Work packages 1 & 2

New ways of understanding contestation and place

Work package 1&2 aim to understand the local and non-local causes of conflict (‘flashpoints’) that emerge at a specific place and evolve over time. We will develop an approach to characterise these ‘flashpoints’, identifying and conceptualising emerging areas in historic evolution, main drivers and stakeholders, and place-based contestation, critically examining the place aspects behind the four flashpoints case studies in Devon.  

This will be achieved by:  

• Literature review: Examines existing research on environmental governance and contestation around scalar, political and historical antecedents of place-based environmental controversy. 

• UK-wide scooping analysis of place-based flashpoints with a focus on the four flashpoints 

• National and local media analysis: To scope, identify, and characterise key emerging areas of place-based contestation in both regional and national contexts. 

• Interviews with stakeholders: Interview community groups, active publics and those involved in policy making (local and national) around four flashpoints. The aim is to build a more detailed understanding of flashpoints from the perspectives of key organisations.

Work package 3

New ways of action: Participatory mechanisms for addressing flashpoints

Drawing on the outcome of WP1&2, with community partners we will develop and test a range of participatory mechanisms which could be used to address and navigate common sustainability flashpoints, including their place-based dimensions. Taking inspiration from inter-disciplinary research on environmental knowledge controversies and recent advances in deliberative democracy, co-creation and contemporary collaborative governance in the UK, we will develop processes for reducing knowledge hierarchies, and valuing and representing knowledges in diverse, creative ways.   

This will be achieved by:  

• Reviewing research, literature and practical experience around participatory mechanisms: This review will underpin the approaches to be tested and adapted in workshops with publics and stakeholders. 

• Workshops and focus groups co-produced and hosted with community partners to explore each of the four flashpoints. The workshops will cover: 

• • Focus groups: focused on public perspectives  

• • Stakeholder workshops (local organisations and citizen representation) covering: 

• • • Mapping and empathy (participatory systems, mapping) 

• • • Power and conflict (participatory conflict analysis) 

• • • Future and visioning (participatory future visioning) 

• Reflective learning and synthesis: a collaborative evaluation of the participatory mechanisms 

Work package 4

New approaches to governance: Creating new approaches to environmental governance  

By building on the outcomes, insights, and networks created through Work Packages 1-3, the project aims to empower both delivery and strategic partners to tackle other critical issues and ensure lasting impact after the project’s end. Local institutions will benefit from hands-on experience in co-designing and using participatory methods throughout the process, which will help develop a group of trained community facilitators who can address similar challenges in the future. 

The project seeks to develop a set of guidance materials, resources, and policy recommendations that are applicable both locally and nationally. It encourages engagement with sustainability from a place-based perspective, focusing on critical areas and offering practical advice on participatory methods suited to various sustainability challenges.