Participative environmental management and social capital in Poland

Abstract

Eastern European countries, such as Poland, often illustrate social capital studies. Upon entering the European Union, social capital in Poland was seen as a problem in implementing new regulations, par- ticularly in the field of environmental policy. Equally important, environmental issues often present a high degree of complexity - and European legislation requires multi-stakeholder involvement in decision-making processes. Thus, the dilemma: on the one hand, there is a demand to engage and consult many actors; on the other hand, the actors function in administrative culture with a ubiquitous top-down approach taken by institutional decision makers. This paper attempts to address the problem from the perspective of social capital theory. An overview of ad- ministrative culture and examples of decision-making processes shows the way decisions are currently made. We also propose a way to achieve more participative environmental management. it plays in environmental management. The current situation in Poland and the way it a ects the environmental conser- vation sector is also discussed. We conclude with solutions tailored to the Polish conditions, and designed to increase bottom-up initiatives.