Partycypacja społeczna w planowaniu przestrzennym w województwie mazowieckim w Polsce z punktu widzenia ochrony przyrody

The paper focuses on methods used during public consultations concerning studies on the conditions and directions of local spatial development prepared by gminas ( commune level) in the Masovian Voivodshipin in recent years. The aim of this study, which is the basic element of spatial planning at the local level, is to reconcile often conflicting short-term interests of society, economy and nature. In the analysis of law constituting a formal framework for public communication in environmental matters and spatial planning, among others, the author points out that legal requirements regarding public communication in relation to the draft documents requiring public participation differ in the Act of 27 March 2003 on Spatial Planning and Development (Pol. ustawa z dnia 27 marca 2003 r. o planowaniu i zagospodarowaniu przestrzennym) and the Act of 3 October 2008 on the Provision of Information on the Environment and its Protection, Public Participation in Environmental Protection and Environmental Impact Assessments (Pol. ustawa z dnia 3. października 2008 r. o udostępnianiu informacji o środowisku i jego ochronie, udziale społeczeństwa w ochronie środowiska oraz o ocenach oddziaływania na środowisko). A well-executed public communication process should provide information on public preferences and concerns, as well as additional environmental information (Roge-Wiśniewska 2012). Therefore the author attempted to prove a hypothesis that communication techniques used by gminas during the creation of the studies on the conditions and directions of local spatial development differ between gminas with environmentally valuable areas and those without areas of special natural value.