Environmental issues has been at the forefront of our political and national decision making as important decisions are being made daily on the development and testing of public structures and projects. Some of these SDM (structured decision making) projects include cleaning contaminated sites, setting guidelines for water use by hydroelectric utilities, and creating water management plans. Public involvement in these plans is so important and people should be made aware of what is happening in their communities.
Public opinion is vital and needed before any structured decision-making is completed, and most people really want to be involved and take ownership of the project. These are tax payers who are investing in their neighborhoods, communities, and cities, and it is important to inform them of what they will be getting (Bartusek).
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"Structured Decision-Making and Public Involvement".
Good public projects begin with publicity about it, first of all, through various avenues of communication through neighborhood groups such as notices around the community, articles in newspapers, neighborhood newsletter communications, local school newspapers, and notices mailed to homes (Bartusek). These notices should be sent within two weeks of the public meeting, which often takes place once a month through most HOA (Home Owners Association) groups or apartment complexes.
Once the plans of the project has been communicated, the public should be informed of changes as they occur from start to finish. If the public is kept informed, they are less likely to complain or be in opposition of any future projects in their communities. These SDMs approaches assist decision makers in making better technical evaluations about problems to better demonstrate and communicate the objectives through a more user-friendly term (Wilson, 2006).
These SDM approaches are growing rapidly in the environmental areas, and the overall result and quality of the decisions should be judged by the steps used in the structured decision approach and the outcome. A structured SDM program have been used as a way to improve the quality of environmental and risk management (Wilson). SDM has made it possible to build both information about a given problem and a process to encourage more analysis that have been reviewed and thoroughly examined. The quality of the decisions largely depend on the amount of time and effort put into the SDM approach.
Creative systems for managing agriculture and natural resources across landscape systems to produce and develop ecosystem/biodiversity, link grass root community-based initiatives to a wider national goal of delivering ecological benefits to our society (Buck & Scherr). Social learning is necessary to achieve this goal, which involves the development of knowledge of the process and the products.
The creative system designed will help stakeholders handle the difficult issues, conflicts, and change they will face in efforts to manage natural resources in agricultural landscape views for a multitude of outcomes. The stakeholders involved are natural resource producers, users, regulators, farmers, fishers, herder groups, CBOs, among others.
An effective facilitator is needed to bring the knowledge because they are passionate about their work and having the capacity to engage participants into learning stimulating the imagination, keeping them engaged in the learning process (Buck). The facilitator must also be competent in creating a strategic plan of alliance while managing the decision-making processes (Kaner et al, 2007). The importance of a strategic plan is vital to the success of a landscape-wide innovation system.
