Learning while participating in public planning, and having fun : Testing a method of using focus groups and a vision of a sustainable future neighborhood, that ‘pushes the limits’

Sammanfattning: We are facing the problems of climate change, the unfair share and over use of Earth’s resources. Global North overuses, Sweden has an ecological footprint of four planets. The challenge is to change our lifestyles. This thesis is trying out a method to diffuse ideas of sustainable development (SD) and for citizen participation. I created a future vision of a sustainable neighborhood inspired by Jane Jacobs and the concept of densification. This I presented to three homogenous focus groups: the next-door neighborhood, home owners and people in rentals. Free discussion then followed, and then a questionnaire. The findings where that the participants, fifteen of sixteen, thought the method gave them new ideas, allowed them to share their knowledge, and that it was a good method for participation. I thought that it was a ‘fun’ method. Focus groups research works more the way people normally interact, as did the literature show. I could see the learning process, that Patsy Healey describes, the creation of cultures, and also how the issue of SD was explored. It was time consuming to recruit participants. The tendency was that volunteers liked to talk, had an interest in planning, although not all in favor of SD. Many resembled me, in age and cultural background. The method could be useful to deepen dialog with citizens, especially in an early stage of planning. The vision should be ‘daring’ to spur good discussions, that may land in a compromise on SD.