Participation In Environmental Decision-making Research Articles

Youth representations of environmental protest

A necessary condition for a functioning democracy is the participation of its citizens, including its youth. This is particularly true for political participation in environmental decisions, because these decisions can have intergenerational consequences. In this article we examine young people’s beliefs about one form of political participation—protest—in the context of communities affected by fracking and associated anti‐fracking protest, and discuss the implications of these representations for education. Drawing on focus groups with 121 young people (aged 15–19) in five schools and colleges near sites which have experienced anti‐fracking protest in England and Northern Ireland, we find young people well‐informed about avenues for formal and non‐formal political participation against a background of disillusionment with formal political processes and varying levels of support for protest. We find representations of protest as disruptive, divisive, extreme, less desirable than other forms of participation and ineffective in bringing about change but effective in awareness‐raising. These representations are challenging, not least because the way protest is interpreted is critical to the way people think and act in the world. These representations of environmental protest must be challenged through formal education in order to safeguard the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and ensure that the spirit of Article 11 of the UK Human Rights Act is protected.

Decision-Maker-Oriented VS. Collaboration: China’s Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making

Public participation in environmental decision-making (EDM) has been broadly discussed. However, few recent studies in English have focused on the participation subject, scope, ways, and procedure in the EDM of developing countries such as China in the worldwide governance transformation. This study aims to provide an overview of public participation in EDM in China, thus elucidating both the legislation and practice of public participation in EDM in China to a broader audience, as such an overview has not yet been provided. At the beginning of this article, we clarify the key definitions of EDM, public participation and the public, and establish an analytical framework for analyzing public participation in EDM in China. We analyze the scope of the public, the participation scope, ways of participating, and participation procedure in EDM in legislation and practice, through document analysis and empirical survey. We then comment on challenges for public participation in EDM in China—including low public participation in EDM, narrow scope of participation, unbalanced ways of participation, and unreasonable participation procedure. In conclusion, we draw wider implications for public participation in EDM in China, arguing for a transformation from a decision-maker-oriented mode to a collaboration mode.

Recommendations for online elicitation of swing weights from citizens in environmental decision-making

There is a growing demand for public participation in environmental decision-making. However, it is unclear how a large number of citizens can best engage in such complex public policy decision processes. This need from the civil society challenges the OR community to develop online decision-making tools. This article reports on a feasibility assessment of swing weight elicitation, implemented online, for real-world decisions about future wastewater infrastructure. Eliciting weights with the swing method is common in MAVT/MAUT, but not online. A total of 298 affected citizens from the Paris region answered the online swing weight elicitation survey. Another 357 citizens directly rated objectives. Three aspects of learning in the context of MCDA were considered: did participants learn facts about the wastewater topic? Did they comply with the swing elicitation process, i.e. follow the instructions? Did participants learn about their preferences? Factual learning was limited. Process compliance was really low (12%), leading to a number of recommendations for improving the interface for online swing weight elicitation. The collected preferences differed statistically significantly between the compliant and non-compliant participants, and also between the non-compliant and direct rating respondents. This emphasised the effect of the elicitation method on preference construction. Moreover, more participants experienced a strengthening of pre-existing opinions than a change in opinion, and most reported being uncertain about their answers. This calls for better understanding process learning and preference construction. We discuss our developed procedure for online swing weight elicitation, recommend ways to improve swing online surveys, and suggest interesting future research lines that would allow empirically verifying our propositions.

Whose voices count in biodiversity conservation? Ecological democracy in biodiversity offsetting, REDD+, and rewilding

ABSTRACTEcological democracy seeks environmentally sustainable ends through broad, active democratic participation. What happens when laws fostering participation in environmental decision-making and biodiversity preservation lead to differing results? What is best for biodiversity may not be what for local citizens believe is best. I examine conflicts and congruencies in the context of Biodiversity Offsetting, REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation), and the Rewilding movement. I ask questions that are legal (Who has what legal rights to speak for or against programs that enhance biodiversity?), epistemological (Whose expertise and knowledge matters when scientists and non-scientists don't agree?), axiological (Are some values objectively better, and why?), and normative (Whose opinions about biodiversity should count?). Many people have the right to participate in an ecological democracy: But when protecting biodiversity, who does and should have the right to be heard? I problematize the role that ‘local’ actors play in decision-making and describe the variegated role that experts – particularly biologists – play in ecological democracy when biodiversity preservation matters. To determine whose values and voices should be prioritized, I describe ‘deep equity,’ an axiological and normative groundwork for determining when biodiversity-promoting policies may be preferable even if affected citizens don't agree.

