Public Participation Project for the Sustainability of the Greek Island Gavdos

The “Public Participation Planning Project for the Sustainability of Greek Island Gavdos” is a multidisciplinary approach designed for a small island located under Crete, in Greece. This work seeks to deal with the decreasing population, lack of job/social opportunities, and inadequate infrastructure through public involvement. The sustainable development plan aims to create communities by including inhabitants, actors, and agents interested in participating in the Cultural, Local, Energy, Production, Research, and Visitors’ Communities. The implemented toolkit includes interactive and participatory workshops, digital applications, tailor-made questionnaires, and innovative handcrafted models (such as the spatial SWOT analysis). The participation is surprisingly vivid by any relevant actor during the workshops, the mapping events, and brainstorming meetings. This paper is focused on the methodology, phases, and step-by-step knowledge to organize and implement participatory planning processes in sustainable development projects of the island, mountainous and isolated municipalities. At the same time, it can be used as a methodological guide for practitioners and institution that plan public space, development opportunities, measures, and actions, to promote participation and engagement in public projects.