Lessons learned from public participation in hydrologic engineering projects

Public participation in engineering projects has been minimal to date, whereas it is growing in other fields. This paper assesses the lessons learned from public participation in two hydrologic engineering projects, as citizen scientists or through participatory mapping. The two projects were conduc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hydrological sciences journal 2020-02, Vol.65 (3), p.325-334
Main Authors: Etheridge, J. R., Manda, A. K., Grace-McCaskey, C., Allen, T., Hao, H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citizen participation
citizen science
Data collection
Engineering
Flooding
Hydrology
Mapping
Public participation
Sea level
Sea level rise
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Summary:Public participation in engineering projects has been minimal to date, whereas it is growing in other fields. This paper assesses the lessons learned from public participation in two hydrologic engineering projects, as citizen scientists or through participatory mapping. The two projects were conducted in communities that faced a common problem of flooding due to sea-level rise. The lessons learned include the need to invest time at the beginning of a project to get an idea of what knowledge the public can contribute and have a plan in place to sustain participation at the level needed for the project to be successful. Our cost comparison shows that public participation should be encouraged when the project area is large enough to make travel for data collection cost prohibitive, or when extensive interaction with the public will already be required.
ISSN:0262-6667
2150-3435
DOI:10.1080/02626667.2019.1700420