Governance Decision-Making Tool

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Stakeholder Engagement

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How do we take account of and mediate between conflicting views?

One of the key principles of good governance is “conflict management”, and conflicting views are fairly likely where there is an attempt at representation of diverse perspectives within an area. A previous report into governance of designated areas within the SHAPE project indicates that procedures for conflict management mostly take the form of internal informal discussions involving all stakeholders. There may occasionally, however, be a need for formal procedures to resolve conflicts – for example, where only those involved in the conflict are present, and where the chair has the casting vote.

The report on governance for the SHAPE project contains a discussion on good governance in relation to conflict management. This includes the suggestion that “bottom-up” approaches to conflict management are more effective than “top-down” approaches.