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Stakeholder Participation for Environmental Management: A Literature Review
Abstract
The complex and dynamic nature of environmental problems requires flexible and transparent decision-making that embraces a diversity of knowledges and values. For this reason, stakeholder participation in environmental decision-making has been increasingly sought and embedded into national and international policy. Although many benefits have been claimed for participation, disillusionment has grown amongst practitioners and stakeholders who have felt let down when these claims are not realised. This review first traces the development of participatory approaches in different disciplinary and geographical contexts, and reviews typologies that can be used to categorise and select participatory methods. It then reviews evidence for normative and pragmatic benefits of participation, and evaluates limitations and drawbacks. Although few of the claims that are made have been tested, there is evidence that stakeholder participation can enhance the quality of environmental decisions by considering more comprehensive information inputs. However, the quality of decisions made through stakeholder participation is strongly dependant on the nature of the process leading to them. Eight features of best practice participation are then identified from a Grounded Theory Analysis of the literature. These features emphasise the need to replace a “tool-kit” approach, which emphasises selecting the relevant tools for the job, with an approach that emphasises participation as a process. It is argued that stakeholder participation needs to be underpinned by a philosophy that emphasises empowerment, equity, trust and learning. Where relevant, participation should be considered as early as possible and throughout the process, representing relevant stakeholders systematically. The process needs to have clear objectives from the outset, and should not overlook the need for highly skilled facilitation. Local and scientific knowledges can be integrated to provide a more comprehensive understanding of complex and dynamic socio-ecological systems and processes. Such knowledge can also be used to evaluate the appropriateness of potential technical and local solutions to environmental problems. Finally, it is argued that to overcome many of its limitations, stakeholder participation must be institutionalised, creating organisational cultures that can facilitate processes where goals are negotiated and outcomes are necessarily uncertain. In this light, participatory processes may seem very risky, but there is growing evidence that if well designed, these perceived risks may be well worth taking. The review concludes by identifying future research needs.
... In addition to coordination between public administrations, wider stakeholder participation with representatives from all relevant sectors is crucial to identify optimal solutions for the sustainable development of these complex SES. While diverse priorities between stakeholders can be an obstacle to environmental management, well-designed participatory approaches can reduce conflict, build trust, and facilitate learning among stakeholders, who are then more likely to support sustainable development goals and implement decisions (de Vente et al., 2016;Reed, 2008). ...
... However, this is a very challenging task, as it often touches upon resource conflicts or different value systems (Martínez-López et al., 2019a;Voinov et al., 2016). Therefore, participatory processes that aim to co-develop holistic solutions for sustainable development, need a careful design based on the definition of objectives and facilitation with special attention to managing conflict, power dynamics and expectations (e.g. de Vente et al., 2016;Reed, 2008). ...
... The design of any participatory process strongly affects its outcomes (e.g. de Vente et al., 2016;Reed, 2008), and it is often difficult to identify which methods and tools are most appropriate for a particular participatory modelling project (Voinov et al., 2018). Here, we aimed to illustrate how a combination of different methods in an iterative process of participatory model development can support scientific discovery, social learning, and better-informed decision-making. ...
... This shift towards a more ''societal'' FRM ) has been fostered through documents such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (Cox et al. 2019), the European Union Water Framework Directive, or the European Floods Directive (Jager et al. 2016;Slavikova 2018). Aiming to employ varied resources across different levels of society (Geaves and Penning-Rowsell 2015), stakeholders' expertise and a joint/''hybrid'' knowledge (Reed 2008) of scientists/experts, policy-makers, local stakeholders, and communities are accentuated (Islam et al. 2018;Matczak and Hegger 2021) and assumed to aid the justification and robustness to the steps taken (Ruangpan et al. 2021;Potočki et al. 2022). The focus then moves to a transparent, inclusive, and participatory governance reflecting the varied everyday realities (Reed 2008;Quinn et al. 2023). ...
... Aiming to employ varied resources across different levels of society (Geaves and Penning-Rowsell 2015), stakeholders' expertise and a joint/''hybrid'' knowledge (Reed 2008) of scientists/experts, policy-makers, local stakeholders, and communities are accentuated (Islam et al. 2018;Matczak and Hegger 2021) and assumed to aid the justification and robustness to the steps taken (Ruangpan et al. 2021;Potočki et al. 2022). The focus then moves to a transparent, inclusive, and participatory governance reflecting the varied everyday realities (Reed 2008;Quinn et al. 2023). These developments are not without issues though. ...
... Thanks to their ability to bear the role of a ''watchdog'' (Awakul and Ogunlana 2002), in the SWW case, like elsewhere (Schulz and Adams 2022), as crucial proved to be the performance of the NGOs; their activities decidedly affected the key phase of the planning/decision-making process, including the assessment of alternative variants of the project. Building upon contextual features such as the pre-existing action groups (Geaves and Penning-Rowsell 2015), they were able to overcome common barriers such as bureaucracy or accusations of lacking expertise (Potočki et al. 2022) through the united commitment of diverse stakeholders; the integration of local and scientific knowledge not only allowed for a comprehensive understanding of the complex local systems and evaluating the appropriateness of the project (Reed 2008) but, eventually, provided for the key argumentation within the case. ...
This study focuses on the Skalička Waterwork (SWW), a largely debated and media-covered water-related/flood-protection project in the Czech Republic. Relying primarily on stakeholder interviews, we traced back and reconstructed the project’s development, including its key tipping points reflecting the changing societal preferences for particular measures, yet also the involvement of individual actors/stakeholders, and their differing views. The case eventually crystallized into the “dam versus polder” dispute; concerned by the repercussions for the local landscape, a joint initiative of NGOs, local activists, and politicians not only opposed the dam variant proposed by the state river basin administration but also succeeded in pushing through the alternative scheme of side dry polder. While in many ways specific (e.g. not entailing local resistance), the case exemplifies recent shifts (and respective struggles) within flood risk management, including the increasing importance attributed to complex, catchment-wide perspectives, joint local and scientific knowledge, participatory decision-making processes, or implementation of nature-based and hybrid solutions.
... The way in which the projects have involved the population has been criticised for perpetuating Global Journal of Human Social Science Unlocking Community Engagement in REDD+ Initiatives: Insights from a Case Study in the Amazon socio-environmental inequality and excluding local communities from decision-making (Newton et al., 2015;Skutsch & Turnhout, 2020), showing that the programme may not be taking into account the needs and interests of local communities, resulting in conflicts and socio-environmental injustices (Reed, 2008;Streck, 2020). In addition, there are concerns about the effectiveness of the mechanisms that lead to achieving the proposed objectives, as well as governance and transparency issues in the implementation of REDD+ projects (Christen et al., 2020;Luttrell et al., 2013;Nhem et al., 2017). ...
... According to Andrade and Rossetti (2004), stakeholders can be classified into four groups: investors, made up of the organisation's owners; internal, those directly involved in generating and monitoring results; external, those integrated or not integrated into the business chain; local society, the government and its regulatory agents. According to Reed (2008), stakeholder participation increases the chances of securing the interests of secondary actors, guaranteeing benefits for society in general. ...
... The success of REDD+ policies lies, to a large extent, in the incentives for the multiple actors (stakeholders) who participate in the sustainable management of forests and in the information and knowledge generated by exchanges of experience that improve the quality of environmental decisions. However, Reed (2008) states that this quality depends on the nature of the process that guides decisions. ...
... Additionally, social ties between groups of different backgrounds, rather than within a homogenous group, might be fostered for the benefit of future cooperation (also see Yoder and Roy Chowdhury, 2018) and the more equal consideration of different i.e. agricultural and conservation-oriented perspectives (also see Prell et al., 2010). For an overview of stakeholder participation in environmental management, its potential (dis-)advantages and best practice, see, e.g., Reed (2008). ...
... Specifically, potentially improved environmental outcomes of multiple-stakeholder initiatives need to be put in relation with acceptance on the one hand and increased costs for policy and farmers on the other hand, comprising administration or transaction costs. Such costs potentially arise from increased discussion between diverse stakeholders and the need for trained mediators to tackle any arising tensions (also see Prell et al., 2010;Reed, 2008). Additionally, further research is required to investigate stakeholders' scope for contributions and their willingness to be involved (also see Eanes et al., 2017) as well as wider social implications, such as costs or benefits for the local community and economy. ...
Farmers' pro-environmental action is substantially influenced by various stakeholders from their business and social environment. Recent studies recommend actively involving influential stakeholders in agri-environmental initiatives, information or media campaigns. While it has been argued that farmers' perceptions towards these stakeholders can help inform effective involvement, comprehensive assessments of these perceptions remain scarce, particularly in the context of biodiversity-friendly farming. To understand and compare farmers' perceptions of these stakeholder quantitatively, we developed and applied a perception matrix. In an exploratory survey with 49 farmers across ten European countries, farmers rated twelve groups of stakeholders (e.g. government bodies, farm advisors and input suppliers) against eight perception constructs (e.g. trustworthiness, interest in protecting biodiversity). We found that perceptions differed significantly both between groups of stakeholders and between constructs. Whereas several stakeholders were, on average, perceived positively regarding their general characteristics, such as trustworthiness, reliability, understanding and support for farming, perceptions regarding their biodiversity-related behavior were significantly more negative. Our findings indicate potential to improve policy development and implementation of agri-environmental initiatives through the involvement of multiple, non-governmental, agricultural and non-agricultural stakeholders in biodiversity-friendly farming initiatives across the entire agri-food value chain. Such multi-stakeholder initiatives could help to not only reinforce biodiversity conservation action among the farming community, but across society as a whole as emphasized by the Convention on Biological Diversity. Further research is needed to confirm the observed trends on a larger, representative sample, for which the presented perception matrix is well suited.
... The nuances of language and language choice drive our call to refrain from using the term stakeholder. We issue this call while recognising that stakeholder has been used extensively in processes that aim to inform, consult, engage, co-produce, and work collaboratively with those who could be affected by resulting decisions and other actions (Baum et al. 2006;Reed 2008;Reed et al. 2009;Kindon et al. 2010;McGrath and Whitty 2017;Carroll et al. 2020;Dwivedi et al. 2022;Koren et al. 2022;Merkle et al. 2022). While our primary emphasis lies on knowledge acquisition, engagement, and impact within the research and higher education sectors, it is worth noting that the term stakeholder is used widely across multiple domains. ...
... The term is often poorly defined and used as a catch-all term to encompass groups as diverse as audiences, the public (or publics), communities, citizens, employees, policy makers, funders, research participants, species, and more. This is a problem, because poorly defined terms can leave room for (mis)interpretation and bias (Reed 2008;Chilvers and Kearnes 2019;Rowe and Frewer 2005). This lack of specificity arguably creates confusion (Stoney and Winstanley 2001;Waxenberger and Spence 2003;Wagner Mainardes et al. 2018;Miles 2011a, b). ...
