Evaluating procedural justice in regional planning process: Lessons from Alberta's regional plans.

摘要

Alberta's regional plans aim to integrate the management of water, land, air and biodiversity resources. Designing a process that balances various interests and reaches consensus is essential for these plans. Alberta's regional plans, once approved by the minister, will get regulatory status under the Alberta Land Stewardship Act. As a result, these plans will in case of inconsistency take precedence over the current generation of water plans developed under the Water Act, 1999 and the Water for Life strategy, 2003. This research aims to understand the procedural justices in the context of the process of developing the Alberta regional plans by exploring the perception of the stakeholders involved in various levels of the regional planning process, with focus on water issues and challenges.;This research focuses on the Lower Athabasca region which faces rapid growth in the mining and oil exploration industries, and the South Saskatchewan region which faces population and economic growth. Rapid growth in these regions is creating challenges and issues in water accessibility, quality, usage and storage.;The research is based on an analysis of data from three sources: policy documents, in-depth interviews, and opinions posted on various blogs and web sites expressing public opinion. The policy documents provided the official position on and opinion of the process and legal linkages between various laws and regulations. The data from in-depth interviews provided a deeper understanding of the stakeholders' perceptions of the process. These in-depth interviews were conducted with people involved in the planning process and included planners, government staffs, regional advisory council members, and stakeholders in relevant water policy areas. The electronic discussions and debates took place in electronic newspapers, weblogs, tweeters, and web discussions within each region and provided an understanding of the public opinion, perspectives, and concerns regarding the planning process within the regions.;Grounded theory uses a combination of thematic analysis and content analysis and was used for this research. The analysis revealed that Alberta's regional plans should be improved to ensure fairness of the planning process. Procedural justice should be improved in three main parts of the planning process: the plan's design, the public consultation process, and the decision making process. The analysis also revealed eight main themes to improve procedural justice in Alberta's regional plans; the need to: (i) follow procedural rules; (ii) have clear vision and objectives in the planning process; (iii) select unbiased representatives; (iv) use effective public engagement strategies; (v) support an effective public participation; (vi) define decision making roles and responsibilities; (vii) understand value conflicts; and (viii) identify challenges in the plans implementation.