'This excellent work shows an absolute understanding of the issues of consultation/participation' Peter Richards, Deicke Richards Architects, Australia 'A very clear, well organized and extremely useful book for those who are or who ought to be promoting democratic participation in shaping the future of our communities ... this is a book that I will recommend to clients and colleagues alike' J Gary Lawrence, President, Sustainable Strategies & Solutions, Inc, Seattle 'The clear and concise copy as well as the very appealing graphic formatting make this an excellent handbook which will be useful to so many different users in so many ways' Tony Costello, Professor of Architecture, Ball State University, USA 'A graphically pleasing publication in simple language that will get across effectively to communities, empowering them in the new 'dharma' - demand-driven planning and decision making through a participatory process.' Vinay D. Lall, Director, Society for Development Studies,New Delhi, India 'An excellent book that will have a host of valuable applications - with sufficient detail for practitioners, researchers, planners and policy makers. It is an important and timely contribution.' Jules Pretty, Director, Centre for Environment and Society,University of Essex 'In the global, cyberspace age, government and business need communities as much as communities need them. Nick Wates' timely book is essential reading for ordinary people and professionals who believe that the opportunities being thrown up by this new balance are there for the taking' Mark Hepworth, Director, The Local Futures Group, London, UK 'This book would be hard to classify as research and may be tangential to landscape studies, but it is so well conceived and useful that it deserves mention here. It describes with wonderful graphic clarity over 50 techniques for involving people in physical planning and design. These range from Art Workshops and Planning for Real exercises to Design Games and Video Soapboxes.' Ian Thompson, Landscape Research