Language matters in shaping perceptions and guiding behaviour. The term stakeholder is widely used, yet little attention is paid to the possibility that its use may inadvertently perpetuate colonial narratives and reinforce systemic inequities. In this article, we critically examine the limitations of the stakeholder concept and its ambiguity, normativity, and exclusionary implications. We emphasise the importance of using language that gives a voice to marginalised groups, promotes inclusion and equity, and fosters meaningful and reflexive participation in decision-making processes. In critiquing the use of the term and calling for alternative practices, we aim to contribute to the decolonisation of research norms and the creation of more inclusive and equitable societies. Therefore, rather than advocating a single alternative term, we suggest a focus on the people, places, and species affected by decisions, interventions, projects, and issues.
... In this context, local knowledge about the landscape of different knowledge providers should be interlinked in such a way that the most suitable place-based solutions can be developed [30]. Farmers, landowners or local people are valuable knowledge providers and should not be seen as mere recipients of innovations but also be involved in the design process [47]. In this phase, the participation process and co-design activities (e.g., techniques from design thinking) take place to manage disagreement on goals and ethical positions and avoid conflicts or power asymmetries by finding shared visions and new solutions [9,32]. ...
... In this phase, the participation process and co-design activities (e.g., techniques from design thinking) take place to manage disagreement on goals and ethical positions and avoid conflicts or power asymmetries by finding shared visions and new solutions [9,32]. Generally, participation is a long-term process for mutual trust, good relationships, and learning from each other to discuss potential solutions [47]. The leadership style should be adapted to these goals to create a space for collaboration at equal eye level and encourage active listening [36]. ...
Acceptability analyses of place-based innovations provide crucial in-depth knowledge (e.g., perceptions and values on landscapes) for the social-ecological transformation of landscapes. However, previous acceptability analyses often neglected complex and ongoing processes. We argue that, for the design of a sustainability-oriented transformation and to address spatial and temporal dynamics in landscapes, an operational heuristic is needed; one that integrates acceptability analyses into an adaptive landscape co-design and management approach. Therefore, this conceptual-empirical paper introduces the concept of the 'acceptability and landscape design cycle' (ALDC), which is based on findings from various transdisciplinary innovation processes in the Spreewald region (Germany). It is composed of four iterative phases: (1) defining the preconditions for acceptability analysis, (2) conducting the acceptability analysis, (3) integrating the results into the landscape development strategy, and (4) redesigning and refining it. We illustrate the application of these phases using a case study of the cultural landscape in Spreewald. The paper provides practical implementation guidelines of the ALDC and contributes to a be er understanding of the dynamics of acceptability decisions regarding the transformation processes of landscapes. Furthermore, it can advance the understanding of how co-evolution of socio-ecological systems occurs.
... To ensure effective participation of stakeholders in environmental management, Reed (2008) proposed eight best practices, which are also valid for stakeholder participation in action research. These best practices include having an underpinning philosophy of participation that emphasizes empowerment, equity, trust and learning; embedding participation in the action research activities right from the onset, adequate representation of different groups of relevant stakeholders, and having clear objectives for the participatory process. ...
... These best practices include having an underpinning philosophy of participation that emphasizes empowerment, equity, trust and learning; embedding participation in the action research activities right from the onset, adequate representation of different groups of relevant stakeholders, and having clear objectives for the participatory process. Other best practices according to Reed (2008) are appropriate methods tailored to the local context, effective facilitation, integration of local and scientific knowledge, and institutionalization of participation. These best practices were applied to BRIDGE action research activities, though to a varying degree. ...
For development projects, an action research approach is often encouraged to enhance participation of end-users or beneficiaries at various stages of the project to realize the desired social transformation in the target communities. The project under consideration in this study adopted action research for some of its activities. A review of the project action research activities was conducted as part of the strategic reflection for lesson learning and to inform modification where necessary. The objectives of this study were (i) to assess the relevance of action research approach to implementation of project activities and, (ii) to draw lessons for agricultural development projects applying participatory approaches. Fifty-one participants involved in the project action research activities were interviewed on their understanding of action research, its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and level of participation in action research activities. The perception of the participants interviewed regarding action research approach was that it is relevant and important for the project, and that it has provided a good platform for learning by all participants. Some key lessons from this study for development projects when applying action research approach include the need to focus on a limited number of issues or activities that can produce social transformation in the target communities, and the necessity of adequate planning for monitoring and documentation of learning by participants. From our study, action research is a pertinent approach in community development projects, but it should be well-planned to achieve the desired objective of social transformation in the target communities.
... Scholars and practitioners have long argued that stakeholder engagement can increase public awareness of important issues (Bryson et al., 2013), improve legitimacy of decisions by increasing stakeholder willingness to compromise (Beierle and Konisky, 2000;), and enhance trust and social capital (Dyer et al., 2014;Teitelbaum, 2014). However, these benefits of stakeholder engagement are not always realized in practice (Reed, 2008). If stakeholder engagement is implemented poorly, it may reduce the actual quality and legitimacy of the ultimate decision, damage stakeholder relationships, and reduce incentives to involve stakeholders in future decision-making (Irvin and Stansbury, 2004;Lukensmeyer et al., 2011;Nabatchi and Leighninger, 2015). ...
... Each submission involved the creation of stakeholders (nodes) categorized based on identifying attributes. "Stakeholder" refers to any group with a vested interest in a specific issue or concern (Reed, 2008). In the realm of natural resource management, Pomeroy and Rivera-Guieb (2005) present a comprehensive definition of stakeholders, encompassing individuals, groups, or organizations interested, involved, or affected (positively or negatively) by specific policies or actions regarding resource utilization. ...
Transformation from top-down government to collaborative governance for natural resources requires broadening the scope of stakeholders involved. However, the systemic identification and assessment of stakeholder engagement remains a challenge. This paper develops a network-based framework for assessing stakeholder engagement in natural resources governance. The framework proposed five system-level metrics: inclusivity, cohesion, centralization, efficiency, and brokerage, as well as three node-level metrics: dominators, brokers, and communicators. By using public submission data on four government policy initiatives each reflecting a major component of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, this study assessed the structural aspects of stakeholder engagement relevant to water resource management in the Murray-Darling Basin following legislative reforms in 2007. Findings suggested that current stakeholder engagement structures are neither balanced, nor have adequate maturity to develop a governance approach to resolve issues within the Basin. High variability between patterns of involvement in submissions to key policy initiatives indicated there were haphazard aggregations of public comments and the top-down approach to water management is still dominant. The framework developed in this paper offers a structural and systemic perspective for re-configuring stakeholder engagement networks for improving collaborative governance.
... Los bosques secos tropicales están entre los ecosistemas más amenazados y menos protegidos del mundo (Janzen, 1988;Miles et al., 2006), y la situación en la CCHC parece reflejar este patrón global. Ya que, la región presentaba una tasa de deforestación de 1.9% hasta el 2018, donde la región había perdido entre el 50 -70% de su cobertura original (Sierra, 2018), en el que Santa Elena y Guayas fueron las provincias más afectadas para el período 2000-2008(MAE, 2012. ...
... Sin embargo, cualquier propuesta de este tipo debería estar basada en un enfoque participativo y considerar las necesidades y derechos de las comunidades locales. La gestión efectiva de las áreas protegidas y las reservas de la biosfera requiere la participación activa de las comunidades locales y el reconocimiento de sus derechos de uso y manejo de los recursos (Reed, 2008). Consecuentemente, es clave que cualquier esfuerzo para proteger la CCHC se realice en estrecha colaboración con las comunidades locales y se oriente hacia la promoción de la coexistencia sostenible entre las personas y la naturaleza. ...
La cordillera Chongón Colonche (CCHC) forma parte del punto caliente de biodiversidad Tumbes-ChocóMagdalena debido a la alta concentración de especies endémicas. Presentando bosques húmedos de garúa en la
parte alta y bosques secos en las partes bajas. Este estudio cuantifica la dinámica de la cobertura arbórea en la
cordillera entre 2000 y finales del 2022, un enclave vital del bosque seco tropical (BST) en Ecuador. Mediante
la aplicación del conjunto de datos de alta resolución de Global Forest Watch de Hansen, se determinó que la
CCHC a principios del 2023 tenía 300 374 ha de cobertura arbórea, y sufrió una pérdida neta de cobertura
arbórea de 10 787.20 hectáreas durante el período de estudio, a pesar de un incremento marginal de 825
hectáreas hasta 2012. La pérdida continua de cobertura arbórea en la CCHC representa una amenaza
significativa para la biodiversidad, la integridad ecológica del BST y la seguridad hídrica y alimenticia de las
comunidades locales. Además, se realizó el mismo análisis para tres Áreas Protegidas Nacionales (Parque
Nacional Machalilla, Parque Samanes y Parque Lago) y 10 Bosques Protectores (Bosqueira, Cerro Blanco,
Cerro el paraíso, Chongón-Colonche o Colonche, La Prosperina, Loma Alta, Papagayo de Guayaquil, Sancan
y Cerro Montecristi, Subcuenca del Río Chongón y Subcuencas de los Ríos Canta-Gallo y Jipijapa) que están
dentro de la cordillera, las cuales hasta inicios del 2023 protegían 149 983 ha de cobertura arbórea. Este análisis
subraya la urgente necesidad de implementar medidas efectivas de conservación en la CCHC que la puedan
promover a una categoría de área protegida nacional y/o Reserva de Biosfera, resaltando la necesidad de
aumentar los esfuerzos de investigación y conservación en los BST a nivel regional y en América Latina.
... Biodiversity conservation approaches are increasingly focused on engaging relevant stakeholders through participatory approaches to reduce conflict, build trust, and facilitate learning among stakeholders, with the aim of reaching greater ownership and implementation of decisions to improve biodiversity outcomes (De Vente et al., 2016;Reed, 2008). While systematic evaluations have shown how stakeholder participation can contribute to biodiversity conservation (Huber et al., 2023;Jager et al., 2020;Reed et al., 2018;Sterling et al., 2017), "tokenistic" approaches to engagement, where for example "conservationists assert their interests to the detriment of others" (Redpath et al., 2013, p. 100) can also lead to more conservation conflict. ...
Biodiversity conservation are increasingly focused on involving stakeholder engagement, making power a key concept in understanding its success and failure. Power is often conceptualized as unidimensional and coercive, but a multidimensional view better reflects structural power, as well as its productive and enabling potential.
This paper investigates how different dimensions of power in participatory processes affect biodiversity conservation objectives. Six case studies from Europe and Asia‐Pacific were analysed using an adapted framework that explores the interlinkages between ‘power over’ and ‘transformative power’, looking at the scale and space in which power occurs, and analysing in which arenas of power and under which form of expression it appears. The framework distinguishes between the different ways to exert influence (‘power to’, ‘power with’, ‘power within’, ‘power for’), as well as the dynamics of domination and resistance observed in decision‐making (visible power), hidden biases and exclusionary experiences (hidden power), and actions that either reinforce or resist social norms and beliefs (invisible and systematic power).
