Capacity Workshop: Innovative approaches to justice & participation in land use planning
On May 26th, PLUS Change hosted the first online Capacity Building Workshop, Innovative approaches to justice & participation in land use planning. These events are designed to share the tools, frameworks, and creative methods developed through our project, empowering spatial planners, policy actors, researchers, and community advocates to apply them in their own contexts.
Our first session focused on the Justice Framework and on how creative approaches—such as art and storytelling—can engage diverse voices in shaping visions for the future of land use.
After an introduction to PLUS Change by project coordinator, Julia Leventon, the first session, led by Marina Knickel and Guido Caniglia of Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research (KLI), introduced the Justice Framework developed in PLUS Change. This framework builds on theories of justice as well as interactive ethics webinars run with project partners.
After establishing shared principles of a “safe space” for discussion, Marina and Guido presented Environmental Justice Movements and Research from Local to Global. Participants reflected on key questions:
- Why is this situation unjust?
- Why am I prioritising this injustice over others?
The session continued with a presentation of the Justice Lens, illustrated with the Three Countries Park Practice Case, and ended with breakout discussions where participants applied the framework to their own real-world examples.
The second session was led by Kimberly Major of Biobased Creations and explored art-based research (ABR) and creative storytelling as tools for more just planning. Kimberly posed the question, Is our understanding of justice limited by the tools we use to explore it? By using art and storytelling, she explained, PLUS Change has been able to:
- Make complex systems more relatable.
- Humanise data and decisions.
- Encourage empathy and diverse perspectives.
- Create safe spaces for exploring conflict and ambiguity.
Two examples—Possible Landscapes and Circuville—showcased how art-based approaches can inspire imagination, bring diverse stakeholders together, and spark new solutions.
This first Capacity Building Workshop highlighted both the analytical tools and the creative methods that can help integrate justice into land use planning. Participants left with actionable strategies, new perspectives, and inspiration to adapt these approaches in their own work. We look forward to the next one!