Perceptions of public participation in impact assessment: a study of offshore oil exploration in Greenland.

Oil exploration presently takes place offshore NW of Greenland. The recent entry of the oil industry in this sparsely populated area carries the potential for radical and unpredictable societal change. To ensure local adaptation, Public participation (PP) is implemented as a legal requirement in environmental impact assessment of offshore oil exploration. However, NGOs and associations, industry and individuals in Greenland express general frustration of how PP is conducted. This paper presents an analysis of stakeholders' PP perceptions and their implications in Greenland. It is found that differences in PP purpose perceptions among stakeholders cause disagreement on what is considered good performance. Furthermore, the stakeholders disagree on the desired level of engagement. While NGOs emphasise a need for PP to influence decision-making, the public seems to accept a role as passive recipients of information about decisions already made. This leads to a discussion about the need for a more specific PP guideline based on dialogue among stakeholders, with emphasis on the cultural barriers related to power structures and communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]