THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PARTICIPATORY PLANNING APPROACH IN BUILDING ENVIRONMENTAL RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABLE RURAL COMMUNITIES

Abstract

The participatory planning approach gives premiumto citizen participation in the planning, implementation and management of environmental concerns. However, this approach has daring challenges because of the traditional top-down planning approach which has been widely used. This paper aims at critically examining the adoption of participatory planning approach in environmental control programmes, with a key objective of identifying constraints to citizen’s participation and making recommendations. The study area comprises ten selected communities in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. Primary source of data was used by administering 250 questionnaires through the simple random sampling technique. The results of the analyses showed low level of participation. Likewise, results of an ANOVA test showed that F-ratio calculated 1527.552 was greater than tabulated value of 3.84, and P-value 0.000 was less than significant 0.05 indicating that participation in environmental control significantly varied among individuals and communities. Results also showed significant relationship with socioeconomic characteristics and participation. 75℅ of  respondents were unaware of extant environmental laws and the consequences of their harmful activities, while 21% are aware, but blamed income level, illiteracy and nature of subsistence occupation for engaging in such activities. Results also showed that 82% of
respondents expressed readiness to participate in environmental decision-making processes. It is recommended that Government at all levels should seek citizens and stakeholders participation in the planning and implementation of environmental control  programmes, and organize enlightenment programmes to educate the citizens on the importance of establishing balance between socio-economic development and environmental sustainability in rural communities.