Communication and Public Participation in Environmental Decision Making

Communication and Public Participation in Environmental Decision Making PDF Author: Stephen P. Depoe
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791460238
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Looks at the critical role of community members and other interested parties in environmental policy decision making.

Communication and Public Participation in Environmental Decision Making

Communication and Public Participation in Environmental Decision Making PDF Author: Stephen P. Depoe
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791460238
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Looks at the critical role of community members and other interested parties in environmental policy decision making.

Breaking Boundaries

Breaking Boundaries PDF Author: Kathleen P. Hunt
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438477058
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
Analyzes efforts made by communities and policy makers around the world to push beyond conventional approaches to environmental decision making. Breaking Boundaries analyzes efforts made by communities and policy makers around the world to push beyond conventional approaches to environmental decision making to enhance public acceptance, sustainability, and the impact of those decisions in local contexts. The current political climate has generated uncertainty among citizens, industry interests, scientists, and other stakeholders, but by applying concepts from various perspectives of environmental communication and deliberative democracy, this book offers a series of lessons learned for both public officials and concerned citizens. The contributors offer a broader understanding of how individuals and groups can get involved effectively in environmental decisions through traditional formats as well as alternative approaches ranging from leadership capacity building to social media activity to civic technology.

Public Participation in Environmental Assessment and Decision Making

Public Participation in Environmental Assessment and Decision Making PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309134412
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Federal agencies have taken steps to include the public in a wide range of environmental decisions. Although some form of public participation is often required by law, agencies usually have broad discretion about the extent of that involvement. Approaches vary widely, from holding public information-gathering meetings to forming advisory groups to actively including citizens in making and implementing decisions. Proponents of public participation argue that those who must live with the outcome of an environmental decision should have some influence on it. Critics maintain that public participation slows decision making and can lower its quality by including people unfamiliar with the science involved. This book concludes that, when done correctly, public participation improves the quality of federal agencies' decisions about the environment. Well-managed public involvement also increases the legitimacy of decisions in the eyes of those affected by them, which makes it more likely that the decisions will be implemented effectively. This book recommends that agencies recognize public participation as valuable to their objectives, not just as a formality required by the law. It details principles and approaches agencies can use to successfully involve the public.

Participation and Power

Participation and Power PDF Author: W. Michele Simmons
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791480623
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
Takes a firsthand look at a case of public participation in environmental policy.

Public Participation and Better Environmental Decisions

Public Participation and Better Environmental Decisions PDF Author: Frans H. J. M. Coenen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 140209325X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Public Participation and Better Environmental Decisions is about a specific ‘promise’ that participation holds for environmental decision-making. Many of the arguments for public participation in (inter)national environmental policy documents are functional, that is to say they see public participation as a means to an end. Sound solutions to environmental problems require participation beyond experts and political elites. Neglecting information from the public leads to legitimacy questions and potential conflicts. There is a discourse in the literature and in policy practice as to whether decision-making improves in quality as additional relevant information by the public is considered. The promise that public participation holds has to be weighed against the limitations of public participation in terms of costs and interest conflicts. The question that Public Participation and Better Environmental Decisions seeks to answer for academics, planners and civil servants in all environmental relevant policy fields is: What restricts and what enables information to hold the ‘promise’ that public participation lead to better environmental decision-making and better outcomes?

Failed Promises

Failed Promises PDF Author: David M. Konisky
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262527359
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 293

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Book Description
A systematic evaluation of the implementation of the federal government's environmental justice policies. In the 1970s and 1980s, the U.S. Congress passed a series of laws that were milestones in environmental protection, including the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. But by the 1990s, it was clear that environmental benefits were not evenly distributed and that poor and minority communities bore disproportionate environmental burdens. The Clinton administration put these concerns on the environmental policy agenda, most notably with a 1994 executive order that called on federal agencies to consider environmental justice issues whenever appropriate. This volume offers the first systematic, empirically based evaluation of the effectiveness of the federal government's environmental justice policies. The contributors consider three overlapping aspects of environmental justice: distributive justice, or the equitable distribution of environmental burdens and benefits; procedural justice, or the fairness of the decision-making process itself; and corrective justice, or the fairness of punishment and compensation. Focusing on the central role of the Environmental Protection Agency, they discuss such topics as facility permitting, rulemaking, participatory processes, bias in enforcement, and the role of the courts in redressing environmental injustices. Taken together, the contributions suggest that—despite recent environmental justice initiatives from the Obama administration—the federal government has largely failed to deliver on its promises of environmental justice. Contributors Dorothy M. Daley, Eileen Gauna, Elizabeth Gross, David M. Konisky, Douglas S. Noonan, Tony G. Reames, Christopher Reenock, Ronald J. Shadbegian, Paul Stretesky, Ann Wolverton