Focusing on biodiversity, the different arenas of power allow us to go deeper than the surface issues and conflicting interests of diverse participants, regarding for example wildlife, to question underlying power dynamics. Different expressions of power, more specifically the ‘power for’ dimension, allow an understanding of how participants integrate nature and biodiversity in their aspirations. The different levels of power also highlight the need to focus not only on the local level but to analyse how participatory processes are embedded in national, or even international governance in a globalized world. Finally, they shed light on two challenges in participatory processes regarding biodiversity: the representation of non‐human interests (designated here as ‘beyond‐human’ voices), and the integration of multiple forms of knowledge systems.
Synthesis and applications: Integrating power into biodiversity issues involves deconstructing normalized discourses that focus solely on certain more powerful human agents, their interests and scientific knowledge, and creating new narratives, knowledge and embodied practice of learning and action to encompass a wider diversity of voices and views.
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... Beberapa penelitian (Gleick, 2000;Pahl-Wostl, 2009) menyoroti kebutuhan akan integrasi dalam pengelolaan sumber daya air, sementara studi lain (Karkkainen, 2002;Bodin & Crona, 2008) menekankan peran keterlibatan pihak publik dan swasta dalam pelestarian sungai. Selain itu, kolaborasi antara pemerintah dan masyarakat sipil juga diakui sebagai komponen krusial (Reed, 2008;Armitage & Plummer, 2010). Meskipun literatur memberikan wawasan penting tentang bagaimana kolaborasi institusi dapat meningkatkan keberlanjutan lingkungan, terdapat gap penelitian yang cukup signifikan terkait penerapan Green Police di Indonesia. ...
Di era globalisasi yang semakin terhubung, isu lingkungan menjadi perhatian utama bagi banyak negara. Menurut World Wildlife Fund (WWF,2020), dampak dari kejahatan terhadap lingkungan telah mencapai tingkat yang sangat serius, dengan hilangnya keragaman hayati dan perubahan iklim yang semakin cepat. Menurut pandangan Idris, dkk (2019) sebagai respons terhadap tren ini, lembaga penegak hukum di seluruh dunia menyadari pentingnya adaptasi dan inovasi.
... This means that all stakeholders have a say in how the system is designed and operated. According to several studies (Brody 2003;Newig and Fritsch 2009;Reed 2008;Wu et al. 2020;Jager et al. 2020), with stronger stakeholder engagement, environmental outcomes are much more sustainable. The second principle is that the monetary system be designed to prioritize social and ecological values, rather than simply aiming to maximize and incentivize economic growth both on the individual (household and firm) and collective (macroeconomic) levels. ...
... and maintenance of environmental monitoring technology [9][10][11][12][13]. ...
In the face of rising population, erratic climate, resource depletion, and increased exposure to natural hazards, environmental monitoring is increasingly important. Satellite data form most of our observations of Earth. On-the-ground observations based on in situ sensor systems are crucial for these remote measurements to be dependable. Providing open-source options to rapidly prototype environmental datalogging systems allows quick advancement of research and monitoring programs. This paper introduces Loom, a development environment for low-power Arduino-programmable microcontrollers. Loom accommodates a range of integrated components including sensors, various datalogging formats, internet connectivity (including Wi-Fi and 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE)), radio telemetry, timing mechanisms, debugging information, and power conservation functions. Additionally, Loom includes unique applications for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. By establishing modular, reconfigurable, and extensible functionality across components, Loom reduces development time for prototyping new systems. Bug fixes and optimizations achieved in one project benefit all projects that use Loom, enhancing efficiency. Although not a one-size-fits-all solution, this approach has empowered a small group of developers to support larger multidisciplinary teams designing diverse environmental sensing applications for water, soil, atmosphere, agriculture, environmental hazards, scientific monitoring, and education. This paper not only outlines the system design but also discusses alternative approaches explored and key decision points in Loom’s development.
... Its appeal stems from the notion that involving people affected by a policy in its development improves democratic legitimacy, contributes to citizens' empowerment, and promotes more inclusive decision-making processes, knowledge co-production and social learning (1,2,12,19,21,28). Moreover, it might favor the implementation of high-quality policy decisions whose fulfillment requires the collaboration of multiple actors (15,41,43). In the middle of an ecological crisis combined with loss of democratic control and rising inequalities, citizen participation also stems from a normative argument (5,43): it is perceived as a legitimate way to develop governance arrangements while trying to reshape social, economic, and political relationships. ...
Public engagement is attractive for decision-makers to make governance more participatory and legitimate. Arnstein (1969) defines participation as a categorical term for citizens’ power
that includes/excludes them from political and economic processes. This is relevant in the context of natural resources governance when analyzing i) how different actors exercise their
powers and ii) the roles played by both governmental and non-governmental actors. However, governance principles for natural resources management (Lockwood et al., 2010) do not go deeply enough into how varying participation impacts governance design and vice versa. This paper delves into the interplay between these two analytical tools, with an emphasis on circular synergies and potential trade-offs. Synergies are mostly identified starting at the middle levels of participation, with potential trade-offs emerging at the highest levels. This discussion provides insights on the sustainable governance of natural resources and public spaces where citizen influence is most needed and asked.
... Nevertheless, they are many positive implications in complex and dynamic problems of participatory and deliberative processes. Among these complex and dynamic problems is solid waste management (SWM), uncertain and multi-scale environmental problems that affect many actors and agencies (Reed, 2008), and it require multi-actor to improve its management. Engaging various actors in policy or decision making that will help fine tune decisions to local contexts, which might minimize implementation hitches arising from oversights. ...
The study investigated the efficacy of community engagement in solid waste management in Chelstone Township, with a focus on household involvement and participation. Understanding the extent of community participation in solid waste management is critical for improving waste management systems and developing sustainable practices in local communities. Chelstone Township, Lusaka Province, Zambia, presented an attractive backdrop for investigating community engagement in solid waste management due to its unique blend of social, economic, cultural, and political elements. Chelstone's population is diversified, with a mix of indigenous residents and migrants from other regions of Zambia, living in both informal settlements and more affluent residential neighborhoods. To examine the level of community engagement in solid waste management in Chelstone Township, the researchers used a mixed-method approach that included both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The study found that community involvement in solid waste management was only partially effective, owing to a lack of household participation in decision-making procedures. According to the findings, community engagement in solid waste management was predominantly routed through councilors, resulting in insufficient representation of households in planning and decision-making. Community-based enterprises (CBEs) also demonstrated a lack of household engagement. The study identified obstacles such as waste politicization, a lack of information, distance collection places, unreliable collection services, and issues with openness and accountability in cash allocation. The outcomes of the study highlight the importance of increased education efforts to encourage community participation in garbage management. To supplement local government initiatives, effective engagement of stakeholders such as community organizations, NGOs, and commercial sector entities is advised. The study recommends incorporating community people in solid waste management planning, decision-making, and implementation.
... However, scholars and practitioners still find it unsatisfactory in various aspects, from participation to good governance (Islam et al. 2018, Nishat and Chowdhury 2019, Mollick et al. 2022, Begum et al. 2023). Thus, a participatory evaluation approach is necessary for comanagement practices of Sundarbans because it can help to identify key stakeholders and their management views and perceptions, identify and resolve issues, and create cooperative initiatives (Reed 2008). Applying a collaboration spectrum framework developed by the Tamarack Institute (2017), we evaluate the current level of collaboration, which can provide appropriate strategies for attaining desired goals. ...
... Participatory approaches, while theoretically sound (Leitch et al. 2015), often meet considerable challenges when put into practice (Sekhar 2001). As Reed (2008) observes, participatory processes can lead to the dominance of certain voices, typically those with more power (Burns and Stöhr 2011) or resources, skewing the outcomes in their favor. ...
Landscape governance challenges, particularly in peri-urban contexts like the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) region in South India, exemplify ‘wicked’ problems due to their inherent complexities. These challenges arise from a mix of conflicting interests, policy ambiguities, and sociocultural dynamics, which often blur the definition of problems and hinder effective solutions. Despite apparent options for resolution, stakeholder disagreements and deep uncertainties about implementation strategies complicate governance. This study, therefore, has two broad objectives. The first objective is to analyze the local discourses surrounding planned policy interventions around the BNP region in South India. Based on the findings, the second objective is to draw insights for sustainable natural resource governance research and practice. We applied Q-methodology to understand the discourses that underpin various conflicts in the rapidly urbanizing elephant corridor at BNP. We elicited information on how various local actors frame solutions to current collective action challenges in the BNP landscape and their perspectives on the proposed eco-sensitive zone notification, as well as the functioning of current policy interventions concerning conservation and development. The study uncovers the micropolitics and power regimes underpinning various natural resource governance challenges and demonstrates the utility of the Q-methodology in bringing diverse perspectives together in response to ‘wicked’ governance challenges.
... However, scholars and practitioners still find it unsatisfactory in various aspects, from participation to good governance (Islam et al. 2018, Nishat and Chowdhury 2019, Mollick et al. 2022, Begum et al. 2023). Thus, a participatory evaluation approach is necessary for comanagement practices of Sundarbans because it can help to identify key stakeholders and their management views and perceptions, identify and resolve issues, and create cooperative initiatives (Reed 2008). Applying a collaboration spectrum framework developed by the Tamarack Institute (2017), we evaluate the current level of collaboration, which can provide appropriate strategies for attaining desired goals. ...
The relatively rapid expansion of protected areas (PAs) has outpaced their effective governance, monitoring, and evaluation processes, resulting in a knowledge gap, particularly in relation to the impact and efficacy of co-managed protected areas in conserving biodiversity globally. Bangladesh, like numerous other nations, is expanding its existing co-management model to incorporate additional PAs while simultaneously making only limited modifications to the management of these protected areas. Evaluations, however, are relatively rare throughout the world, including Bangladesh, despite their potential to improve PA quality and effectiveness. The purpose of this article is to examine current co-management practices at two sites in Bangladesh's Sundarbans to identify significant challenges and the efficacy of co-management initiatives through the establishment of a novel evaluative framework. The primary empirical data collection methods included key informant interviews, stakeholder consultation in focus group discussions, and uncontrolled personal observation. Despite significant progress in terms of policy and legislative reforms, many issues remained unattended, such as a goal of balancing conservation and development, increasing locals' say in decision making, access to resources, and establishing strong institutions. This addition is believed to aid in reconciling the local community and the government. We also need to give more weight to such things as accounting and transparency, income diversification, and showing respect for preexisting social norms. The problems raised in this article are thought to be significant in bridging the gap between management plans and actual management of PAs, not just in Bangladesh but also in other regions of the world that use co-management to achieve sustainability.
