A Co-orientation Analysis of Producers’ and Environmentalists’ Mental Models of Water Issues: Opportunities for Improved Communication and Collaboration

Abstract

ABSTRACT Agricultural producers and environmentalists have a mutual interest in maintaining healthy water resources; yet communication and collaboration on sustainability measures can be impeded by perceptions of incompatible water ethics. Here we apply the co-orientation model to qualitatively and quantitatively compare cross-group perspectives and composite maps of stakeholders’ mental models to understand how each group thinks about water challenges and each other. Results suggest that experiential differences yield seemingly incompatible perceptions of producers’ part in the degradation of regional water supplies. While sampled producers’ operational-level perspectives allow them a first-hand view of individual stewardship practices, sampled environmentalists’ macro-level perspectives highlight the environmental conditions that result from the agricultural industry as a whole. When collective agricultural impact does not reflect individual stewardship efforts, producers and environmentalists can have strikingly different perceptions of the problem – a potential barrier to cross-group communication. Research findings suggest frames, topics, and word choices that can help communicators bridge the cognitive divide between stakeholder groups.