Barriers,challenges, conflicts,and facilitators in environmental decision‐making: A case of An'Yang Stream restoration

In this article, we discuss the An'Yang Stream restoration case in South Korea from the time frame of 1999–2015. This restoration has been judged as a successful stream management endeavour led by public–private partnership governance. However, this study found that integration of all interests was not properly achieved. The An'Yang Stream restoration process was designed by stakeholders who valued scientific information rather than non‐scientific factors such as culture, social learning (education), social integrity, and waterfront beautification based on a participatory process. The An'Yang Stream restoration project is important because it is one of the main streams in the metropolitan Seoul and serves as the focal point for the nation culturally, politically, and economically. The researchers conducted semistructured interviews with the 33 key stakeholders who actively participated in the stream restoration project. The axial coding based on Grounded Theory provided a clear way of adopting various codes and coding processes, which reflect the interview transcripts of the specific social phenomenon and power dynamics. This research describes the pros and cons of the An'Yang Stream restoration governance process and participatory decision‐making by applying a qualitative axial coding analysis. Also, this research addresses the contribution of media and professional conflict resolution for potentially participatory governance building.