ABSTRACT
Among the wide variety of methods available for incorporating community attitudes and values into environmental decision-making are public hearings, calls for submissions, referenda and opinion polls. Each of these approaches has its limitations. Concerns also surround the use of stated preference techniques such as the contingent valuation method (CVM) and choice modelling as inputs to environmental decision-making, in part because responses are based on limited levels of information and deliberation. Techniques based on the theory of deliberative democracy have the potential to correct these adverse conditions. Citizens’ juries (CJs), deliberative polls, consensus conferences and related techniques offer participants time, information and opportunities for social interaction and deliberation, which may result in the development and articulation of robust preferences.1
