The Process

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Context

• Viennese law requires the Viennese waste management plan to be updated every five years and a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) to be undertaken as part of the process.


• The Viennese waste management plan contains objectives and measures for waste management in Vienna (population 1.6 million) for the next 5-15 years. It includes waste avoidance, the separate collection of waste, waste treatment facilities and the transportation of waste.


• The steering group decided that the plan could only be implemented effectively if it was supported by the affected interest groups, departments and the general public and if environmental aspects are given equal weight to social and economic aspects.


• So the waste management department of Vienna city administration decided to set up a participative planning process and to carry out a participative SEA. The core of the SEA was an assessment of different planning alternatives concerning the environmental, social and economic effects. The best alternatives were taken into the final Viennese waste management plan 2007.

Outcomes - Successes

• The planning and SEA team cooperated effectively throughout the process at the "SEA Round Table". They found consensus on the draft plan and the environmental report, which they forwarded to the political decision makers as a sound recommendation.


• The feedback workshop provided new ideas and enriched the content of the plan. Most of the comments were included in the plan or the environmental report. All received comments and the way they were taken into account were transparently documented in the environmental report.


• The Viennese government adopted the plan as recommended by the planning and SEA team and took the results of the process fully into account.


• A monitoring group will follow up the implementation of the measures in the plan.

Outcomes - Shortcomings

• Few members of the general public became involved. Only 15 comments on the draft plan and environmental report were submitted. Five of these were identical and a further five very similar.

Outcomes - Lessons

• At the strategic planning level it is difficult to motivate people to participate unless it is clear that individuals are personally affected by the plan.


• The assessment of alternatives could be simplified next time to reduce effort and to focus on the most relevant aspects.

Parties involved

Waste management department of Vienna city administration (MA 48)
Project leader
www.wien.gv.at/umwelt/ma48/

Department for environmental protection of Vienna city administration (MA 22)
Steering group
www.wien.gv.at/umweltschutz/

Viennese environmental ombudsman
(independent organization acting on behalf of environmental interests in Vienna)
Steering group
wua-wien.at/home/

Other affected departments of Vienna city administration
(water, finance, construction & technology, climate protection) Planning and SEA team

Environmental NGOs ("die umweltberatung", Umweltdachverband)
Planning and SEA team

External waste management experts
Planning and SEA team

Other interested organizations (chambers, NGOs, interest groups, teachers) and representatives from administration
Feedback-group

General public
Invited for comments

Büro Arbter – Consulting engineers
Process management & facilitation
www.arbter.at

Funding and resources

• Funded by the waste management department of Vienna city administration


• One environmental NGO received reimbursement for its contributions as a member of the Planning and SEA team. Otherwise it could not have participated due to lack of resources.

Special features

How the Round Table workshops functioned:

In the Round Table workshops the Planning and SEA team met to define the aims of the plan, to explore alternative ways to achieve these aims, to assess their environmental, social and economic effects, to take external comments into account and to select the best alternatives for the plan. The team agreed on the draft waste management plan and the draft environmental report before they were put on public display or forwarded to the political decision makers.

The Planning and SEA team included the most affected departments of the Vienna city administration, the Viennese environmental ombudsman, environmental NGOs and external waste management experts. Team members acted as equal partners throughout the process and shared responsibility for the results. The team tried to reach consensus on the plan which integrates the environmental aspects, using elements of mediation.

The Round Table workshops were chaired by an independent facilitator (Kerstin Arbter of Büro Arbter), who also prepared the agenda and helped to bring differing views together. Before the workshops the team members received input papers or drafts. These documents were discussed and revised in the workshops.

The Round Table approach resulted in pro-active participation rather than mere consultation and provision of information, and provided possibilities for the main interested parties to contribute to the whole planning and SEA process and to influence its results.

More information on the feedback workshop:

Other interested departments and organizations were invited to a feedback workshop. 10 days before the workshop they received an interim draft environmental report and were asked to submit comments at the workshop. There they worked in smaller groups from 6 to 12 persons. They could choose from 6 "topic tables", depending on their interests and possibilities to contribute. Each table was chaired by two Planning and SEA team members who took the comments received down on a flip chart and answered questions. After the feedback workshop the Planning and SEA team went through all the comments recorded on the flip charts and decided how to take them into account. Afterwards the minutes of the workshop and a short report on how all the comments were taken into account were sent to the participants.

 

Documents available.

Viennese waste management plan 2007 and environmental report (final versions)
available in German only at:

www.wien.gv.at/umwelt/ma48/beratung/umweltschutz/awk.html

Quotes

"The Enquiry by Design process changed the way that some local people viewed the village and the issues. It brought forward proposals that are not in the Local Plan. This made for contentious but better proposals."

Mike Ebbs, Forward Planning Manager, Dover District Council, email to Site Editor, 16 May 2006

Reviews

The experiences to date have been promising, providing opportunities to reconcile the interests concerned and to strengthen the implementation of a final plan supported by all interest groups.

Members of the planning and SEA team were asked for their feedback about the process and if they would participate again next time. All of those who answered the questionnaire (20 out of 25) agreed to participate again!

Kerstin Arbter, Büro Arbter – Consulting engineers

Contacts

Waste management department of Vienna city administration (MA 48)
Wojciech Rogalski (project leader)
Einsiedlergasse 2
A – 1050 Vienna
Austria

Tel.: +43-1-588 17/48 271
wojciech.rogalski@wien.gv.at
project website: www.wien.gv.at/umwelt/ma48/beratung/umweltschutz/awk.html


Büro Arbter – Consulting engineers
Kerstin Arbter (process management & facilitation)
Vorgartenstraße 124/378,
A - 1020 Vienna Austria

Tel.: +43-1-218 53 55
office@arbter.at
www.arbter.at