The impact of participatory interventions on pro-social behaviour in environmental and natural resource management

Abstract

Unresolved social dilemmas that inhibit pro-social behaviour are at the root of most pressing global environmental issues such as climate change, ecological degradation and water scarcity. Meeting these challenges through purely externally imposed (‘top-down’) solutions can be ineffective or even counterproductive. It has been suggested, therefore, that participation of the relevant concerned, affected and interested actors (i.e. the stakeholders) in the environmental policy process is critical to attaining socially desirable outcomes. Yet, the experimental evidence regarding the impacts of participatory interventions on pro-social behaviour is still insufficient and scattered. In this chapter, we contribute to bridging this gap. We review lab and field experimental and quasi-experimental evidence on the potential of participatory interventions to trigger pro-social behaviour in the context of natural resources and environmental management. In sum, the results of the reviewed studies suggest that participatory interventions have the potential to influence actors’ institutional context, understandings, beliefs, emotions and preferences, thereby fostering pro-social behaviour. The ultimate outcomes depend on the design of the participatory process and the methods applied to facilitate stakeholders’ interactions. Particularly adequate to foster pro-social behaviour in collective action challenges seem to be interventions aimed at inducing stakeholders to deliberate on their (individual and collective) actions and facilitating the collective development and implementation of concrete solutions for stakeholders’ social dilemmas. Solely inducing problem awareness or consulting stakeholders about their preferred (policy) options seems not enough to trigger and sustain pro-social behaviour.