The Public Meeting as a Theatre of Dissent: Risk and Hazard in Land Use and Environmental Planning

Land-use and environmental planning typically involves diverse actors such as representatives of government authorities and administrations, special interest organisations, scientific experts, lawyers, stakeholders and concerned citizens. During the course of the planning process, communication is not limited to written documents. The Swedish Environmental Code also calls for public meetings and consultation efforts with stakeholders. Considering that public meetings have a prominent role in environmental planning, there is surprisingly little research on the form, content and development over time of face-to-face communication and social interaction taking place. This article addresses communication and interaction at public meetings concerning a facility siting project of considerable longevity -- the building of a railway tunnel through the Hallandsås in southern Sweden. Using data from participant observation of local public consultation meetings regarding the Hallandsås railway tunnel through a period of several years, this paper analyses and discusses communication about environmental risk. The theoretical foundation derives from pragmatic communication theory, Niklas Luhmann's distinction between risk and hazard, and social anthropological theory on agency and conflict generation in communication.