Whose Voices Count in Biodiversity Conservation? Ecological Democracy in Biodiversity Offsetting, REDD+, and Rewilding

Ecological democracy seeks environmentally sustainable ends through broad, active democratic participation. What happens when laws fostering participation in environmental decision-making and biodiversity preservation lead to differing results? What is best for biodiversity may not be what for local citizens believe is best. I examine conflicts and congruencies in the context of Biodiversity Offsetting, REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation), and the Rewilding movement. I ask questions that are legal (Who has what legal rights to speak for or against programs that enhance biodiversity?), epistemological (Whose expertise and knowledge matters when scientists and non-scientists don’t agree?), axiological (Are some values objectively better, and why?), and normative (Whose opinions about biodiversity should count?). Many people have the right to participate in an ecological democracy: But when protecting biodiversity, who does and should have the right to be heard? I problematize the role that ‘local’ actors play in decision-making and describe the variegated role that experts – particularly biologists – play in ecological democracy when biodiversity preservation matters. To determine whose values and voices should be prioritized, I describe ‘deep equity,’ an axiological and normative groundwork for determining when biodiversity- promoting policies may be preferable even if affected citizens don’t agree.

Water as Human Right: Impact of Thai Binh 1 Thermal Plant Project on Domestic Water Supply of Riverine People in Chi Thien Village, Vietnam

The research studies on the typical context of Chi Thien village, an area having new- operated coal-power plant as the development project in the northern part of Vietnam. As the focus of the research, domestic water supply is studied. Conventionally, villagers harvest rainwater into big reservoirs that later on were demolished for house renovation after the agricultural compensation for the coal plant construction. Since the establishment of the Thai Binh 1 Thermal plant, locals are recommended not to drink raining water because of potential negative impacts of coal ash on human health. Findings of the research indicate that local households have been provided with tap water service since 2014 by the Chieu River water plant of the local authority. However, doubts on the low tap water quality and its unstable frequency, rainwater returns to be the preferable choice for their domestic water supply. There is a regular check on water affirmed by the engineer from Chieu River plant. Nevertheless, for confidentiality, it was not allowed to publish regardless of the request to have evidence on qualified tap water. This is considered as the violation of the right to information and the participation in environmental decision making of the villagers. For certain disadvantages of water situation, local people have adaptation by buying reverse osmosis(RO)water filters(wealthier family only)and need to pay for water consumption expense with the low quality received. Study on domestic water is a study on human well-being, human rights and state obligation to ensure the water sanitation, the accessibility, and affordability to people. The role of the Vietnamese government is analyzed in addressing these potential impacts caused by the coal plant project towards an adequate standard of living and the highest attainable standard of health in Chi Thien. The thesis is social research using qualitative research methodology of in-depth interviews and referral samples to approach the topic and elicit reliable information, particularly on opinions and hands-on experiences of villagers.

Participation in Environmental Decision Making as an Imperative for Democracy and Environmental Justice in Colombia

Abstract Restrictions on the scope of government action by forcing authorities to act exclusively to the extent permitted by law are a guarantee against abuses of power when authorities’ decisions have environmental implications. Such control ensures that this becomes a reality because it provides a way by which to overcome administrative inefficiency and avoid departure from the essential aims of public institutions. Environmental commitment is necessary for denationalization of the state; it appears as a subsidiary to the initiative and participation of citizens, which, by shifting functions to the private sphere, is also linked to destatization strategies. In light of these assumptions, and the consideration that decisions should not be taken without the input of communities, this article advocates the inclusion of citizens’ voices in environmental policies and management. These issues are addressed from the perspective of Hans Jonas’ ethic of responsibility, with the aim to develop socially responsible and participatory projects.

Global environmental governance should be participatory: Five problems of scale

The goals of this project are twofold: (1) to show how research on, and normative-theoretical justifications for, public participation in environmental decision-making can inform discussions about how to improve global environmental governance (GEG) and (2) to present a series of questions that follow any attempt to scale up results from research on local, regional, and national public participation to meet global environmental challenges. It seeks to clarify what the ‘problem of scale’ means for democratizing GEG by classifying, and proposing partial answers to, multiple problems of scale: (1) The social barriers question: What political-economic barriers stand in the way? (2) The institutional formation question: What institutions need (re)forming? (3) The ‘who’ question: Who should participate and how should they be selected? (4) The procedural question: How and when should the global public participate? (5) The evaluative question: What are the criteria for process and outcome evaluation?

