fact Finding challenges in Serious Game Design

__Abstract__ This paper addresses the challenges of Joint Fact Finding (JFF) in spatial planning and design. JFF is an important component of a deliberative planning practice: The construction of (problematic) realities is fundamental for the formulation of challenges and solutions. Information is often contested in complex planning processes due to different interests, values and perspectives. Carefully designed interaction procedures are needed to negotiate the relevance and validity of information sources. Particularly promising procedures for this are Serious Games: Facilitating joint reality construction through immersive simulations, they are appealing ways to engage not only knowledge-oriented researchers, but also practice-oriented stakeholders and professionals. Their concreteness speaks to spatial planning and design as crafts. Still, the development of such games is not without its challenges and trade-offs. As procedures for reality construction, they cannot escape the power-laden nature of knowledge. We present a case study on developing a spatial design-oriented game, and analyze it in the tradition of the sociology of translations, aided by literature on serious game development. As indicated, Serious Games could function as JFF procedures in spatial planning and design. Moreover, their architecture can be considered a ‘boundary object’ providing actors an environment that accommodates information sharing, learning and joint reality construction. In this way the game facilitates the building of capacity to generate and integrate knowledge for spatial planning and design. In our project on integrative planning in delta areas, the game architecture accommodated researchers and practitioners in governance, spatial design and geo-information. Striving for interdisciplinary synergies, the game architecture was to be accordingly polyvalent. Its main innovative features would be its generative and integrative capacity, i.e. its capacity to both co-produce and integrate a diversity of information sources and to co-develop/generate spatial designs on this basis. How can joint fact finding in spatial planning and design be organized through a serious game in such a way that it develops integrative and generative capacity, and which challenges and trade-offs are faced in realizing this goal? In this paper we describe and discuss the practical sh

Burgercooperaties: Speler of speelbal in de nieuwe verhoudingen tussen overheid, markt en samenleving

Burgers hebben in Nederland het afgelopen decennium in allerlei sectoren initiatieven ontwikkeld en coöperaties opgericht om zelf voorzieningen en diensten tot stand te brengen en te beheren. Kennelijk slagen overheid en markt er onvoldoende in om in bepaalde behoeften en daarmee samenhangende waarden van burgers leven te voorzien. Hoewel burgercoöperaties jonge organisaties zijn die zichzelf grotendeels nog moeten bewijzen, zijn de koplopers een bron van inspiratie, innovatie en navolging. Tegelijk kunnen we constateren dat er weinig kennis beschikbaar is over deze nieuwe organisatievorm. Het ontbreekt tot nu toe aan empirische sectorstudies en een systematische vergelijking. Dit themanummer inventariseert en vergelijkt the state of art van burgercoöperaties op het terrein van energie, zorg, breedband en wonen. Hoe effectief en duurzaam zijn burgercoöperaties en hoe verhouden ze zich tot overheden, marktpartijen en maatschappelijke organisaties? De vergelijkende analyse laat zien dat burgercoöperaties moeten leren om te gaan met de spanning tussen het streven naar zelfbeheer en de behoefte tot professionalisering. Ook moeten ze leren samen te werken met andere partijen in hun omgeving. Coöperaties moeten leren het spel mee te spelen zodat zij geen speelbal van andere partijen worden

Political leadership as meta-governance in sustainability transitions

Sustainability transitions are of an inherently political nature. In particular, discussions on climate policy are dominated by national and international politics. Furthermore, sustainability transitions involve network governance in which both private, public, and societal actors are involved. These governance processes call for closely scrutinizing their performance in terms of democratic legitimacy. To study and assess the democratic quality of governance processes regarding climate policy, this article focuses on the role of political leadership, conceptualized as political meta-governance, in enhancing the democratic legitimacy in the field of sustainability transitions. In doing so, it examines the case of the Du

Citizens in Action, What Do They Accomplish?

There are high political and policy expectations of local and voluntary initiatives of citizens collaborating to provide public services themselves. Despite rising attention, existing research lacks systematic knowledge on the actual outcomes of citizen initiatives and on stimulating or hampering factors. Therefore, we present a systematic literature review using the PRISMA approach on citizen initiatives and related terms. The studies show citizens being able to achieve outcomes touching upon a broad range of public values. Furthermore, the review presents contributing factors, like government support and boundary spanning leadership. Yet, the field of citizen initiatives in the social sciences can benefit from more methodological and analytical rigor. We therefore conclude with a conceptual framework for community self-management that identifies relationships between outcomes and relevant factors and discuss future research directions

Democracy and governance networks: compatible or not?

The relationship between representative democracy and governance networks is investigated at a theoretical level. Four conjectures about the relationship are defined. The incompatibility conjectures rests on the primacy of politics and sees governance networks as a threat. The complementarity conjecture presents governance networks as a means of enabling greater participation in the policy process and sensitivity in programme implementation. The transitional conjecture posits a wider evolution of governance forms towards network relationships. The instrumental conjecture views governance networks as a powerful means through which dominant interests can achieve their goals. Illustrative implications for theory and practice are identified, in relation to power in the policy process, the public interest, and the role of public managers. The heuristic potential of the conjectures is demonstrated through the identification of an outline research agenda

Achieving sustainable construction within Private Finance Initiative (PFI) road projects in the UK

The construction industry is facing the challenge of increasing demands of its sustainability performance. The construction and maintenance of the built environment has substantial impact on the sustainability of the environment. Whist, public sector clients are increasingly asking for a sustainable approach in their specification and procurement decisions, sustainability is still seen as a novel concept within the construction industry in many parts of the world without a settled definition. The premise of this study is that the interaction between road projects realized by the private finance initiative and their delivery in the UK improve sustainability. The paper, based on case study research, explains the sustainability implementation in a PFI road project and demonstrates that the PFI mechanism facilitates sustainable implementation to a far greater extent than is achievable using traditional procurement methods

Community-based Initiatives in the Dutch water domain – the challenge of double helix alignment

Community-based initiatives (CBIs) are emerging in many domains such as care, sustainable energy and water management. This paper examined three initiatives in Dutch water management, focusing on their relationship with water boards. CBIs present issues that water boards find difficult to respond to because of two reasons. First, CBIs are demarcated very differently from the formal tasks that water boards pursue. This calls for internal alignment within water boards to respond adequately. Second, CBIs necessitate external alignment with other water-managing governments. Water boards must therefore implement double helix alignment to relate productively to initiatives emerging in society