Democracy in Practice

Democracy in Practice PDF Author: Thomas C. Beierle
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136528083
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
In spite of the expanding role of public participation in environmental decisionmaking, there has been little systematic examination of whether it has, to date, contributed toward better environmental management. Neither have there been extensive empirical studies to examine how participation processes can be made more effective. Democracy in Practice brings together, for the first time, the collected experience of 30 years of public involvement in environmental decisionmaking. Using data from 239 cases, the authors evaluate the success of public participation and the contextual and procedural factors that lead to it. Thomas Beierle and Jerry Cayford demonstrate that public participation has not only improved environmental policy, but it has also played an important educational role and has helped resolve the conflict and mistrust that often plague environmental issues. Among the authors' findings are that intensive 'problem-solving' processes are most effective for achieving a broad set of social goals, and participant motivation and agency responsiveness are key factors for success. Democracy in Practice will be useful for a broad range of interests. For researchers, it assembles the most comprehensive data set on the practice of public participation, and presents a systematic typology and evaluation framework. For policymakers, political leaders, and citizens, it provides concrete advice about what to expect from public participation, and how it can be made more effective. Democracy in Practice concludes with a systematic guide for use by government agencies in their efforts to design successful public participation efforts.

Maastricht Recommendations on Promoting Effective Public Participation in Decision-making in Environmental Matters prepared under the Aarhus Convention

Maastricht Recommendations on Promoting Effective Public Participation in Decision-making in Environmental Matters prepared under the Aarhus Convention PDF Author: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Publisher: United Nations
ISBN: 9210574087
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 90

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Book Description
These recommendations are based on existing good practice and are intended as a practical tool to provide helpful guidance and to improve the implementation of the provisions of the Aarhus Convention in decision-making to: a) assist Parties when designing their legal framework on public participation in environmental decision-making; b) assist public officials when designing and carrying out public participation procedures on environmental decision-making under the Convention, and c) provide an invaluable tool through which to share expertise and good practice so as to promote participation. The Recommendations may also be of value to public, NGOs and the private sector involved in environmental matters.

Maastricht Recommendations on Promoting Effective Public Participation in Decision-making in Environmental Matters Prepared Under the Aarhus Convention

Maastricht Recommendations on Promoting Effective Public Participation in Decision-making in Environmental Matters Prepared Under the Aarhus Convention PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Book Description
These recommendations are based on existing good practice and are intended as a practical tool to provide helpful guidance and to improve the implementation of the provisions of the Aarhus Convention in decision-making to: a) assist Parties when designing their legal framework on public participation in environmental decision-making; b) assist public officials when designing and carrying out public participation procedures on environmental decision-making under the Convention, and c) provide an invaluable tool through which to share expertise and good practice so as to promote participation. The Recommendations may also be of value to public, NGOs and the private sector involved in environmental matters.

Participation and the Quality of Environmental Decision Making

Participation and the Quality of Environmental Decision Making PDF Author: F. Coenen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401153302
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
It is clear that our society must become a more sustainable one. To that end, we must change both our production and our consumption patterns. Some argue that this implies the abolition of democratic processes, and thus of citizens' participation in environmental policy. Others argue the opposite: the only way to avoid impending environmental disaster is by engaging in common deliberation and contemplation. Is participation, then, a negative force or not? This volume is one of the first coordinated attempts to study the relationship between democratic, participatory forms of decision making and the quality of environmental decisions. The central question is how can the normatively desirable practice of participatory decision making be combined with an effective approach to environmental issues? Guided by a theoretical introduction by the editors, the 15 chapters deal with topics ranging from the scale of environmental problems, local agenda 21, infrastructural decisions, strategic planning, to environmental policy in developing countries. Three chapters are devoted to each of these broad themes. Each presents either a theoretical or an empirical argument about the central research question, shedding light on such issues as the measurement of decision quality, participation techniques, and the link between participation and decision quality, drawing on experience gained in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Africa. The introductions to the individual parts of the book have been collectively written by the contributors, who represent a range of professional disciplines, including political science, public policy and planning.