SME environmental attitudes and participation in local‐scale voluntary initiatives: some practical applications

This paper briefly assesses the economic efficiency case for voluntary initiatives (VIs), discusses some limitations of this type of policy instrument and goes on to consider the role that local‐scale voluntary initiatives might play in assisting small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to embrace the issue of environmental performance improvement. The paper examines SME organizational management in relation to the likely effectiveness of their participation in voluntary environment programmes. An environmental attitudes survey carried out with 62 SMEs in East Anglia found that willingness to become involved in such initiatives does exist, but that a better presentation of opportunities for prospective small firms, together with a more tailored approach, will be necessary if VIs for SMEs are to become a more extensive feature of environmental policy making in the UK.     

Participants and non-participants of place-based groups: an assessment of attitudes and implications for public participation in water resource management

Policy-makers and public participation analysts face the question of who should be involved in environmental decision-making. Participants are often representatives of organized groups who share similar demographic and other characteristics. This raises concerns about the degree to which the interests and opinions of others are represented. The research presented here investigates the nature and degree of differences in environmental attitudes, specifically those toward water resource management efforts, among people who do and do not participate in place-based groups in metropolitan Portland, Oregon. Neighborhood associations and a watershed council were the focus of this research due to their involvement in land-use planning and resource activities. Thirty-four individual attitudinal judgments were evaluated, along with four indices representing attitudes toward resource protection goals, government, regulations, and economic measures. Survey findings revealed watershed council participants were more supportive of resource protection compared to others on all attitudinal dimensions except anthropocentric goals. In contrast, neighborhood association participants are relatively representative of non-participants except for heightened support for economic strategies. Participants in both groups exhibited higher socioeconomic status than non-participants. Written survey comments highlighted the perceived value of on-the-ground projects incorporating local input and feedback while interviews provided insights on how to expand participation in place-based groups and resource protection efforts.     

Project approval,environmental assessment and public participation

Summary Assessing the desirability of large scale resource development is an extremely complicated process. In the past, the presumption has been that economic criteria were decisive. Lately, however, we have accepted the idea that social and environmental factors will affect the design and procedures of development, and, in extreme cases, may even indicate the abandonment of a project. Public input and formal environmental and social impact assessment have been accepted in principle, and the challenge is to incorporate them within an orderly and expeditious governmental decision process. This is a case study of such a process for Esso Resources Canada Limited's proposed heavy oil project at Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada. P. S. Elder was Gold Medallist and Law Review Editor upon graduating from the Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia (1965). Following his call to the Bar and graduate work at the University of London (London School of Economics), he was an aide to various Canadian federal cabinet ministers (1967–70) and taught law at the University of Western Ontario (1970–73). In 1973 Professor Elder joined the Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada where he teaches legally related subjects. He has written widely in environmental law and policy, and public participation. In his free time Elder engages in municipal and provincial politics     

Learning,participation, and adaptation: exploring agri-environmental programmes

This paper explores the perceptions of policy makers and rural agricultural producers in respect of policy framing and adaptation to climate change, social learning and stakeholder input (participation) surrounding two successful agri-environmental programmes in Saskatchewan, Canada. Given the record of success of these two programmes in reducing vulnerability to climate change, this study provides an opportunity to explore certain attributes of adaptive management, including: what attributes make policy and programmes responsive; how government can frame programmes facilitating adaptation to climate change; what types of mechanisms can or should be used to engage with producers; and perhaps most importantly, what producers expect of government, government policies and programmes in relation to adaptation to climate change.     

试论中国环境保护的历程和发展趋势

中国的环境保护经历了70年代初“三废处理”、70年代末“依法保护环境”、80年代“城市环境综合整治”和90年代“可持续发展战略”的发展历程。中国的环境保护要坚持以可持续发展战略为指导、污染防治与生态保护并重、环保与发展综合决策的发展道路。     

Public attitudes on environment,energy and the economy — Implications for policy

Summary During the last ten years environmental quality and energy have emerged as important national issues right along with the economy. The central proposition appears to be that environmental concerns are inversely related to concern about energy and the economy. The common assumptions about public perception of the trade-offs between environmental quality, economic growth, and energy production are shown to be invalid. In any event it is unlikely that public policy makers will find themselves strongly pulled by a highly polarized public.David J. Rosen is an assistant professor in the Department of Human Ecology, Cook College of Environmental and Agricultural Sciences, Rutgers University (U.S.A.) where he teaches in the interdisciplinary International Environmental Studies and Human Ecology curricula. While formally trained as a political scientist (Ph D, Rutgers University, 1975) for the past six years his research on energy and environmental matters has become increasingly interdisciplinary. The subjects of his work have ranged from the international energy system to the provision of solar energy incentives by state government. He has also served as a consultant to government and private organizations on a number of energy and environmental projects.     

