4. Conflict resolution

> 5 key aspects of Governance

This page has been written based on a research work on Governance conducted by IAAC team within the CENTRINNO EU research project.

Decision-making processes, especially those that involve public participation may raise conflicts among participants. Even though conflicts need to be spotted and addressed in order to avoid escalation and negative impacts on the process, it is important to understand their causes and the context in which they happen. Conflict is sometimes a means for actors of a participation process: to express frustration; the expression of subjacent organisational issues; or the consequence of a dispute or a harmful action.

Allowing space for involved partners to discuss and solve their dispute

Conflict resolution could be understood as a decision making process between two (or more) parties involved in order to find an agreement to solve a dispute. Involving the parties and solving a dispute at the lowest level possible is desirable to avoid long processes and empower the actors involved to find solutions to common problems. You may find some examples of this in the work of Susskind, McKearnan & Thomas (1999).

Negotiation

A steering committee to anticipate conflict

A Steering Committee is a group comprised of cross-sector community partners representative of the relevant ecosystem that provides strategic direction (Collective Impact Forum, 2014). Who is represented and how decisions are made is different in each case. Such an advisory board may put in place ad-hoc means and spaces to foster conflict resolution, but it may also be a tool to anticipate conflict by creating a space to discuss issues before they escalate.

Mediation

Involving an external view

Effectively resolving conflicts may sometimes require the intervention of external professionals that can both help resolve conflict and aid in establishing procedures derived from consensus-based decision making.

Governance structure and representative % of the different parties involved in Fab City Hub Paris. The share of representation of each partner was defined locally according to their role. Source: Volumes presentation

The issue of power

There is a multiplicity of social worlds, ‘rationalities’ and practices that coexist in urban contexts, creating complex power relations within and between them. In all decision making processes there are different relationships of power between the actors involved, between the participants and the facilitator, or even between participants and stakeholders that are not directly taking part in the discussion. According to Patsy Healey (2006), in any argumentative process, power is not a thing, but a relation. Acknowledging power relations between all actors involved is key to address and understand conflict.