The Participatory process in public management for regional development: case of Latvia

Abstract

In case of Latvia, formal requirements of involvement of citizens in decision-making processes at national, regional and local are defined in different legal acts. In preparation of planning documents some municipalities and public institutions are developing individual approaches to insure effective dialogue with stakeholders. Taking into account ongoing administrative territorial reform in Latvia, there is a need for more inclusive models of citizens’ participation in decision-making process in regional level. Taking into account before mentioned, the aim of the paper is to analyse the approaches of involvement of stakeholders in decision-making processes in context of regional development. In order to achieve the aim, following research methods have been used: scientific literature studies, statistical data analysis, expert survey. Main results and conclusions of the paper: the research showed that policy makers in EU using diverse approaches in more effective involvement of citizens and key stakeholders in decision-making – some of them are rather creative and could be called as good practice examples. In case of Latvia, existing approaches could be defined rather as formal engagement activities towards fulfilment of requirements of legal acts. However, in some cases public administrators showed innovative approach towards development of effective dialogue with citizens.