... The research collected data by interdisciplinary iterations of two methods. The first method was semi-structured participatory processes, which involved collaborating with partner associations to gather data through multiple interactions and exchanges [42]. This method has been applied because it promotes appropriate assessments of promising technical and site design, which are relevant to land services. ...
Since 2023, a new format of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has been implemented in Europe. Market forces alone cannot guarantee land services, which can be described as flows of goods and services from ecosystems to human systems as functions of nature. Market forces also cannot ensure food security everywhere and at all times, so deliberate measures should incentivize farmers to adopt sustainable agricultural practices and maintain necessary skills and resources. This study identifies, quantifies, and interprets four narratives that are typical in the approach to food security and the public debate about the land services in the CAP Strategic Plans: (A) provision of land services within the Pillar 1 economics; (B) small vs. large farms; (C) direct payments in comparison with rural development; and (D) choices by the old and new member states. Participatory processes, descriptive statistics, and partial component analysis were used in terms of the methodology. The key finding is that the importance attached to eco-schemes varies among member states, although a majority dedicate approximately 25% of the Pillar 1 budget to them. We showed that small-scale farming countries move resources from Pillar 2 to strengthen direct payments. In contrast, affluent countries with robust agricultural structures can afford to reinforce Pillar 2 rural development through transfers from direct payments. To support small-scale and medium farms, appropriate support requires a combination of several measures, including the sizable hectare payment in Pillar 1 and farmer-oriented agri-environmental measures.
... When stakeholder engagement is conducted in an ad-hoc or tokenistic process, the longterm sustainability of water services is threatened (Reed, 2008). Often, stakeholder engagement is built in water projects or programs without a participatory and collaborative approach and ...
Stakeholder engagement is an integral part of water governance to provide long-term sustainable water services (e.g., water storage, distribution, treatment). Yet, evidence-based studies documenting how community engagement contributes to water governance objectives are scarce. This Community Case Study describes key findings of a three-year experience by Global WaSH executing the Água Viva Program. The study recounts the process of building community engagement among stakeholders in the rural district of Monte Verde de Minas, in the city of Juiz de Fora, Brazil. The study is presented through the viewpoint of the Bridging Organization, Global WaSH. The Program had four main phases: Discovery and Planning, Awareness, Engagement, and Intervention. This study demonstrates the importance of multi-stakeholder participation and the crucial role of the community to reach sound governance. This article also shares the challenges of connecting the interests of distinct actors. It emphasizes the role of a team of WaSH specialists with relationship-building experience in merging community demands and government concerns.
... Even when stakeholders are involved in plant health research this is often only at the implementation stage (e.g. outbreak monitoring) rather than to frame research questions or policy design (Dandy et al., 2017;Reed, 2008). ...
Increased imports of plants and timber through global trade networks provide frequent opportunities for the introduction of novel plant pathogens that can cross-over from commercial to natural environments, threatening native species and ecosystem functioning. Prevention or management of such outbreaks relies on a diversity of cross-sectoral stakeholders acting along the invasion pathway. Yet, guidelines are often only produced for a small number of stakeholders, missing opportunities to consider ways to control outbreaks in other parts of the pathway. We used the infection of common juniper with the invasive pathogen Phytophthora austrocedri as a case study to explore the utility of decision tools for managing outbreaks of plant pathogens in the wider environment. We invited stakeholders who manage or monitor juniper populations or supply plants or management advice to participate in a survey exploring their awareness of, and ability to use, an existing decision tree produced by a coalition of statutory agencies augmented with new distribution maps designed by the authors. Awareness of the decision tree was low across all stakeholder groups including those planting juniper for restoration purposes. Stakeholders requested that decision tools contain greater detail about environmental conditions that increase host vulnerability to the pathogen, and clearer examples of when management practices implicated in pathogen introduction or spread should not be adopted. The results demonstrate the need to set clear objectives for the purpose of decision tools and to frame and co-produce them with many different stakeholders, including overlooked groups, such as growers and advisory agents, to improve management of pathogens in the wider environment.
... However, collaboration and stakeholder participation are not detached from existing social dynamics and power structures. They can perpetuate power imbalances and lock participants into nonnegotiable positions (51). While dialogue is important, disagreements and diverging values (dissensus) are widespread (13), making it challenging to reach a consensus on a "right" course of action. ...
Policy action for sustainability transformation faces inherent and ever-present sources of conflict, pushback, and resistance (i.e., discord). However, conceptual frameworks and policy prescriptions for sustainability transformations often reflect an undue image of accord. This involves simplified assumptions about consensus, steering, friction, discreteness, and additiveness of policy action, conferring an unrealistic view of the potential to deliberately realize transformation. Instead, negotiating discord through continuously finding partial political settlements among divided actors needs to become a key focus of policy action for sustainability transformations. Doing so can help to navigate deeply political settings through imperfect but workable steps that loosen deadlock, generate momentum for further policy action, and avoid complete derailment of transformation agendas when discord arises.
... Beyond simply collecting data, local populations can participate in other decision-making processes and activities, including planning and scoping, activity design and implementation, data analyses and management, and result dissemination (Shirk et al., 2012). Local engagement in activities and decisionmaking processes can enhance policy benefits by inducing higher compliance (Andrade & Rhodes, 2012), increasing speed of implementation (Danielsen et al., 2010), improving collective buy-in and ownership (Rakotomahazo et al., 2019;Schröter et al., 2018), improving attitudes toward conservation (Sterling et al., 2017), lowering risk of crowding out of intrinsic conservation motivations (Upton, 2020), and improving the quality of environmental decisions (Reed, 2008). From the local populations' perspective, additional benefits of engaging in decision-making processes include knowledge and information (Fernandez-Gimenez et al., 2008;Krause & Zambonino, 2013;Newman et al., 2003), community empowerment and sovereignty (Danielsen et al., 2021), leadership and social capital (Becker et al., 2005), and a higher probability that processes are perceived as locally fair and legitimate (Cavalcanti et al., 2010;Wilson et al., 2018). ...
Payments for ecosystem services (PES) are widely applied incentive‐based instruments with diverse objectives that increasingly include biodiversity conservation. Yet, there is a gap in understanding of how to best assess and monitor programs’ biodiversity outcomes. We examined perceptions and drivers of engagement related to biodiversity monitoring through surveys among current PES participants in 7 communities in Mexico's Selva Lacandona. We conducted workshops among survey participants that included training and field deployment of tools used to monitor biodiversity and land cover, including visual transects, camera traps, acoustic recorders, and forest cover satellite images. We conducted pre‐ and postworkshop surveys in each community to evaluate changes in respondents’ perceptions following exposure to biodiversity monitoring training and related field activities. We also reviewed existing research on participatory environmental management and monitoring approaches. One quarter of current PES participants in the study area participated in our surveys and workshops. The majority stated interest in engaging in diverse activities related to the procedural aspects of biodiversity monitoring (e.g., planning, field data collection, results dissemination) and acknowledged multiple benefits of introducing biodiversity monitoring into PES (e.g., knowledge and capacity building, improved natural resource management, and greater support for conservation). Household economic reliance on PES was positively associated with willingness to engage in monitoring. Technical expertise, time, and monetary constraints were deterrents. Respondents were most interested in monitoring mammals, birds, and plants and using visual transects, camera traps, and forest cover satellite images. Exposure to monitoring enhanced subsequent interest in monitoring by providing respondents with new insights from their communities related to deforestation and species’ abundance and diversity. Respondents identified key strengths and weaknesses of applying different monitoring tools, which suggests that deploying multiple tools simultaneously can increase local engagement and produce complementary findings and data. Overall, our findings support the relevance and usefulness of incorporating participatory biodiversity monitoring into PES.
... Nevertheless, this stresses the fact that further studies are needed that look at the longterm effects of role-playing games and other participatory tools [49]. While role-playing games may contribute to cognitive learning at the time of the session and in the short term, uncertainties remain as to their influence on individual and collective practices and social dynamics on a longer basis. ...
Wild boars have become a common yet controversial species in France, where the main response to the species’ development and the problems it may cause is an increased hunting effort. However, wild boars are an extremely adaptive species, and their response to human activities (including hunting) is not fully understood. Moreover, hunting may be a source of conflict with other stakeholders and a topic for public debate, which questions its sustainability. To discuss wild boar behaviour, as well as (other) means to coexist with these animals, we developed a role-playing board game framed around wild boars and hunting. In this paper, we outline the design of the WILD BOAR(D) GAME and reflect on the first three game sessions, which we conducted in our research areas (Gorges du Gardon and Camargue Biosphere Reserves, France). We show that a continuous back and forth between the game and reality allows the participants to elicit their knowledge as well as learn from the other participants, which contributes to filling in the knowledge gaps identified previously in the game design as well as mitigating conflicts regarding wild boars. Finally, we discuss the interest of including wild boars as a role in itself to reflect on their agency.
... As expected, the inseparability between the economic, sociological, cultural, political, and historical dynamics of a territory, from its most local to global levels, was highlighted, characterizing the complex, uncertain, and multi-scale nature of socio-environmental issues (Reed 2008), so that potential solutions extend beyond the eld of strictly environmental management studies and actions. Overall, territories heavily in uenced by mechanisms and structures exacerbating social injustices experienced greater di culties in implementing equitable environmental management. ...
In recent decades, environmental management has undergone changes that have dispersed decision-making power, from a model centralized in public authorities to one with power also distributed to other stakeholders, such as community members, companies, and non-governmental organizations. Participatory environmental management favors conflict reduction, increased legitimacy and compliance with decisions, and community empowerment, fostering more effective and equitable socio-environmental management. However, conciliation of divergent interests, the need for greater investments in time, logistics, capacity building, and power asymmetries are possible limitations to the outcomes of this model, enabling its use in favor of minority interests, especially outside Protected Areas. Numerous studies have been developed on the subject, but its relevance demands an analytical compilation of these works. This review aims to fill this gap by critically synthesizing participatory environmental management case studies in territories outside the Protected Areas, extracted from 145 systematically selected publications. The analysis of aspects such as study location, management group format, level of participation of civil society and traditional communities, factors influencing participation, financial support, difficulties, strategies, and outcomes indicates that, in many cases, the diversity of stakeholders has turned the decentralization of power into an aggravating factor for the vulnerability of weaker parties. Nevertheless, observed advancements in participation corroborate the feasibility and importance of inclusive management. This review provides a current, integrated, and critical overview, useful for the global understanding of the subject and studies improvement and participatory processes in the planning or execution phase.