La aplicación de las disposiciones del segundo pilar del Convenio de Aarhus en España. Los avances y los viejos retos

El Convenio de Aarhus ha sido descrito como la iniciativa mas ambiciosa hasta la fecha para impulsar la democracia ambiental universal. Transcurridos quince anos de su ratificacion por Espana, el objeto de este trabajo es poner en perspectiva los avances que ha supuesto en nuestro ordenamiento en materia de participacion publica y, examinar algunos de los retos que sigue planteado a dia de hoy su aplicacion. A tal fin se examinara su ejecucion normativa y algunas resoluciones judiciales especialmente relevantes en su aplicacion, asi como los informes de cumplimiento presentados hasta la fecha por el Estado espanol a las reuniones de las partes y las resoluciones adoptadas por el Comite de Cumplimiento del Convenio en relacion con Espana. A la vista de este analisis, se puede observar que, si bien el ordenamiento espanol ha experimentado importantes mejoras en la regulacion de la participacion publica en materia de de medio ambiente, ello no garantiza per se el objetivo ultimo de una mayor implicacion y participacion activa de la sociedad en la definicion y gestion de los interes generales que afectan a nuestro modelo de desarrollo.

The Right of Access to Environmental Information in Ukraine and the EU

The purpose of our scholarly work is to explore legal regulation of access to environmental information and public participation in environmental decision-making in Ukraine and the EU. The article considers how the Aarhus Convention has been implemented in member states and Ukraine, concentrating on the public access to information as a valid instrument for environmental protection. Taking part in the Erasmus + Jean Monnet Module EU Environmental Policy and Law we have analyzed the possibility of obtaining operative environmental information on the state of the environment in cities and villages of Ukraine. We also have studied European standards in the sphere of disclosure of environmental information and public participation, found some gaps in Ukrainian legislation and filled them in. We offer an interdisciplinary approach: integration of information law, environmental law, international law, human rights and national security. This will allow us to form a conceptual understanding of the legal regulation of information on the environment as an object of realization of information human rights and a component of national security in the context of environmental threats. Keywords: Environmental information, information human rights, sustainable development, environmental policy

Women’s participation in environmental decision-making: Quasi-experimental evidence from northern Kenya

Greater inclusion of women is widely believed to improve environmental decision outcomes. Pastoralism faces increased vulnerability to climate change, and pastoralist women are both disproportionately affected by severe drought and underrepresented in formal decision-making processes. Increased participation by women in decision-making thus promises to offer a win–win solution: greater gender equality as well as enhanced resilience to persistent drought. This quasi-experimental study evaluates an intervention that aimed to increase drought preparedness in northern Kenyan pastoralist communities through the empowerment of women at the household and community levels. It uses a difference-in-differences design combined with matching estimation to causally isolate effects of the intervention. At the community level, there was an increase in women's political awareness and participation in formal decision-making processes, but that participation did not translate into meaningful outcomes. At the household level, however, there was a large and positive effect on actions taken to better prepare for drought (which mostly took the form of pre-emptive livestock sales). Given the entrenched gender roles related to livestock sales in this setting, this finding is encouraging and warrants further research.

Editors’ Introduction

Editors’ Introduction

Soft Law in Environmental Matters and the Role of the European Courts: Too Much or Too Little of It?

Environmental policy entered the EU Treaties with the Single European Act. The Maastricht Treaty significantly changed and strengthened the provisions on environmental law and policy, as it made environmental protection an explicit aim of the European Community (EC), now European Union (EU), and empowered the Council to adopt environmental measures by qualified majority voting and no longer unanimity.1 Since the entry into force of the Treaty in 1993, EC (now EU) activity in the field of environmental policy has accelerated, resulting in an impressive body of legislative and non-legislative measures, which includes, according to the Commission, more than 200 pieces of EU legislation.2 Some legislation is sector-specific covering water, air, nature, waste, noise, and chemicals. Other measures are horizontal in nature and cut across all environmental sectors, for example, environmental impact assessments, access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decision making, and liability for environmental damage. Many of these measures deal with extremely technical issues, for example standards for pollutants such as ozone, particulate matter, and nitrogen dioxide, the requirements to ensure that surface waters in the EU keep a ‘good ecological status’ and a ‘good chemical status’ or the adequate conservation measures to preserve a certain natural habitat. Because of the consequent difficulties in the interpretation and application of the relevant pieces of EU law for national administrations, the environmental field has seen an impressive growth in the use of soft law measures. These measures come in the various forms of guidance documents, Commission notes, interpretative communications, and so on.

A Case Study of Stakeholder Perceptions of the History, Management, and Decision-Making Approaches About Acid Mine Drainage in South Africa

In South Africa, acid mine drainage (AMD) is a perennial issue that may have a serious impact on sustainability of ecosystems and the quality of water in the country. AMD has resulted in controversial debates in this country where the ownership of mines has traditionally been characterized by policies of the apartheid era that downplayed community participation in environmental decision making. This case study therefore aimed to find out stakeholder perceptions of the history, management, and decision-making approaches on AMD in South Africa. The study also aimed to ascertain if adoption of the precautionary principle (PP) would have made a difference to the decisions that are known to have led to the problem of AMD in this country. The results indicated that AMD is not only an issue resulting from the lack of resources and skills in its management but mainly a public participation and decision-making issue. These results, therefore, have implications for the revision of decision-making approaches and the extent to which public participation grounded in the philosophy of the PP is facilitated in environmental decision making.

