Abstract (EN)

Organising participation of multiple stakeholders is nowadays a widespread request in decisionprocesses, especially for organisations managing environmental risks. Therefore, analystsdelivering decision support are expected to provide decision makers with scientifically sound andpractically realisable approaches regarding this issue. One of the main challenges in dealing withparticipation is the definition of the organisation, the so called participative structure, throughwhich stakeholders will contribute and interact during the decision process. Who shouldparticipate when and according to which rules are the main questions to be answered. Stakesassociated to this challenge are of extreme importance for decision makers since decisionlegitimacy and acceptance strongly relies on the ability to demonstrate a real transparency andinformation disclosure during the whole decision process.This paper proposes the iterative comparison approach as a new and original frame to be used byan analyst supporting a client dealing with such questions. Through an unambiguous definition ofcognitive artefacts to be constructed when designing participative structures, this paper providesa clear framework that organises an analyst intervention in participative contexts. Furthermore,it offers the opportunity to design tailored participative structures that integrate contextspecificities in one hand, and satisfies quality criteria being fairness, competence and efficiencyon the other hand.