... Interactions among LTSER programs have continued internationally, although the U.S. funding agency, NSF, has refused to consider renaming the LTER network to indicate a social component. Singh et al. (2013) landmark publication, ''Long term socio-ecological research: studies in society-nature interactions across spatial and temporal scales'' highlighted the evolution and convergence of LTSER research internationally, particularly the importance of and methods for stakeholder engagement (Stringer et al. 2006;Reed 2008) and transdisciplinary science (Pohl and Hadorn 2008;Brandt et al. 2013). LTSERs, BES, and CAP are increasingly addressing the societal concerns for urban sustainability and resilience (Holzer et al. 2018;Holzer and Orenstein 2023). ...
We ask how environmental justice and urban ecology have influenced one another over the past 25 years in the context of the US Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program and Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) project. BES began after environmental justice emerged through activism and scholarship in the 1980s but spans a period of increasing awareness among ecologists and environmental practitioners. The work in Baltimore provides a detailed example of how ecological research has been affected by a growing understanding of environmental justice. The shift shows how unjust environmental outcomes emerge and are reinforced over time by systemic discrimination and exclusion. We do not comprehensively review the literature on environmental justice in urban ecology but do present four brief cases from the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia, to illustrate the global relevance of the topic. The example cases demonstrate the necessity for continuous engagement with communities in addressing environmental problem solving.
... Studies of agency notice-and-comment procedures typically focus on consultation with nongovernmental organizations or citizens (i.e., stakeholder participation). Interagency consultation shares many features with stakeholder consultation, including the opportunity to gain feedback on overlooked components of the decision and avoid unintended side effects (Nabatchi and Leighninger 2015;Reed 2008). However, an inherent challenge in stakeholder consultation is the power differential. ...
Government agencies practice interagency consultation to ensure that broader governmental activities align with their missions and objectives. Consultation allows agencies not only to express their preferences and interests, but also may create administrative burden and procedural delay. To explore the conditions under which agencies choose to review activities proposed by fellow government actors, this research focuses on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California’s environmental impact assessment law. We conceptualize the CEQA review network as a two-mode network, in which each review agency is linked to particular projects, and use two-mode exponential random graph models to test a series of hypotheses about agency, project, and agency–project dyadic characteristics that shape the choice to review. We find that projects located in sites with socioeconomically vulnerable residents or higher levels of background pollution garner more consultation. Agencies are more likely to provide consultation when their expertise aligns with the project’s impact, and are less likely to review a project with agencies that possess the same expertise. This research highlights variations underlying interagency consultation and helps understand how agencies try to influence other agencies’ decisions.
... In the eWOM community, composed of platform operators and enterprises, users not only act as users, but also as participants [42]. According to research on the motivations of eWOM, compared with the likes and shares by the public on social media platforms, users are more likely to express eWOM about a certain enterprise on online platforms [43,44]. Therefore, this study attempts to measure the process of eWOM updates by comparing online review platforms and social media platforms based on two indicators: frequency and length. ...
The growing number of online users commenting on review platforms has fueled the development of electronic word–of–mouth (eWOM). At the same time, merchants have improved their requirements for the length and frequency of online reviews. However, few studies have examined the updating mechanism of online reviews length and frequency from the perspective of businesses. This study explores the relationship between online commenting platform users and eWOM and examines how eWOM information richness affects online user review behavior. We used media richness theory (MRT) to quantify the information richness of eWOM content (linguistic, textual, and photographical) to build an empirical framework. For the research data, we used advanced big data analytics to retrieve and analyze TripAdvisor data on restaurant services in nine major tourist destinations, the United States, Mexico, and mainland Europe (including UK, Spain, Netherlands, etc.), over a long period of time. Based on >10 million eWOM, this study used multiple regression to examine the impact of eWOM information richness on online user review behavior, considering the moderating effect of information ambiguity. Our research results show that content information richness positively affects online user review behavior, increasing their frequency and length. Information ambiguity play a moderating role that strengthens this relationship. This supports our theoretical hypothesis. Finally, for greater applicability and reliability, we conducted a comparative study on the degree of differences in the relationship between eWOM and users based on different cultural backgrounds across countries.
... Participatory approaches provide general principles and while our three models of participation provide a framework to guide engagement, they nonetheless do not provide a blueprint or specific roadmap for engagement [67]. We began from a starting point that viewed children as vibrant social actors who wanted to contribute their knowledge, ideas, and opinions to support the sustainable management of their neighbouring forest park. ...
Closure of a forest for biosecurity purposes led to the marginalisation and disconnection of Year 6 children from a local forest of significance to them in Aotearoa, New Zealand. The marginalisation of children’s voices and concomitantly of their knowledge, ideas, and values from environmental issues can be viewed as an example of epistemic injustice, which manifests widely in the environmental area, particularly in relation to marginalised groups. To counter this marginalisation and promote epistemic justice, we explored how the creative arts involving a child-driven environmental communication project could foster children’s sense of agency by supporting the protection of a local forest affected by a tree disease. We show that the creative arts could facilitate the children’s meaningful engagement in environmental issues in a learning environment that fostered child-centric approaches that enabled children to express their visions for sustainable futures in distinctly unique ways that were relevant to them. Furthermore, enabling the children to participate as environmental communicators re-established their relationship with their local forest and re-balanced the power structures that had led to the children’s sense of marginalisation. The insights on how this child-centred relational approach can promote epistemic justice and provide a meaningful contribution to the long-term sustainable management of forest ecosystems has implications for other marginalised groups.
... Stakeholder engagement is essential to ensure the effective implementation of evidence-based conservation recommendations (Knight et al. 2008(Knight et al. , 2010Ban et al. 2013). The engagement helps to tailor projects to suit stakeholder and policy requirements, generates acceptance of projects and outcomes, and encourages stakeholders to consider other's needs more thoroughly (Knight et al. 2008;Reed 2008;Carwardine et al. 2019). It is also essential where stakeholders have expertise and knowledge that is not reflected in available quantitative data (Martin et al. 2012;Carwardine et al. 2019), a common challenge in Antarctica (Lee et al. 2022). ...
Conserving landscapes used by multiple stakeholder groups requires understanding of what each stakeholder values. Here we employed a semi-structured, participatory approach to identify features of value in the terrestrial Antarctic Peninsula related to biodiversity, science and tourism. Stakeholders identified 115 features, ranging from Adélie penguin colonies to sites suitable for snowshoeing tourists. We split the features into seven broad categories: science, tourism, historic, biodiversity, geographic, habitat, and intrinsic features, finding that the biodiversity category contained the most features of any one category, while science stakeholders identified the most features of any stakeholder group. Stakeholders have overlapping interests in some features, particularly for seals and seabirds, indicating that thoughtful consideration of their inclusion in future management is required. Acknowledging the importance of tourism and other social features in Antarctica and ensuring their integration into conservation planning and assessment will increase the likelihood of implementing successful environmental management strategies into the future.
... Las personas afectadas a nivel local tienen que participar en la evaluación y planificación para que la toma de decisiones mantenga una característica de cooperación y apoye el aprendizaje colaborativo (Thygesen & Agarwal, 2014). Trámites que logran lo antedicho conforman el proceso de evaluación de impactos, mejoran la equidad percibida, aumentan el conocimiento público y frecuentemente resultan en más aprobación pública de la decisión final, que pueda reducir los costos de implementación (Reed, 2008;Geißler et al., 2013). Por lo tanto, estos procesos de OTER y SMCE tienen que involucrar representantes de la sociedad civil en cada región. ...
En la cumbre de cambio climático de 2014, la presidenta de Chile, Michelle Bachelet, reiteró la meta de disminuir las emisiones de gases con efecto invernadero en un 20% para el año 2020 y alcanzar 45% de producción de energía proveniente de fuentes renovables al 2025. Bajo este marco, quedan algunas brechas para fortalecer la estrategia política de energía y medio ambiente en Chile para cumplir las metas de manera socialmente justa y ambientalmente sostenible. La Isla de Chiloé representa un buen ejemplo de cómo la ausencia de un sistema de ordenamiento territorial energético puede resultar en altos costos sociales, ambientales, culturales y financieros para las comunidades, el estado y los inversionistas. El presente artículo recomienda la implementación de ocho principios fundamentales en dos procesos: la elaboración de una ley vinculante nacional para guiar el desarrollo del Ordenamiento Territorial Energético Regional (OTER) y la realización de una evaluación espacial de múltiples criterios a nivel regional, durante el proceso del OTER, como metodología integradora de las diferentes perspectivas de la sostenibilidad. Estas recomendaciones fortalecerían el marco legal para ordenamiento territorial y establecerían una guía vinculante, fundada en acuerdos sociales, para la planificación y el desarrollo de energía renovable en Chile.
Palabras clave: desarrollo sustentable; energía renovable no convencional; evaluación ambiental estratégica; evaluación de impacto ambiental; planificación espacial energética
... The procedural obligations stemming from this right require states to: ensure that all rights-holders have access to information regarding the environmental and human rights impacts of marine and coastal development and conservation activities, enable the full participation of all affected parties in decision-making related to the marine environment, and provide access to justice and effective remedies for violations [13][14][15] . In particular, States have a responsibility to promote early, meaningful and equitable participation in ocean governancewhich necessitates representation of all affected parties, equal access to spaces of engagement (which might be physical or online), contextually appropriate processes and supports to enable participation, adequate opportunities to engage in dialog and provide inputs, and the ability to influence decisions and outcomes [48][49][50] . States are also obligated to ensure that groups with unique rights to the ocean environment and marine resources based on historical connections and continued reliance for food, livelihoods, and cultural continuity (including Indigenous Peoples and small-scale fishers) are granted Free, Prior and Informed Consent or comparable standards before activities occur that might affect the environment and their rights 36,51,52 . ...
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2022 that formally recognizes that there is a universal human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Yet there is evidence that human rights impacts associated with the degradation of the ocean environment are accelerating. In this perspective, we highlight how the recognition of the human right to a healthy environment can catalyze ocean action and transform ocean governance. In particular, it can do so through 1) catalyzing marine protection and increasing accountability through clarifying state obligations, 2) improving the inclusiveness of ocean governance, including through prioritizing and empowering groups in situations of vulnerability, and 3) enhancing ocean economy practices through clarifying private sector responsibilities. To those ends, there is an urgent need to move from recognition to implementation in order to protect both current and future generations’ human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable ocean.
... How people relate and connect to landscapes varies between different stakeholders and interest groups. Therefore, strategic development in sustainable landscape planning must consider the voices of different people and their relations to the landscape (Bataille et al., 2021;Reed, 2008). ...
Restoring degraded peatlands is a promising strategy for mitigating carbon emissions. Large‐scale landscape transformations, such as rewetting of land used for intensive agriculture, often lead to conflicts. Elicitation of the relational values acting as barriers to landscape transformation may support the resolution or taming of such conflicts.
This study aimed to explore the relational values associated with a transforming peatland site in Northern Germany. We focused on the value of living and non‐living peat landscape elements; cultural heritage values and identities; educational values; spiritual values; recreational values; and sensory, affective and cognitive experiences. Additionally, we sought to understand how past landscape changes have influenced these values.
