From Input to Insight
How Organizational Sensemaking Shapes Professionals' Assessment of Stakeholder Input in Infrastructure Projects
J. Kuiper (TU Delft - Civil Engineering & Geosciences)
M.J.C.M. Hertogh – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Integral Design & Management)
Johan Ninan – Mentor (TU Delft - Integral Design & Management)
A. Ersoy – Mentor (TU Delft - Urban Development Management)
K. Dijk – Mentor
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Abstract
Public participation has become an institutionalized component of infrastructure projects, driven by legislative reforms and heightened stakeholder expectations. Despite this, local stakeholder input remains frequently undervalued in project decision-making, leading to stakeholder dissatisfaction and project delays. While existing literature extensively documents procedural improvements to public participation, it offers limited insight into how practitioners' mindsets and organizational cultures shape its quality.
This research investigates how practitioners' attitudes toward public participation develop and persist, using Weick's organizational sensemaking theory as a theoretical framework. The study targets the Dutch infrastructure sector, where the new Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet) has prompted professionals to reconsider when and how to organize public participation at earlier project stages. Public Engagement Professionals (PEPs) (Omgevingsmanagers) are essential to this environment, as they are responsible for designing and coordinating participatory initiatives within project teams.
The study adopts a qualitative approach including a literature review, an exploratory study, and 17 semi-structured interviews with PEPs and project managers. Furthermore, two co-creative expert sessions were organized to validate the study’s results.
The research's findings are presented through three interconnected frameworks. The Process model maps how project organizations move through three sensemaking stages (Enactment, Selection, and Retention) when organizing participatory initiatives. It highlights that participatory quality is shaped not only by procedural factors but also significantly influenced by mental and organizational factors.
The Vulnerability model extends this first framework by identifying challenges across each sensemaking stage, such as limiting external constraints and established dismissive mindsets within project teams. Crucially, the model shows that procedural reforms, such as the Environment and Planning Act, address what organizations must do procedurally but cannot change how they think. Accordingly, if mental and organizational obstacles remain unaddressed, procedural improvements alone might be insufficient to achieve development in public participation.
To address these vulnerabilities, the Strategy model is developed, identifying 20 intervening strategies that directly correspond to the Vulnerability model's challenges. These strategies are categorized as meaning-, structure-, or practice-oriented, enabling practitioners to select approaches suited to their institutional context.
By framing public participation as a continuous organizational and mental process rather than a purely procedural activity, this study highlights why stakeholder input remains frequently undervalued. The sensemaking models offer both a theoretical explanation and practical guidance, supporting PEPs in changing dismissive attitudes and unsupportive cultures. Ultimately, assuring that public participation is not merely seen as a legal obligation, but as an essential driver of project success.