Dimensión 3 Plano del relato

6.3.1. D evising a process fot the strategy

A critical time in the strategy and research process was that of disseminating my findings back to English Nature and the newly appointed Project Officer. Three reports were produced for English Nature in June 2000:

• A descriptive account of the interests and influences of those stakeholders interviewed in relation to the river SAC and the potential strategy

• A descriptive account of the governance and other contextual factors relevant to the strategy, including attitudes towards English Nature

• A summary report linking the stakeholder analysis to a proposed approach for developing the strategy, drawing attention to principles of best practice and areas of possible contention, as well as a suggested DIP.

These reports formed the basis of discussions held between the Project Officer, her Wiltshire EN Hne manager and myself on developing an approach for the strategy held on 15 June 2001 This meeting was the moment from which my role began to change from action researcher / process advisor to process observer.

6.3.2. Stepping back - observing the process.

Distancing myself from the strategy by becoming less involved in the detailed issues of implementation was a gradual process that took place over a number o f months. I continued to maintain my involvement as an occasional point o f contact and advice for the Project Officer on specific aspects of participation. It was agreed that I would attend and

This was not the only time when process design issues were discussed - there was continual reflection and evolution of the process throughout its Hfecycle, which I was able to observe and discuss with the Project Officer.

observe a selection of working group and topic group meetings about the Avon. Maintaining links with the strategy enabled me to observe how issues relating to stakeholder involvement were tackled as they arose, and how the process evolved under the steer of the Project Officer. Because the majority of people present at these meetings knew me, my presence was not felt to be an issue. I also adopted a co-ordinating role for contracts where two postgraduate students from UCL took on the role as facilitators for two working group meetings^

In this stage of the research my role was largely reflective, considering how the strategy process had evolved and how different factors had influenced the process in expected and unexpected ways. This period included a great deal of critical self-reflection, about my understanding o f DIPs, and the influence I had had over the strategy process. One consequence for the thesis is that as a result o f my close links to the project, it would be wrong to construct my reflections on the strategy process as anything other than observations, as I lacked the critical independence needed for evaluation (Mosse, 1998). Observations made during these meetings were noted and typed up after the meeting. Tape recordings were also made, but it was agreed with participants that these were for reference only and comments made by individuals would not appear in the thesis. This quite deliberately limited form o f data collection prevented me from carrying out anything like a discourse-based analysis of the process.

6.3.3. Reflecting on the Process with the Project Officer and Line Manager

As the process evolved I was able to hold some open and enlightening discussions with the Project Officer and her line manager, helping them to reflect on the process at its various stages. These were critical discussions, pardy helping me to understand the process through their eyes, and also as a means o f learning about process developments occurring outside o f the formal meetings’*^. As with other observational data, these discussions were written

15 Jason Chüvers and Sam Gardner are PhD students in the Geography Department at UCL with experience of facilitating stakeholder workshops. They facilitated two stages of the Stakeholder Decision Analysis (SDA) process — developing criteria, and ranking issues against criteria. My role in this was simply to organise the contracts, and act as a point of contact between UCL and EN. 16 Through the additional work carried out by the Project Officer co-ordinating meetings and collating existing information about issues tackled through the strategy it became apparent that the

up after the event and my learning from them contributed to the interpretation o f the strategy process presented in Chapter 9. However, I had to retain an awareness o f the subjectivity o f their attitudes towards the strategy.

This period o f reflection culminated in taped, semi-structured interviews being held with the Project Officer and the EN conservation officer individually, to capture their feelings and thoughts more formally, and reflect on their experiences of the strategy process as it drew to a close. These interviews were held in June and August 2002. The ongoing reflection and learning taking place through discussions between the three of us, led to a period o f joint dissemination of lessons learnt from the Avon case study, with joint presentations to English Nature’s Socio-Economic Advisory Group meeting in September 2002, and the LIFE Rivers Project Board meeting in October 2002.

6.3.4. Contextualising the Findings of the Avon.

The Avon was one o f seven sites where conservation strategies were developed under the LIFE Project. Discussions with other Project Officers on the telephone and at the three LIFE Rivers Project Meetings that I attended (see Table 6.7) provided an understanding of the range of approaches that were used to develop strategies in very different environmental and political environments. The understanding gained through these discussions helped to develop my ideas about the factors which influence the design o f a process o f stakeholder engagement.

Table 6.7. Attendance at LIFE Project Meetings

Date Meeting Relevance to Research

30 March 2001

Meeting in Peterborough with LIFE Project Manager and Project Officers

Opportunity to discuss stakeholder issues arising in each of the strategy locations and ideas about process 3 - 4

September 2001

LIFE in UK Rivers Workshop, Penrith. Informal discussions with Project Officers about their progress 3 October

2002

LIFE Rivers Project Board Meeting, Doncaster

Presentations from each Project Officer about the process used to develop their strategy.

strategy process was progressing through informal discussions and meetings as well as the formal meetings I attended.

6.3.5. Reflections on the Case Study Methodology.

As this research adopted an action research approach, I was aware of potential influences that my close working relationship with English Nature may have had on the results obtained. For example, many interviewees saw my research as a potentially useful communication mechanism with English Nature to declare their interests and thoughts on the approach EN has been taking on the river and the forthcoming river conservation strategy. In addition, staff from the EN Wiltshire team saw my research as an opportunity to show others they were willing to listen and learn from them about the approach they were taking to working with their stakeholders.

The process design stage was a particularly complex one for me as a researcher because of the limited ability I had to influence the structure and parameters within which the process would sit, and because of my limited previous experience o f process design. Although based on an analysis o f interviews and working within the parameters laid down by English Nature, my personal beliefs were obviously influential over the structure and processes that I recommended. However, it was also important that the Project Officer felt she was able to influence the process design according to her own interests and the expectations she had of her job for the next two years. The direct link between my research and the strategy process also had implications for my position as a researcher in the field. My own beliefs, the fact that I was seen as a source of advice for the local English Nature team about possible participation techniques, must be acknowledged as an influence over the research findings.

Introducing Chapters 7, 8 and 9.

The following three chapters will discuss the Avon case in more detail. Chapter 7 presents a situational analysis of the Avon, based on analysis o f the stakeholder interviews. The structures and processes of governance of the Avon are discussed, and ideas about how the strategy should progress based on this analysis are presented. Chapter 8 outlines how a process to engage stakeholders in the strategy was developed, drawing on my understanding of the local and institutional contexts in which the strategy was embedded, and my understanding o f the principles of deliberation and inclusion. Chapter 9 goes on to reflect on the strategy as it evolved under the management of the Project Officer.

Chapter 7.