We conducted interviews with land managers and local residents. Using an art‐based research method, we created six thematic participant‐voiced poems that capture the diverse peatland values.
Subsequent interpretation of these poems revealed three key observations: the importance of multisensory experiences; the significance of specific living elements; and the deep cultural and historical values linked to peat landscapes. Landscape changes impact peat landscape values, potentially weakening bonds between people and the peatland.
Our study indicates that considering the cultural and historical significance of landscapes may prevent conflicts and foster support for peatland restoration. Ensuring the well‐being of those living and working in these areas requires value‐inclusive landscape planning that embraces a broader focus on relational values. This also involves the potential promotion of value shifts. Such an approach may cultivate a more sustainable and inclusive transformation of the landscape.
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... water quality, flood management, and wetland conservation) expert management was seen as too problematic for many stakeholders for fear of mismanagement of the delivery of the particular benefits important to individual stakeholders. This speaks to the difficulty of developing leadership of the delivery of multiple interests within resource management (Reed, 2008). As no single institution was willing or able to act as intermediary (environmental management is currently shared between different organisations), the uncertainty over the future governance of the scheme led to a set aside of the scheme in favour of a more passive approach to management. ...
... Local wisdom, embedded in the cultural fabric of societies, represents a profound repository of indigenous knowledge that has sustained communities for generations (Berkes, 2012). In recent years, the discourse surrounding local wisdom has gained momentum within the academic sphere, as scholars recognize its significance in addressing contemporary challenges and fostering sustainable development (Reed, 2008). This research endeavors to delve into the intricate tapestry of local wisdom issues by conducting a comprehensive bibliometric study based on the Scopus Journal Database. ...
This bibliometric study delves into the multifaceted dimensions of local wisdom research based on an exhaustive analysis of scholarly publications indexed in the Scopus Journal Database. Focused on the intersection of local wisdom with education and learning, the study employs a comprehensive methodology encompassing data collection, bibliometric analysis, visualization techniques, geographical analysis, and quality assurance measures. The findings, derived from the systematic examination of 4,268 documents spanning nearly a century, reveal the evolution, contributors, and global patterns within the field. Notably, the analysis of 45 selected journal articles provides a nuanced understanding of the diverse applications of local wisdom, ranging from teacher responsibility and multicultural harmony to conservation management and innovative learning models. The robust citation counts of key studies underscore the substantial impact of local wisdom in shaping educational practices and fostering holistic development. Geographically, Indonesia emerges as a central hub of local wisdom research, with Indonesian researchers playing a pivotal role and actively engaging in international collaborations. In conclusion, this comprehensive overview not only contributes valuable insights to the ongoing discourse on local wisdom but also provides a foundation for future research endeavors, emphasizing the critical role of local wisdom in addressing global challenges and fostering sustainable solutions, particularly in the realm of education.
... [ [39][40][41][42] Other influences Experts' perspectives can be shaped by external factors such as laws, regulations, policies, and societal norms. These external influences provide a broader context for experts to consider when forming their perspectives. ...
Hot spring landscapes offer enticing development prospects for investors in China. However, due to mounting economic pressures and a lack of coordination among various authorities, inclusive governance has proven ineffective in overseeing development projects centered around hot spring landscapes. Consequently, this manuscript delves into the potential for implementing inclusive governance strategies to safeguard hot spring landscapes in China. This study selected Linyi City as its study site due to its location above a fault zone, which has resulted in the presence of numerous hot springs. Additionally, it has been officially classified as a ‘hot spring city in China’ by the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources. This study employed a semi-structured expert interview to investigate the barriers that stand in the way of applying inclusive governance to hot spring landscapes. Moreover, the interview investigates the implications of the lack of utilization of inclusive governance strategies for hot spring landscapes. The analysis of the results indicates that experts believed that the current protection policies were ineffective due to the existence of a multitude of barriers, such as the existence of deficiencies in the current policies, the multiplicity of management authorities, differences in visions in decision-making, limited public participation, a lack of awareness and trust from the public, a lack of balance in development approaches, and a limited role of science and technology. This resulted in a lack of proper communication and delegation of responsibilities with regard to inclusive governance strategies for protecting hot spring landscapes. Furthermore, the analysis unveiled diverse implications arising from the non-application of inclusive governance strategies, encompassing aspects such as tourism, economics, environment, sociocultural, and sustainability.
... SE literature proves that fostering collective actions at the societal level requires transparent decision-making processes (Letaifa, 2015) and a decentralized, people-centric approach (Trencher, 2019). Although research has identified participatory decision-making processes as an effective approach for the success of smart city initiatives (e.g., Reed, 2008;Walz et al., 2007;Shackleton et al., 2019;Fraser et al., 2006), to date, empirical evidence on how inclusion practices are enacted is scarce (Kujala et al., 2022). ...
The positive impact of stakeholder engagement (SE) in smart city development initiatives has received notable scholarly attention over the past decade. Researchers of stakeholder engagement have investigated various aspects of the engagement process from different theoretical perspectives, yet the complexity and dynamism of inclusion, especially at the societal level and in the context of smart city development, continue to inspire more research. Drawing from the intersection of open strategy (OS) and SE, we seek to enhance understanding of the open strategizing process by elucidating stakeholder inclusion practices in a smart city initiative, focusing on food systems in Da Nang, Vietnam. Our participatory action research draws on 114 semi-structured interviews and four stakeholder workshops to analyze the way stakeholder inclusion practices unfold in the strategic decision-making process of a smart city initiative. Our analysis reveals that stakeholder inclusion is complex and involves four interdependent practices at different stages of the strategizing process. These practices are trust formation, common language creation, role transformation, and expectation alignment. Together, they culminate in the creation of an interactive social space for the strategy-making process. The proposed analytical framework highlights the interdependencies among practices and their outcomes at different stages of the open strategizing process and could serve as a guideline in a context in which stakeholder inclusion at the planning phase is necessary to achieve systemic change.
... Originally, the stakeholder management and evaluation approach was commonly used for the purpose of strategic business management (Schaltegger et al., 2019). The stakeholder management and evaluation method was also used and emphasized in sustainable supply change management (Meixell and Luoma, 2015), project management modelling (Assudani and Kloppenborg, 2010), environmental management (Reed, 2008), construction (George et al., 2000;Olander, 2007;Yang et al., 2011), value creation in mining (Rathobei et al., 2024), crisis management competencies (Pharaoh and Visser, 2023), water management system (Lee et al., 2024), urban flood risk management (Bakhtiari et al., 2024), sustainability business case (Schaltegger et al., 2019), sustainable cruise ship tourism (Waligo et al., 2013), and natural resources management (Han et al., 2024). In view of this, an effort akin to that of stakeholder management is the development of a proactive methodology called stakeholder circle tool, that is to manage and evaluate stakeholders via a life cycle five step approach (see section 3 "Materials and Methods") PMI, 2004;PMKI, 2022). ...
Port energy transition projects (PETPs) are complicated, necessitating stakeholders' collaborative efforts, varying in importance, stakes, priorities, resources and competing interests. The purpose of this study is to provide insights about stakeholder management tools using the life cycle approach. The stakeholder theory and the stakeholders' circle methodology have been utilised to build pathways to manage PETPs' stakeholders. While twenty-two groups of stakeholders with varying stakes have been identified as potentially involved in the shift to, and implementation of, PETPs, the five-step approach (i.e., identify, prioritise, visualise, engage, monitor) is proposed to manage and engage them and overcome arising challenges. This life cycle approach inspires and enables port mangers and practitioners to effectively identify key stakeholders and then develop engagement strategies to build and maintain robust relationships with them. While seen as a guiding tool, the exhibited life cycle approach fosters trust and collaboration, leading to better decision-making, and resource allocation in PETPs. While this is the first study that addresses the subject matter, it could be regarded as an extended application of the stakeholder theory and stakeholder circle method in the PETPs. Nonetheless, the findings from this research make due contribution to streamlined port energy transition and to stakeholder management.
Rising stress, mental health issues, and suicide rates among farmers highlight the need to understand factors influencing their job satisfaction. Farming presents distinct challenges with its unique mix of positive and negative characteristics. This study utilized dual‐factor theory to investigate how various factors, such as economic dynamics, farm financial health, stewardship views, experience with extreme weather, and climate change concerns, influence farmers' job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Data from a 2020 survey of Iowa farmers were analyzed using ordinal logistic regression. Financial health, stewardship motivations, and perceived adequacy of conservation practices emerged as significant predictors of both job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Farmers' extreme weather events experiences were positively associated with job satisfaction, indicating successful coping enhances contentment. Conversely, climate change concern was negatively associated with job satisfaction. As a revenue protection strategy, faith in crop insurance was negatively related to job dissatisfaction. In summary, besides the anticipated positive impact of farm financial health, the findings show that job satisfaction in farming is linked to stewardship motivations and perceived adequacy of conservation practices on the farm. The results suggest an opening for policies and programs aligning financial and conservation goals, potentially enhancing long‐term farmer well‐being and sustainable agricultural practices.
Public participation has become an integral component of planning and policy processes worldwide, further fuelled by advances in digital technologies. Yet, public participation is one of the most debated topics in urban planning and policy: whether it delivers on its promises of strengthening democratic values or whether it improves planning and policy outcomes through contextual knowledge remains a subject of contention with little agreement. This paper explores the perspectives of different urban actors regarding public participation in the context of the increasing incorporation of digital technologies and urban platforms. The study is based on three workshops with local governance actors, six semi-structured interviews with academics in the fields of public participation and digital technologies, and a citizen survey with 260 respondents. The results provide (i) multi-perspective insights into the challenges of participatory processes and citizen engagement, (ii) guidelines for effective public participation, and (iii) guidelines for designing digital participatory platforms, including a list of specific design features that promote digital engagement, such as user-friendly interfaces or gamification and social media elements. Furthermore, recognising that there is no one-size-fits-all platform, we propose a typology of digital participation platforms tailored to the needs of different urban actors. The typology provides a framework for the assessment and further development of digital platforms for public participation.
In this paper we present an overview of future-oriented research in sustainability science and place-based research and offer a tool for researchers and community partners to use to guide participatory scenario planning activities that result in actionable steps toward achieving sustainable futures. Within place-based community-engaged research projects, future-oriented methods, such as visioning and participatory scenario planning, have been increasingly utilized as an approach to integrate diverse voices and foster positive change. However, this emerging literature contains some overlapping concepts and approaches that require clarification before adoption. We review common definitions of scenarios, visions, and participatory scenario planning; benefits and challenges of conducting a participatory scenario planning process in place-based research; and three actionable frameworks (Three Horizons, Nature Futures Framework, Sustainable Futures Scenarios) that can inform participatory scenario planning. We then highlight gaps in the literature regarding how to conduct a participatory scenario planning process and introduce a tool named “Recipe for a Scenario” to guide the facilitation of scenarios workshops and co-create actionable pathways towards desirable futures. Our tool (and accompanying workbook that structures a scenarios workshop) supports cross-disciplinary community-engaged projects focused on bringing about positive change in a medium-term timeframe (approximately 20 years) to support more sustainable human-environment dynamics.
