Dialogue procedures for the management of odour related community conflicts

Abstract

In the German Guideline on Odour in Ambient Air (GOAA) statements about the degree of residential odour annoyance are based on the frequency of recognisable odours and hedonic tone. The use of olfactory standards to adequately estimate the annoyance impact is limited if, for example, worry about adverse health outcomes significantly influences the annoyance response of the population. This report introduces dialogue procedures as complementary measures to consider the complainants' subjective perceptions and worries adequately. At first, it is illustrated that odour exposure and number of odour complaints are not necessarily correlated. Then the "interest analysis" and the five steps of a dialogue procedure are presented. A dialogue procedure can be initiated in "quiet times" - where the focus is on trust building and on the development of adequate communication strategies to promote realistic risk reception - as well as in order to establish a successful conflict resolution process if the issue is complex and emotionally discussed. After that, two examples of handling odour complaints are shown. Finally, considerations applying dialogue procedures as a tool to advance odour annoyance mitigation are outlined.