Information provision on complex subjects in PVE
How to provide information about complex subjects to participants in PVE? Sem Nouws, student of the master Complex Systems Engineering and Management, studied different information provision approaches in a PVE on urban climate adaptation for his master thesis project. He observed that participants’ wants and needs regarding information are very divergent.
Information provision on complex subjects such as urban climate adaptation in participation often falls short. Participants often only have limited prior knowledge on the subject or do not have the experience or skills to process the information. On the other hand, policy makers or other facilitators of participation do not select the right information, present it in the wrong way or use the information provision strategically. With PVE it is possible to give participants the right insights in complex subjects. However, also the information provision in this new participation method can be improved. Therefore, Sem searched for possibilities to provide complex information in PVE.
In his research, Sem tested two information provision approaches in a PVE-survey on the realization of a water storage in Reyeroord, a neighbourhood in Rotterdam. Half of the respondents received extra information on climate change, the need for climate adaptation and the technicalities of adaptation measures. The other respondents received images that visualized the different policy options. The participants were asked to assess the quality of the information provision and whether they felt empowered by the information to give informed input or to make a choice between the policy options.
The two tested information provision approaches do not lead to a different evaluation by participants, however, visualizations appear to be of importance. But the most remarkable result was that the wants and needs for information provision by participants are very heterogeneous. This is because of the diverse backgrounds and characteristics (socio-demographic characteristics, attitudes, experiences) of participants. Therefore, it is better to adapt the information provision in PVE to the different wants and needs of participants.