This study ventures into the integration of new-generation information technology (NGIT) within traditional village governance, proposing the Intelligent Interest Coordination and Communication Platform (IICP-TVG) as a novel solution to the perennial conflicts between modernization efforts and heritage preservation. By leveraging a comprehensive “power-interest” matrix, this research delineates the intricate stakeholder dynamics in Zaima Town, Rongjiang County, Guizhou Province, showcasing the paramount importance of effective consultation, equitable interest distribution, and robust protection mechanisms in conflict resolution. The incorporation of NGIT—spanning the Internet of Things, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence—emerges as a cornerstone, enhancing information transparency, fostering multiparty negotiation, and ensuring timely responses, thereby heralding a new era of intelligent governance. This paradigm shift not only advances the knowledge economy by facilitating innovation and knowledge creation but also champions a sustainable and harmonious development model for rural areas. Through a blend of government oversight, multi-stakeholder participation, and social oversight, the study illuminates a pioneering pathway towards reconciling the dual objectives of preserving cultural heritage and fostering economic growth, thereby contributing to the broader discourse on sustainable development within the knowledge-based economy.
New urban monitoring networks with low-cost sensors can measure hyper-local floods in real-time in hundreds of locations. These novel networks promise enhanced flood risk management, especially within cities where floods can be extremely local. However, current sensor deployment strategies rely on limited metrics (e.g., proximity to densely populated areas) and do not adequately account for the various potential monitoring uses and stakeholders (e.g., emergency responders, critical infrastructure managers, and researchers). Thus, cities have no methodological framework to compare the holistic benefits of deploying new hyper-local sensors in different areas. To address this gap, we develop a framework to prioritize urban areas for sensor deployment based on potential uses for enhanced flood risk management and the exposure of infrastructure and community to high flood hazards at micro-urban scales. This framework includes (1) obtaining stakeholder feedback on the potential uses of sensors and relevant metrics for decision-making on their deployment, (2) quantifying these metrics with publicly available data to integrate them with flood hazard information through probabilistic risk analysis, and (3) combining the metrics to identify areas to be prioritized for sensor deployment. We tested the framework with a case study in New York City, a densely populated urban area with highly heterogeneous communities and infrastructure exposed to high flood hazards. Through elicitation with 45 local stakeholders, we identified 32 potential uses and 58 metrics to prioritize areas for sensor deployment covering flood risk management, the welfare of residents, and the protection of critical infrastructure (e.g., transportation, drainage, and energy). Overall, the proposed framework and case study offer new insights into how modern monitoring networks can help to enhance flood disaster risk management in cities.
The environment for contracting out local government public services can be intractable. It is in these environments that engaging external stakeholders can provide pivotal resources. To date, stakeholder literature has suggested that strategically engaging stakeholders can provide information to reduce risk and mobilize support that makes difficult to adopt policy initiatives such as contracting out public services possible. However, few have empirically explored the strategic use of stakeholders as well as their impact on contracting out. Using a large data set of municipal governments compiled from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Alternative Delivery Survey (ASD) in 2007 and Census Bureau local government finance data, we demonstrate that engaging external stakeholders is positively related to municipalities with a larger percentage of public services outsourced. We demonstrate that the professional and strategic practice of engaging stakeholders helps to make difficult choices such as contracting out more plausible options in municipal government.
This paper introduces a hybrid framework for trustworthy and responsible natural resource management, aimed at building bottom-up trust to enhance cooperation among decision makers in the Food, Energy, and Water sectors. Cooperation is highly critical for the adoption and application of resource management alternatives (solutions), including those generated by AI-based recommender systems, in communities due to significant impact of these sectors on the environment and the economic productivity of affected communities. While algorithms can recommend solutions, effectively communicating and gaining community acceptance of these solutions is crucial. Our research stands out by emphasizing the collaboration between humans and machines, which is essential for addressing broader challenges related to climate change and the need for expert trade-off handling in the management of natural resources. To support future decision-making, we propose a successful control-theory model based on previous decision-making and actor behavior. We utilize control theory to depict how community decisions can be affected by how much individuals trust and accept proposed solutions on irrigation water rights and crop operations in an iterative and interactive decision support environment. This model interacts with stakeholders to collect their feedback on the acceptability of solutions, while also examining the influence of consensus levels, trust sensitivities, and the number of decision-making rounds on the acceptance of proposed solutions. Furthermore, we investigate a system of multiple decision-making and explore the impact of learning actors who adjust their trust sensitivities based on solution acceptance and the number of decision-making rounds. Additionally, our approach can be employed to evaluate and refine potential policy modifications. Although we assess potential outcomes using hypothetical actions by individuals, it is essential to emphasize our primary objective of developing a tool that accurately captures real human behavior and fosters improved collaboration in community decision-making. Ultimately, our aim is to enhance the harmony between AI-based recommender systems and human values, promoting a deeper understanding and integration between the two.
Learning is critical for our capacity to govern the environment and adapt proactively to complex and emerging environmental issues. Yet, underlying barriers can challenge our capacity for learning in environmental governance. As a result, we often fail to adequately understand pressing environmental problems or produce innovative and effective solutions. This Element synthesizes insights from extensive academic and applied research on learning around the world to inform both research and practice. We distill the social and structural features of governance to help researchers and practitioners better understand, diagnose, and support learning and more adaptive responses to environmental problems.
Diverse groups exhibit enhanced capabilities in tackling complex problems compared to individuals. Also, involving diverse stakeholders has been shown to improve the understanding of complex social-ecological systems. Considering this, we investigated how pooling the knowledge of diverse stakeholder crowds can create new, emergent knowledge on cascading drought impacts. We define ‘emergent knowledge’ as information that only becomes visible when multiple perspectives are combined. Therefore, we used participatory modeling to capture the systemic effects of droughts on diverse socio-economic and environmental systems. We interviewed 25 stakeholders with different expertise to obtain individual causal loop diagrams (CLDs) representing how drought impacts propagate in a case study in Thuringia, Germany. These CLDs were aggregated to develop a collective CLD. We then compared the individual and collective CLDs using graph theory statistics. Our analysis revealed emergent system-level features, such as feedback loops, that only became apparent when combining individual perspectives. Also, variables like ‘biodiversity loss’, which had minimal influence within the individual CLDs, gained influence in the collective CLD. These findings demonstrate how pooling diverse stakeholder knowledge on cascading drought impacts unveils new insights that may be hidden when considering only individual perspectives. We anticipate these findings to enhance the integration of knowledge from diverse stakeholder crowds when studying complex drought impacts. Furthermore, these findings highlight the need for careful consideration in selecting domain expertise in participatory processes that study drought impact cascades, as the system dynamics can vary substantially.
Virtually every major congressional act passed since 1946 mandates citizen participation in government administrative policymaking. The article presents an evaluation of the public involvement methods used in US Forest Service land management planning. The results suggest that some of the public involvement goals contained in the National Forest Management Act of 1976 were not met for most forests. The barriers to providing effective public involvement were: the complex, technical planning process adopted by the agency; a lack of agency guidance on conducting interactive public involvement; a desire to avoid controversy; and internal power struggles that affected the planning process. To meet the public involvement goals of planning legislation, agencies should clearly identify and address controversial public issues; conduct substantive, interactive public involvement during the development of planning alternatives; and coordinate public involvement and social impact assessment functions. -from Authors
This article takes a critical look at the various approaches representing local knowledge as a scapegoat for underdevelopment or as a panacea for sustainability, these two representations characterizing the conventional environ-ment–development discourse. The static oppositions of local versus universal knowledge are challenged by establishing more diversified models to analyse the relationships of heterogeneous knowledges. The study emphasizes the complex articulation of knowledge repertoires by drawing on an ethnographic case study among migrant peasants in southeastern Nicaragua. Knowledge production is seen as a process of social negotiation involving multiple actors and complex power relations. The article underlines the issue of situated knowledges as one of the major challenges in developing anthropology as an approach that subjects fixed dichotomies between subject and object, fact and value, and the rational and the practical, to critical reconstruction.
Analyses of participation usually assume a dichotomy between ‘instrumental’ and ‘transformative’ approaches. However, this study of voluntary biological monitoring experiences and outcomes finds that they cannot be fitted into such a dichotomy. They can enhance the information base for environmental management; change participants through education about scientific practice and ecological change; lead to changes in life direction or group organisation; and influence decision-makers. Personal transformation can take place within a conventionally top-down context. Conversely, grassroots data collection can shore up the status quo and protect local interests. Partnerships between actors can provide distinct but complementary and mutually rewarding outcomes. Power is not located in a data-consuming centre, and data are not meaningless materials that leave the collector unmoved. A more dynamic model of human-nature relations is presented which connects humans and information in the participatory process.
Stakeholder theory has been a popular heuristic for describing the management environment for years, but it has not attained full theoretical status. Our aim in this article is to contribute to a theory of stakeholder identification and salience based on stakeholders possessing one or more of three relationship attributes: power, legitimacy, and urgency. By combining these attributes, we generate a typology of stakeholders, propositions concerning their salience to managers of the firm, and research and management implications.
Most of the papers in this volume were first presented at an EIDOS workshop held at the University of London in 1986, where participants considered the nature of local knowledge and ascriptions of ignorance, with particular reference to processes of development. The contributors provide an ethnographic and theoretical critique of Western knowledge in action, using detailed case studies from Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. They focus on the importance given in social and economic development to "experts', who often turn previously active participants into passive subjects or ignorant objects. They stress the importance of understanding knowledge in the particular contexts of its use and argue strongly against the separation of theory and practice. The types of local knowledge discussed include those in agriculture, health and water supply, and the law, and the case studies include analyses of knowledge and ignorance in regional development programmes (Indonesia) and in national development strategies (China). -after Editor
This 2004 book views risk analysis as one important basis for informed debate, policy decisions and governance regarding risk issues within societies. Its twelve chapters provide interdisciplinary insights about the fundamental issues in risk analysis for the beginning of a new century. The chapter authors are some of the leading researchers in the broad fields that provide the basis for the risk analysis, including the social, natural, medical, engineering and physical sciences. They address a wide range of issues, including: new perspectives on uncertainty and variability analysis, exposure analysis and the role of precaution, environmental risk and justice, risk valuation and citizen involvement, extreme events, the role of efficiency in risk management, and the assessment and governance of transboundary and global risks. The book will be used as a starting point for discussions at the 2003 First World Congress on Risk, to be held in Brussels.
