Volume 19 Number 2
May 1980

George A. Van Otten and Ruth J. Narcho

EFFECTIVE land use planning is a primary goal of the Navajo Nation. As a result, comprehensive land use plans are being developed. An essential element of this effort is the involvement of citizens in the process.

Many successful land use planning programs throughout the nation rely heavily upon vigorous community involvement activities. Few citizens are initially well versed in planning practices and procedures, and it is often necessary to begin a citizen involvement program with a number of workshops aimed at providing people with the basic information and tools needed to actively participate (see Note 4).

The purpose of this article is to describe and discuss various instructional and motivational techniques which have been successfully utilized in conducting citizen workshops on the Navajo Reservation.

Work accomplished by faculty and students of the Northern Arizona University Department of Geography and Planning during the summer of 1979 on the reservation led to specific conclusions. Successful citizen involvement requires that participants have basic understanding of and/or abilities in the following:

It is not necessary for citizens to become professional planners, but an elementary familiarity with the major aspects of the aforementioned list make it possible for citizen participation to reflect popular desires and for community goals to be incorporated in the comprehensive plan (see Note 1).

Community based workshops proved to be the most effective means by which needed skills and information can be presented and internalized. Traditional methods in which educators assume the role of expositors of knowledge, while participants act as recipients, seem less useful than methods of inquiry which stress the active involvement of everyone in the teaching/learning process (see Note 3).

Workshop sessions based on lectures did not motivate chapter (see Note 5) residents toward involvement, but workshops aimed at "hands on" activities or locally relevant discussions had the opposite effect. Workshop topics not related directly to reservation planning goals or problems were, in general, a waste of effort. Chapter citizens were more motivated when they could see direct application of the practices, concepts, or skills being presented. Making all workshop activities applied and directly relevant to local conditions and culture served to foster interest and brought about better understanding than the presentation of philosophically abstract concepts and vicarious experiences.

Initially, citizen involvement is most vigorous when people perceive that the planning effort directly involves their interests. The task is to get information about land use planning to the people. In some places where communication facilities are less sophisticated, it may be necessary to contact people directly and explain the ways in which planning decisions might affect their lives. Once it is understood that planning makes a difference, people generally tend to be more interested (see Note 2).

When citizens demonstrate interest by attending workshops, it is the responsibility of coordinators to provide further motivation by developing interesting, relevant, and appropriate educational experiences.

Initial workshops should stress the positive role of planning. Based on workshops held in various chapters, it was determined that citizens grasp the purpose of land use planning more readily if they were encouraged to discuss the traditional ways in which reservation residents regularly make plans. For example, participants could be asked to discuss the planning involved in getting ready for a ceremonial dance, or in constructing a hogan. Planning processes that are identified can then be related to land use planning. The preparation for a ceremonial dance requires an initial input from a number of people who will be involved. Duties are assigned in response to specific ceremonial goals, and alternative ways to accomplish goals are considered. Resources available, such as food, buildings, and cooking utensils are taken into account and the final plan must be acceptable to participants. Eventually, the plan will be implemented. Such steps are similar to the following basic land use planning procedures (see Note 1):

Understanding the basic purposes and approaches to land use planning helps citizens to foster more positive citizen attitudes. The notion that planning is "non-Indian" has made it difficult for planners to establish land use on the reservation. A realization that planning has long been an integral part of Indian life appears to go far toward gaining local support for planning endeavors.

Meaningful citizen involvement requires a basic ability to interpret the official map. Therefore, it is usually necessary to introduce citizens to elementary map reading skills. Recent experience in the Navajo Reservation suggests the most effective way to accomplish this educational goal is by the utilization of locally oriented map reading projects. The use of local maps for exercises establishes greater levels of interest and builds upon the familiar while introducing new and sometimes abstract concepts. Moreover, citizens become better acquainted with map representations of their local planning area, thereby making the official map more meaningful. Map symbols, legends, and lines which represent well-known local phenomena, are more easily understood than those of less well-known areas.

As land use planning became increasingly important to reservation residents, it was necessary to identify educational tools that are useful in establishing meaningful citizen involvement programs. The Experience of the authors in working with land use planning and citizen involvement led to some specific conclusions concerning the educational techniques designed to foster effective citizen participation.

In general, citizen involvement educational activities should be centered on an applied inquiry approach. Workshops should utilize the familiar for a starting point and build toward the abstract as necessary, i.e., local examples, and local issues and problems are the most successful. Workshops which do not allow for a maximum degree of citizen participation or which fail to relate to local phenomena and concerns meet with less acceptance by participants.

Individuals who accept the responsibility for developing citizen involvement programs on the reservations should recognize that failure to make activities relevant, applied, and interesting, will greatly decrease their chances to eventually develop a land use plan that accurately reflects the desires of the people. Plans which do not enjoy popular support are seldom successfully implemented.

1. Arizona Office of Economic Planning and Development, Planning Handbook for Communities, Phoenix, (1977), Section E.

2. Extension Service, Oregon State University, "Why Planning," Extension Circular 908, Corvallis (1976).

3. Massialas, Byron G., and C. Benjamin Cox, Inquiry in Social Science, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York (1966) p. 62-88.

4. 0regon Land Development and Conservation Commission, "Statewide Planning Goals and Guidelines," Salem, (1976).

5. The Navajo Nation is geographically and politically organized into Chapters.

George A. Van Otten is Assistant Professor of Geography/ Planning at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees at Oregon College of Education, and the Ph.D. in resource geography at Oregon State University. Ruth J.

Narcho is a senior at NAU majoring in geography and planning. She also serves as a research assistant.