Developing a collaborative model for environmental planning and management

Methods for involving the public in natural resource management are changing as agencies adjust to an increasingly turbulent social and political environment. There is growing interest among managers and scholars in collaborative approaches to public involvement. Collaboration is conceptually defined and elaborated using examples from the natural resource management field. This paper then examines how collaboration theory from the organizational behavior field can help environmental managers to better understand those factors that facilitate and inhibit collaborative solutions to resource problems. A process-oriented model is presented that proposes that collaboration emerges out of an environmental context and then proceeds sequentially through a problem-setting, direction-setting, and structuring phase. Factors constraining collaboration are also specified, including organizational culture and power differentials. Designs for managing collaboration are identified, which include appreciative planning, joint agreements, dialogues, and negotiated settlements. Environmental managers need new skills to manage collaboration within a dynamic social and political environment. Further research is needed to test the propositions outlined here.     

LAKE AND RWER QUALITY FOR RECREATION MANAGEMENT AND CONTINGENT VALUATION1

ABSTRACT: Accurate valuation of recreational lakes and rivers in contingent valuation (CV) studies requires that the definition of the environmental good being sold meets the requirements of correspondence, proximity, and familiarity. The concept of ‘water quality’ normally used fails to meet these requirements. This paper offers a broader concept of “lake/river quality” - a collection of physical, ecological, and aesthetic characteristics that create the opportunity for recreation, scenic enjoyment, and fish and wildlife propagation - that better describes the characteristics that recreationists value in lakes and rivers. The concept therefore better meets CV requirements and should be the basis for defining environmental improvements and declines to be hypothetically sold in CV surveys.     

Biological diversity conservation: A public policy perspective

While extinctions of individual species are part of a normal cycle, the current rate of extinctions should be a concern to us all. The maintenance of biological diversity is important for utilitarian reasons, quality of life considerations, and because biodiversity is important to sustainable regional economies. Single-species approaches are too limited to protect biodiversity at the landscape, habitat, and watershed levels. New approaches are necessary to deal with the complexity of biological diversity. The administration is using provisions in the Endangered Species Act to bring about broader multispecies habitat protection. The ecosystem approach provides a framework for ensuring that ecological considerations are taken into account, along with economic and social factors, and that all interested parties are able to participate in the decision-making process.     

Indigenous Grass Ecology and Socio-Economic Values in Swaziland

The fast-degrading land resources of Swaziland requires a multi-faceted approach to their management. One resource of utmost importance to all Swazis is grass. Grass research over the years had focused on pasture grass, while other uses have been neglected. The omission is a serious one and could be attributed to the neglect of indigenous grass knowledge and people's socio-economic values of grasses. Grass as a major resource is used for cattle feed, ecological control measures, medicinal plants and crafts. Within the study area, 46 grass species were identified and described by the local people. The neglect of the people's knowledge and utilitarian values of grass is a waste of resources. Thus, for grass research to be relevant to the people and national development objectives, research scientists should rethink their approach; they need to recognize and incorporate the indigenous knowledge about other uses of grasses.     

The effects of perceived conflict,resource scarcity,and information bias on emotions and environmental decisions

The failure to anticipate the public's response to environmental problems can lead to expensive delays, bad public relations, and litigation, as well as environmental decisions that do not represent public values and preferences. This study examines the influence of conflict between management goals, perceived resource scarcity, and information bias on evaluations of the importance of management goals; the perception of conflicts among the goals; and the emotions evoked in an urban forest management problem. Environmental problem scenarios were systematically manipulated as to the level of conflict between development and natural preservation goals, the scarcity of urban nature, and the bias of the presented information. Evaluations of the importance of urban nature and economic development were susceptible to manipulations of scarcity. The importance of urban nature was also higher when information was biased toward pro-preservation issues. Negative emotions were associated with high conflict and scarcity and with the propreservation information bias. Both evaluations of goal importance and conflict among goals appeared to be based on an underlying economics-versus-amenity dimension. These results are similar to previous studies of environmental decision making with regard to nonurban environmental problems. This research offers a beginning in understanding and anticipating the way members of the public may respond to information about environmental problems.     

Recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST): Is there a limit for biotechnology in applied animal agriculture?

