Collaborative planning - Building consensus and building a distinct model for practice

Collaborative planning is an interactive process of consensus building and implementation using stakeholder and public involvement. Based on research of twenty case studies in the United States and Australia, the author explores some of the most common obstacles that have confronted stakeholder groups in their effort to build consensus, including contextual, compositional, operational, organizational, ideological, and power and capacity. The case studies reveal a range of responses for overcoming these obstacles and highlight some important distinctions between models of collaborative planning and conflict resolution. The researcher also identifies key questions for stakeholders to use in designing and assessing consensus-building processes.