Impact of diet, moisture, location, and storage on soluble phosphorus in broiler breeder manure

Decreasing dietary phosphorus (P) has the potential to reduce P excreted in manure and therefore alleviate the environmental degradations associated with intensive animal farming. We evaluated reducing dietary P for broiler breeders as an aid to reduce manure total and water soluble phosphorus (WSP). Broiler breeders were fed diets high and low in dietary P, with and without phytase, from 22 to 64 wk of age. At the end of the 42-wk production period, manure was collected from four locations in each two-thirds slat, one-third litter breeder pen: the litter scratch area, under the drinker in the slat area, under the feeder in the slat area, and in a clean area of the slat area away from feeder or drinker. After the initial sampling, all manure was removed from pens and representative samples were stored for 6 mo with and without feed mixed in to simulate the effect of spilled feed. Total P was determined on all pen samples, and moisture and WSP determined on the pen and stored samples. The manure collected under the drinker had much greater moisture due to spilled water. This was associated with much greater WSP in this location, showing the importance of good water management. The manure from under the feeder had similar WSP as manure from the clean area, so spilled feed did not significantly affect WSP. Dietary phytase either had no effect or significantly decreased manure WSP. However, addition of dietary phytase to the feed led to slightly elevated manure moisture. Since moisture was correlated with manure WSP this may explain some of the variability in WSP results between studies. Over 6 mo of storage WSP increased and generally followed the same ranking order at 168 d as at 1 d among the dietary treatments (high>high+phytase>low>low+phytase). Combining decreased dietary P and phytase reduced both manure total P and WSP by 42%. As total P and WSP are indicators of the long and short term impacts manure applications can have on P losses from manured soils, diet modification should be seen as environmentally beneficial.     

The impact of direct and indirect experiences on the development of environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behavior

This study employed a mixed-methods design to examine the relationship between nature experience type (e.g., direct and indirect) and learning outcomes (e.g., environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behavior) associated with an environmental education, international immersion program for adolescents. Longitudinal data from 108 participant and 49 comparison group members were analyzed to test the study’s hypotheses. Additionally, qualitative data were analyzed using grounded theory methodology to assess participants’ perceptions of these processes. The findings indicate that environmental knowledge increased more than environmental attitudes during the indirect portion of the program (i.e., preparatory program) whereas the direct portion (i.e., international workshop) produced similar levels of knowledge and attitude growth. Further, while attitudes were more strongly associated with behavior during the indirect component of the program, the strength of the relationships between attitudes and behavior, and knowledge and behavior were similar during the direct portion of the experience. A synthesis of the findings suggests that the program’s direct experiences catalyzed environmental knowledge into a stronger motivating force than it had been during the indirect experiences. The qualitative findings also provide insights into the characteristics of direct experiences. These findings offer important insights for both theory and practice related to the use of direct and indirect nature experiences to develop environmental knowledge, attitude, and behaviors.     

BAN waste, environmental justice and citizen participation in policy setting

It is widely acknowledged that the poorest sections of society bear a disproportionate burden of poor environmental quality, including toxicity and pollution. The struggles to address environmental injustice instigated at grassroots level also place the burden of righting the injustice on those who often have the least resources in terms of time, money and access to decision makers. The unfolding story of BAN Waste's sophisticated challenge to the proposed building of a replacement incinerator in a working-class area of Newcastle demonstrates many of the issues and stages common to struggles for environmental justice. The struggle became proactive and built wider alliances and a broad coalition across the city for change. The eventual success in preventing the incinerator being built and in producing a superior waste strategy counters the popular belief that environmental concerns are predominantly those of the middle class.     

The typography of environmental impact statements: Criteria,evaluation, and public participation

Guidelines for implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act state that environmental impact statements (EISs) shall use “appropriate graphics.” We examined one component of graphics, typography, identifying applicable criteria from the literature and applying them to 150 EISs prepared by seven agencies. We found that the EISs ranged widely in typographic quality. The average EIS met fewer than seven of ten criteria; 12% were considered unreadable. The results suggest that weak typography may seriously limit public review of EISs. Agencies are encouraged to make typography a serious component of their public participation programs.     