Public Participation in Environmental Decision Making in India: a Critique

Public Participation in Environmental Decision Making in India: a Critique

Educating for the marine environment: Challenges for schools and scientists

Environmental education has long been recognized as critical for achieving environmental awareness, values and attitudes, skills and behaviour consistent with sustainable development and for effective participation in environmental decision-making. Since the Declaration of the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment concerns about marine pollution and ecotoxicology, among other environmental challenges, should be included in environmental education. However, in the more than forty years since this significant environmental Declaration, marine education has struggled to find a place in the school curriculum of most countries, even though issues such as climate change, chemical contamination of marine environments, coastal eutrophication, and seafood safety continue to threaten human and other species' well-being. This viewpoint discusses how marine education is marginalized in school education, and how marine specialists need to embed school education in their action plans. Particular questions include: who should be educated, about what, where and with what goals in mind?

“Preemptive Participation” and Environmental Awareness Across Indian Water Quality Policy

Public participation in environmental decision making is promoted in the Global South as a core tenet of “good governance” associated with sustainability. This emphasis on participatory governance has produced significant attention to the importance of “environmental awareness” as a precondition of participation in environmental governance. This article analyzes the connected discourses surrounding environmental awareness and participation in Indian water-quality policy, focusing on North India’s Ganges River. Drawing on evidence from policy documents and interviews with government officials and other key informants, it argues that the emphasis on environmental awareness as a precondition of participation has allowed the state to effectively forestall participation, to approach awareness raising as a consensus-building activity, and to effectively rollback the regulation of polluting industries. Moreover, conditional participation has increased opportunities for state agencies to control the conditions and terms of “awareness,” contributing to the effacement of alternative environmental knowledges.

Right to Information about, and Involvement in, Environmental Decision Making along the Silk Road Economic Belt

The ecological vulnerability of the regions within the Silk Road Economic Belt requires environmental protection. The infrastructure-pillared structure of the Belt and legal procedures on environmental impact assessment (EIA) of various infrastructures inform the article’s approach to environment protection along the Belt through the right to information about and involvement in environmental decision-making (the right to information and involvement). How to protect this right along the Belt? The rights-approach to environment, as the paper first examines, lead to an exploration of the social and historical background of the adoption of the Convention on Access TO Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention). Parties to the Aarhus Convention largely overlap with the countries within the Belt. Critical analysis of the EIA legislation and it in practice, and the contradiction within the principle of “public participation” reveal the inadequacy of formal legislation in protecting the right to information and involvement. A case study on informal participation in environmental decision-making in China illustrates the value of informal participation in protecting this right. Informal participation is forming a communicative form of environment governance in Singapore, in which the right to information and involvement is protected. This article argues that informal participation can facilitate the protection of the right to information and involvement along the Belt.

South Korean green growth and the Jevons paradox: An assessment with democratic and degrowth policy recommendations

The policy instruments at the core of the notion of green growth are central to South Korea’s National Strategy for Green Growth (NSGG): (1) green stimulus packages; (2) “price-based” or market corrective policies; and (3) green research and development to bring about a technological shift that increases resource efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources. This assessment of the NSGG explores the potentials and limitations of (3) in light of the Jevons paradox, the commonly found association between improved efficiency and increased resource use. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and total energy use have increased since the implementation of the NSGG despite overall improvements in energy efficiency. We argue that the Jevons paradox is a fundamental limitation of the NSGG and suggest policy alternatives to the NSGG: (1) increased public participation in environmental decision-making and (2) economic degrowth.

Environmental Citizenship from the Perspective of University Staff at Ain Shams University

The study aimed at identifying the dimensions of environmental citizenship from the perspective of university staff members in Ain Shams University, and its relation with some variables including gender, college (theoretical and practical) and scientific degree. The study was done using the descriptive method, and a questionnaire consisting of 63 items distributed on four dimensions (Environmental Justice -Environmental Rights Environmental Responsibility and participation in environmental decision-making). The researcher checked its validity and reliability and the questionnaire was distributed to a sample consists of 268 University staff Member's. The results of the study showed that there were differences in the average of the degrees of perception of Ain Shams university staff members of dimensions of the environmental citizenship. The dimension of environmental rights came in the first degree, as it reflected a very large degree of perception, followed by both dimensions of environmental responsibility and participation in environmental decision-making, which reflected a large degree of perception, and finally the dimension of environmental justice which reflecteda a medium degree of perception. The study also showed that there no were statistically significant differences related to gender, while there were statistically significant differences at the level of 0.05 related to the variables of college and scientific degree.