Learning in urban renewal - PhD project Janneke van Bemmel OTB Delft
which means that learning in urban renewal might be conceptualised as a quest for a joint vision, as
well as the creation, sharing, use and evaluation of knowledge.
A method for learning, described in the literature on policy learning, which takes ambiguity
into account is ‘joint fact-finding’ which entails the creation of meaningful knowledge on the basis of a
process of interactive knowledge construction and -production. A joint fact-finding process "...
extends the interest-based, cooperative efforts of parties engaged in consensus building into the
realm of information gathering and scientific analysis. In joint fact-finding, stakeholders with differing
viewpoints and interests work together to develop data and information, analyse facts and forecasts,
develop common assumptions and informed opinions, and, finally, use the information they have
developed to reach decisions together” (Ehrmann and Stinson, 1999:376, quotation by Edelenbos et
al. 2004:343).
Another solution for ambiguity is found in integration of different interpretations and ‘frame
reflection’. As has been said, information sources are often spread among various actors. Finding
satisfactory solutions for complex problems such as in urban renewal needs bringing together
information and resources. This is especially the case in the situation of complex, large-scale urban
renewal processes because there are often no standard routines and proven solutions on which actors
can base their (joint) actions. Instead of a conflict situation where information is used as mean in the
value struggle that is going on, one would need a situation of a more or less shared body of
knowledge on which actors can base their discussion about possible solutions. (Rein and Schon, 1992;
Schon and Rein, 1994). Therefore learning processes are needed in which actors review their
strategies and interpretations and incorporate new additional information in their frames. (e.g.
Buuren, A. van, 2005:8).
Some factors have been found in other research projects that enhance and limit learning. Beneath
here, these are placed in a matrix thus creating a first version of a process design for increased
learning in urban renewal (Table 1). The first column indicates the steps in the learning process. The
second column includes the questions to be answered for each learning step in order to describe how
learning takes place in urban renewal processes. The third and fourth columns present factors that
can be expected to respectively stimulate and hinder learning, based on existing literature. It lies
outside the focus of this paper to extensively describe the factors in the table beneath here. The
reader that wants to know more is referred to the references indicated.
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