Tracking collaboration: forest planning and local participation on the San Juan National Forest,Colorado

The proliferation of community-based collaborative approaches to public land management and planning has spawned many questions regarding issues of community representation and the effects of participation for local residents. This paper presents a longitudinal assessment of local resident participation in collaborative forest planning on local community–forest relations in southwestern Colorado. Using survey data of participants involved in the San Juan National Forest's forest plan revision community study groups from 1998 to 2003, we assess participation in terms of community representation and the effects of community-based collaboration upon individuals' forest uses, forest values, and the level and form of involvement in forest management and planning activities. Results show that community representation remains slanted towards existing active stakeholders, and that while forest values, uses, and frequencies of involvement change little, participants cite positive effects in terms of the development of new knowledge, personal relationships, and greater confidence to engage in forest management affairs.     

Public understanding and its effect on recycling performance in Hampshire and Milton Keynes

Improving the recycling rate might be the primary aim of ‘recycling targets’, but good diversion from disposal can be achieved in different ways. Public participation is obviously critical to success; however it is not just how many people participate, but how well they do so, that is important. Analysis of public attitude research gave insight into how effectively recyclers were participating, and examined levels of public understanding. These were correlated with design parameters and publicity and education strategies to try to identify aspects of successful schemes that led to high quality of participation.     

Tillage erosion and its effect on soil properties and crop yield in Denmark

Tillage erosion had been identified as a major process of soil redistribution on sloping arable land. The objectives of our study were to investigate the extent of tillage erosion and its effect on soil quality and productivity under Danish conditions. Soil samples were collected to a 0.45-m depth on a regular grid from a 1.9-ha site and analyzed for 137Cs inventories, as a measure of soil redistribution, soil texture, soil organic carbon (SOC) contents, and phosphorus (P) contents. Grain yield was determined at the same sampling points. Substantial soil redistribution had occurred during the past decades, mainly due to tillage. Average tillage erosion rates of 2.7 kg m(-2) yr(-1) occurred on the shoulderslopes, while deposition amounted to 1.2 kg m(-2) yr(-1) on foot- and toeslopes. The pattern of soil redistribution could not be explained by water erosion. Soil organic carbon and P contents in soil profiles increased from the shoulder- toward the toeslopes. Tillage translocation rates were strongly correlated with SOC contents, A-horizon depth, and P contents. Thus, tillage erosion had led to truncated soils on shoulderslopes and deep, colluvial soils on the foot- and toeslopes, substantially affecting within-field variability of soil properties. We concluded that tillage erosion has important implications for SOC dynamics on hummocky land and increases the risk for nutrient losses by overland flow and leaching. Despite the occurrence of deep soils across the study area, evidence suggested that crop productivity was affected by tillage-induced soil redistribution. However, tillage erosion effects on crop yield were confounded by topography-yield relationships.     

Local participation, international politics, and the environment: the World Bank and the Grenada Dove

The process of locating waste disposal sites in the Eastern Caribbean country of Grenada illustrates important lessons in the implementation of new international mandates to invite stakeholder participation in projects with environmental and social impacts. This case study analyzes the participatory methods and results of the World Bank-funded project in Grenada, including an unexpected shift in the policy agenda toward habitat protection for the elusive Grenada Dove, the national bird of Grenada. We conclude that the impact of new requirements for stakeholder inclusion by funding agencies such as the World Bank and Global Environmental Facility has been palpable, but mixed. As the catalysts of more participatory methods, funding agencies still must give more careful consideration to the methods by which their participatory requirements are implemented. In particular they must develop more effective knowledge of and relationships with a broader range of stakeholders than are routinely considered by existing methods, allow for and learn from unexpected contingencies, and be flexible as to project goals and methods.     

Mineral development,financing and cooperation: New forms of international participation?

Although relations between direct investors and host countries must steadily evolve to meet continually changing circumstances, this should be within a broadly stable framework. The basic technical and economic characteristics of mining should dictate the nature of that framework. In contemplating their experiences during the past decade many international mining companies might ruefully agree with Benjamin Franklin that: ‘in this world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes’. The aim of this paper is to highlight some of the important factors that must be taken into account by governments, international agencies and private investors contemplating large-scale mining projects. These inevitably dictate the forms of international participation in mining ventures.     

Industry and the environment: Chief executive officer attitudes, 1976 and 1986

This research considers the question of changing environmental values within the leadership of firms responsible for the management of pollution as an unwanted byproduct. Information was obtained from a pair of surveys mailed to the chief executive officers (CEOs) of the 50 largest firms listed within the mining and manufacturing directories of Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming in 1976 and again in 1986. The authors found that industry CEOs were more supportive of environmental concerns in 1986 than 1976, suggesting that ecological values have become institutionalized to some extent. Yet, there is little indication that this attitudinal shift in environmental concern among CEOs has been accompanied by a willingness to spend a larger proportion of the company budget on pollution control or to improve working relationships with federal regulatory officials.