Northern Visions? Applying Q methodology to understand stakeholder views on the environmental and resource dimensions of sustainability

Abstract

Q methodology was used to enable the identification of discourses among stakeholders to the environmental and resource dimensions of sustainability policies and to gain an understanding of the usefulness of Q methodology in informing sustainability policy development. The application of Q methodology has been useful in identifying shared discourses between different stakeholder groups, and providing insights into how stakeholders ‘frame’ or understand policy issues; and recommendations are made for ongoing research priorities. These insights, in turn, informed the choice of scenarios for an in parallel process of policy evaluation using Ecological and Carbon Footprinting.