Participation between utopia and reality

The paper concerns the analysis of participatory practices in support of decision-making processes. In particular, the case study of Sardinian Regional Landscape Plan is examined in order to understand the difficulties to translate theoretical concepts about participation into practice. Indeed, at any level, governments sometimes use the term of participation in an improper way. In other words, politicians emphasize the concept of participation without a profound comprehension of its real meaning. In particular, in the Sardinian case study, political issues have negatively influenced the outcomes of participatory process. Indeed, the specific purpose of regional government has been to legitimate its supremacy over the planning choices at local level, avoiding a real involvement of participants in the elaboration phase