This report (Deliverable 1.2) provides the DUST research project with a methodological
framework. It builds on the earlier methodology developed during preparation of the project
proposal, updating, expanding, and refining it in line with the development of the DUST
theoretical and framework (Deliverable 1.1) and the early insights from the research process. The purpose of this report is, first, to present the methodological approach of the DUST project to external audiences. Second, this deliverable aims to provide the DUST project team and the
stakeholders and experts involved with methodological guidance on each of the components of the projects and on the ways in which the different methods and research tasks interrelate to produce the expected results. This report is a ‘living document’, subject to updates as the project unfolds and research methods to be used in the specific tasks are further detailed and finetuned. The report outlines the overall methodological approach in the DUST project, including the workflow across its work packages. It also explains the strategy behind selecting the case study areas and briefly presents each of the regions studied. It then covers the research methods used in three phases of the project, namely, in the case study research, in the participatory experimentation following it, and in the exploration of affective communication with the communities engaged in the project. The report closes with a discussion on the synergies between the methods used and the measures taken to ensure validity of findings as well as an overview of the ways in which methodological innovation is delivered.

This deliverable is the result of Task 1.1 Theoretical and conceptual framework within the DUST Work package 1 Theory and methods. The document presents a comprehensive framework for research in and across the individual work packages of the DUST project. Guided by the concept of ‘active subsidiarity,’ the DUST project aims at an increased understanding of the participation of the politically least-engaged communities in the deliberative governance of place-based approaches to just sustainability transitions. Key concepts underlying this core objective stem from the fields of public policy, the democracy studies, and spatial planning and design. In conjunction they establish the DUST project’s interdisciplinary focus area within the wider field of citizen participation. More detailed objectives of the project are addressed in different dimensions of the DUST research. In its analytical dimension research will identify factors that enhance or hinder participation. In its evaluative dimension research will result in an index for assessing participation. In its instrumental dimension, research will test instruments for enhancing participation in democratic life at scale. In its communicative dimension research will increase our understanding of how narratives help or hinder participation and how affective two-way communication can support the emergence and dissemination of unheard story lines. The document presents theories and concepts that underpin and guide research in these dimensions.

This Deliverable 1.1 complements Deliverable 1.2, which concerns the methodological framework of the project. It is important to note that both documents are living documents, designed to evolve throughout the course of the project. Knowledge presented here will be further developed in the Tasks 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 5.1 and 6.1 which prepare research in individual work packages. A final iteration of the documents will form part of D1.3 Synthesis research report.