The purpose of this chapter is to outline the development of the idea of "stakeholder management" as it has come to be applied in strategic management. We begin by developing a brief history of the concept. We then suggest that traditionally the stakeholder approach to strategic management has several related characteristics that serve as distinguishing features. We review recent work on stakeholder theory and suggest how stakeholder management has affected the practice of management. We end by suggesting further research questions.
Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach was first published in 1984 as a part of the Pitman series in Business and Public Policy. Its publication proved to be a landmark moment in the development of stakeholder theory. Widely acknowledged as a world leader in business ethics and strategic management, R. Edward Freeman’s foundational work continues to inspire scholars and students concerned with a more practical view of how business and capitalism actually work. Business can be understood as a system of how we create value for stakeholders. This worldview connects business and capitalism with ethics once and for all. On the 25th anniversary of publication, Cambridge University Press are delighted to be able to offer a new print-on-demand edition of his work to a new generation of readers.
Stakeholder theory has been a popular heuristic for describing the management environment for years, but it has not attained full theoretical status. Our aim in this article is to contribute to a theory of stakeholder identification and salience based on stakeholders possessing one or more of three relationship attributes: power, legitimacy, and urgency. By combining these attributes, we generate a typology of stakeholders, propositions concerning their salience to managers of the firm, and research and management implications.
This article analyzes the problems which have accompanied the growth of the citizen participation and public interest movements. The principle problems identified are the potential shortsightedness of the administrative response to citizen demands, problems of representation and legitimacy, the style and tactics of citizen groups, and the absence of sophisticated cost-benefit analysis of public interest policies and programs. The author suggests that public participation which is not carefully ordered and constrained by administrators can lead to poorly conceived, unrepresentative, and costly policy decisions. Administrators are chiefly responsible for the integrity of the administrative process, and sensitivity to citizen demands is no substitute for independent, carefully reasoned, professional judgments regarding the nature of the public interest in each new administrative situation.
Using grounded theory as an example, this paper examines three methodological questions that are generally applicable to all qualitative methods. How should the usual scientific canons be reinterpreted for qualitative research? How should researchers report the procedures and canons used in their research? What evaluative criteria should be used in judging the research products? The basic argument we propose is that the criteria should be adapted to fit the procedures of the method. We demonstrate how we have done this with grounded theory and suggest criteria for evaluating studies done in this mode. We suggest that other qualitative researchers might be similarly specific about their procedures and evaluative criteria.
Chinese translation of Curriculum Action Research: A Handbook of Methods and Resources for the Reflective Practitioner Trans in Taiwan by Chiu Liu Publishing Co.
Deliberative Democracy and Beyond takes a critical tour through recent democratic theory, beginning with the deliberative turn that occurred around 1990. The essence of this turn is that democratic legitimacy is to be found in authentic deliberation among those affected by a collective decision. While the deliberative turn was initially a challenge to established institutions and models of democracy, it was soon assimilated by these same institutions and models. Drawing a distinction between liberal constitutionalism and discursive democracy, the author criticizes the former and advocates the latter. He argues that a defensible theory of democracy should be critical of established power, pluralistic, reflexive in questioning established traditions, transnational in its capacity to extend across state boundaries, ecological, and dynamic in its openness to changing constraints upon, and opportunities for, democratization.
While the idea of democracy has never been more universal or more popular, both democratic theory and the empirical study of democratic possibilities are in some disarray. We seek a productive reconnection of these two endeavors with democratic discourse through close attention to the language of democracy as used by ordinary people and political actors. Reconstructive inquiry determines how the individuals who are the potential constituents of any democratic order themselves conceptualize democracy and their own political roles and competences. We deploy an intensive method—Q methodology—for the study of individual characteristics, capabilities, and dispositions in combination with political discourse analysis. Four discourses are discovered in an analysis of selected U.S. subjects: contented republicanism, deferential conservatism, disaffected populism, and private liberalism. These results can be used to relate democratic theory to live possibilities in democratic discourse.
A vital issue facing the citizens and governments of modern democracies is the direct participation of the public in the solution of environmental problems. Governments are increasingly experimenting with approaches that give citizens a greater say in the environmental debate. Fairness and Competence in Citizen Participation addresses a crucial question: How can we measure the performance of the citizen participation process? A novel approach to the problem is taken by viewing public participation as an act of communication. Drawing on Jürgen Habermas' Critical Theory of Communication, a normative framework is developed around the central area of citizen participation and competence in knowledge verification. A milestone on the road of citizen participation and applied critical theory, the book provides a sound theoretical and methodological basis for the systematic evaluation of models for environmental discourse. Eight models of citizen participation are studied, from North America and Europe. Each model is evaluated and criticized in paired chapters written by prominent scholars.
Audience: Planners and citizens alike will find pragmatic advice in the evaluations.
Public managers have faced a difficult challenge in recent years: Involve the public more actively in the managerial process, they are told, but not at the expense of governmental effectiveness. Earlier research suggested that a model adapted from the literature on small-group decision making may help in meeting this challenge. According to the model the desirable degree of public involvement varies by issue; issues carrying greater needs for "acceptability" demand more involvement, issues with greater needs for "quality" demand less. This Effective Decision Model must still be tested against competing explanations of governmental effectiveness and assessed for its practical utility. This article undertakes those tasks using data from a reanalysis of 42 public decisions made with varying degrees of public involvement. The findings suggest that the Effective Decision Model can substantially improve our understanding of the relationship between public involvement and governmental effectiveness. The article concludes by explaining the model's implications for how public managers should approach issues of public involvement.
This article reports progress on developing a theory of public participation that may prove useful to administrative bodies. The authors review a theory of public participation based on Habermas’s theory of communicative action and then reconsider the theory in light of a case study. Participants of a forest policy-making process reported their perceptions of a good process, and the authors used grounded theory methodology to induce criteria of good process. By contrasting the case study results with the theoretical criteria, insights are left into the strengths and shortcomings of the theory.
Scientific and technological policy issues are not and should not be exempt from the norms of democratic governance. This article examines two major theories of democracy, analyzes their commonalities and differences, and derives criteria for evaluating various forms of public participation in policymaking. The author argues for a new category of participation, participatory analysis, that includes forms of participation that satisfy democratic criteria and emphasizes the importance of learning among participants. Different types of participatory analysis may be best suited to different kinds of policy problems.
This study analyses the environmental impact of the Cambrian Mountains ESA scheme (1A northern part) through a 100% census survey of farmers in the area. It is argued that farmers’ knowledge of ecological change on their farms provides useful information about ecological change induced by agri‐environmental schemes, and that this important source of information has been neglected by researchers in the past. The results suggest that while the ESA has been successful at halting the further decline of threatened habitats in the area at the landscape level (i.e. quantity of habitat), it has done little to improve the quality of these ecosystems. Further, the ESA scheme has done little to change farmers’ commitment toward environmentally sensitive farming, and more environmental education of farmers (as stipulated in EU Regulation 2078/92/EEC, for example) is needed to make the ESA scheme environmentally sustainable in the long term.
We are faced with a whole series of problems that are harming the biosphere and human life in alarming ways that may soon become irreversible... Ultimately these problems must be seen as just different facets of one single crisis, which is largely a crisis of perception. It derives from the fact that most of us, and especially our large social institutions, subscribe to the concepts of an outdated worldview, a perception of reality inadequate for dealing with our overpopulated, globally interconnected world (Capra, 1996, pp. 4-5).
Nature reserves can be considered a land-use category that competes with other land-uses for territory. Therefore, one fundamental goal in conservation planning is to arrive at nature reserve designs that protect the most valuable lands for conservation, and avoid the inclusion of tracts of land valuable for other stakeholders. However, the complexity of conservation issues, the urgency for protecting critical biodiversity components and the lack of data have forced planners to rely on expert knowledge and public participation for designing nature reserves. Handling expert and public knowledge is challenging because it can be subjective, biased, value laden, context specific, and ambiguous. Here, we present a land suitability assessment (LSA) approach for designing the Sierra San Pedro Mártir National Park, Baja California, Mexico. The LSA allowed us the optimal configuration SSPM in terms of delimitation (inclusion of the most valuable biological resources) and zoning (segregation of incompatible land-uses).
It is increasingly recognized that the success of sustainable development initiatives depends on widespread public identification and support. Indeed, public participation has become a core component of the official discourse of sustainable development, particularly at local level. However to date there has been little research examining the ‘cultural’ factors governing the potential public uptake of sustainability. This paper reports on a study using focus groups drawn from different sections of the Lancashire public which sought to cast light on public understanding of and identification with sustainable development. Considerable public support was found for the idea that current ways of life are generating problems for the future and that economic activity would have to be held within environmental limits. However there was very little support for the idea that sustainabillty would be achieved through government and business initiatives. Government in particular was deeply mistrusted as part of the ‘system’ which was generating environmental and social problems. The paper argues that this mistrust in government and the lack of a sense of individual agency has serious implications for the political salience of sustainable development. Initiatives to generate public participation, particularly by providing information through sustalnability indicators, are unlikely to succeed unless this is addressed.
Webler, Tuler / THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS This article reports progress on developing a theory of public participation that may prove useful to administrative bodies. The authors review a theory of public participation based on Habermas's theory of communicative action and then reconsider the theory in light of a case study. Participants of a forest policy–making process reported their perceptions of a good process, and the authors used grounded theory methodology to induce criteria of good process. By contrasting the case study results with the theoretical criteria, insights are left into the strengths and shortcomings of the theory.
Standard approaches to defining and evaluating environmental risk tend to reflect technocratic rather than democratic values. One consequence is that institutional mechanisms for achieving citizen participation in risk decisions rarely are studied or evaluated. This article presents a survey of five institutional mechanisms for allowing the lay public to influence environmental risk decisions: public hearings, initiatives, public surveys, negotiated rule making, and citizens review panels. It also defines democratic process criteria for assessing these and other participatory mechanisms.
This article presents conclusions from a 10-year research program, the purpose of which has been to develop a framework and methodology, grounded in the reality of corporate behavior, for analyzing and evaluating corporate social performance. There are three principal sections: (a) a summary of the approaches, models, and methodologies used in conducting more than 70 field studies of corporate social performance from 1983-1993; (b) a discussion of the principal conclusions derived from the data that (1) corporations manage relationships with stakeholder groups rather than with society as a whole, (2) it is important to distinguish between social issues and stakeholder issues, and (3) it is necessary to identify the appropriate level of analysis in order to evaluate CSP; and (c) a discussion of propositions and areas for further research.
This article presents an organizing framework of participation in community organizations which uses an interdisciplinary perspective and attempts to provide a map of the major dimensions that characterize the complex phenomenon of participation. The major elements of the framework include: 1. environmental, ecological, and social characteristics of the community,2. individual differences,3. parameters of participation,4. mediators, and5. the effects of participation. Some potential uses of the framework are suggested.
