Local participation is now a mainstream practice within Landscape Architecture and UrbanDesign. The literature review considers ‘participation’ as the primary lens for democratisingdesign practice and examines how it has enabled and limited participatory design practice -pinpointing the need for further theorisation at the intersection of design professionals andlocal people. This study addresses this intersection by developing an interpretative model thatdraws on interdisciplinary concepts of informed consent. A grounded, more-than-humanempirical study interprets two case studies, Aro Park in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand andGrønne Park, Superkilen in Copenhagen, Denmark. The substantive findings are presented inthe form of seven episodes that follow how participatory design enables and limits theformation of informed consent. In addition, this analysis both develops and applies thetheoretical model, leading to a Framework of Informed Consent. Three key synthetic insightsexamine why the interrelationships between design professionals, local people and the sitesled to the disruption of the participatory design process and designed landscape. Theoretical,methodological, and substantive conclusions are drawn detailing opportunities for futureresearch and practice.