Incrementality and Regional Bridging: Instruments for Promoting Stakeholder Participation in Land Use Management in Northern Germany

Participatory processes and knowledge exchange between researchers and practitioners have the potential to strengthen land-use-related research and development projects. However, they face a variety of challenges, such as competing interests and trust issues, differences in worldviews between stakeholder groups and researchers, and problems in addressing the complexity of issues at hand. We discuss a participatory guiding principle process for sustainable land use management that was undertaken in four case-study areas in northern Germany. We present two methodological aspects that address the aforementioned challenges: (i) the use of incremental participatory steps toward guiding principles and (ii) the integration of regional project managers as bridging organizations. The incrementality of the process increased feedback options, transparency, and the likelihood of reaching a consensus. The activities of the regional project managers served to provide unique access to stakeholders and expert knowledge, supported knowledge exchange, and ensured the consideration of regional demands.