The intent of this article is to outline, integrate, and interpret relevant scientific, economic, and social issues of rbST technology that have contributed to the acceptance dilemma for this product. The public is divided into social groups, each with its own set of criteria on which they base rbSTs acceptability. Criteria for the scientific community may best be described as physiological. However, for consumers, criteria may be more practical, or procedural, including human health, animal welfare, environmental concerns, and overproduction. Because the business of dairy production depends on demand from the consuming public, the criteria for acceptance of rbST by producers largely reflects those of the consumers. Of necessity, producers are also critical of rbST from a business and animal improvement standpoint. Although this article demonstrates that rbST has met most physiological criteria for acceptance, the consuming public has treated the acceptance issue with forceful skepticism. The question this article addresses is, why? The authors comment that with rbST and other biotechnologies applied to agricultural animal production, it will be the responsibility of government health agencies, scientists, and manufacturers of the products to provide early, adequate, and honest public education. Attention to the concerns of the public may be the only means to prevent hysteria over this and future agricultural products of biotechnology and will, therefore, allow the public to form logical and thoughtful criteria assessments with respect to acceptance or rejection of each product.     

Drinking and driving and perceptions of arrest risk among California drivers: Relationships with DUI arrests in their city of residence

Objective: Addressing drinking and driving remains a challenge in the United States. The present study aims to provide feedback on driving under the influence (DUI) in California by assessing whether drinking and driving behavior is associated with the DUI arrest rates in the city in which the driver lives; whether this is due to perceptions that one can get arrested for this behavior; and whether this differed by those drivers who would be most affected by deterrence efforts (those most likely to drink outside the home).

Methods: This study consisted of a 2012 roadside survey of 1,147 weekend nighttime drivers in California. City DUI arrest rates for 2009–2011 were used as an indicator of local enforcement efforts. Population average logistic modeling was conducted modeling the odds of perceived high arrest likelihood for DUI and drinking and driving behavior within the past year.

Results: As the DUI arrest rates for the city in which the driver lives increased, perceived high risk of DUI arrest increased. There was no significant relationship between either city DUI arrest rates or perceived high risk of DUI arrest with self-reported drinking and driving behavior in the full sample. Among a much smaller sample of those most likely to drink outside the home, self-reported drinking and driving behavior was negatively associated with DUI arrests rates in their city of residence but this was not mediated by perceptions.

Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that perceptions are correlated with one aspect of DUI efforts in one's community. Those who were more likely to drink outside the home could be behaviorally influenced by these efforts.     

浅谈乌克兰生态鉴定制度中的公众参与—兼谈对我国的启示

乌克兰实行的是与环境影响评价制度相类似的生态鉴定制度，该制度在制度设计的完备性、科学性、合理性，特别是保障公众参与环境管理和直接参与生态鉴定活动方面具有十分显著的特点。在简要介绍乌克兰生态鉴定制度的基础上，探讨其确保公众参与的几种途径，以期对我国相关的立法与实践有所启示。     

Local perception of infrequent,extreme upland flash flooding: prisoners of experience?

The United Kingdom has experienced several exceptional summer flash floods in recent years and there is growing concern about the frequency of such events and the preparedness of the population. This paper uses a case study of the upper Ryedale flash flood (2005) and questionnaire and interview data to assess local perceptions of upland flash flooding. Experience of a major flash flood may not be associated with increased flood risk perception. Despite local residents’ awareness of a trend towards wetter summers and more frequent heavy rainfall, the poor maintenance of rivers was more frequently thought to be a more significant factor influencing local flood risk than climate change. Such findings have important implications for the potential success of contemporary national flood policies, which have put greater emphasis on public responsibility for responding to flooding. This study recommends, therefore, the use of fresh participatory approaches to redistribute and raise awareness of locally‐held flood knowledge.     

Adolescents’ attitudes towards nature and environment: Quantifying the 2-MEV model

This study identifies clearly the need for refinement of instrumentation in this area of environmental studies. A questionnaire battery designed to measure the factors Utilization (U) and Preservation (P) in the field of adolescent environmental perception was administered to 467 German secondary school pupils. Maximum likelihood factor analysis yielded the two hypothesized orthogonal factors U and P; we labelled this scale the 2-MEV model, i.e. the 2 factor Model of Environmental Values (sets of related attitudes). These analyses provide a basis for the construction of a questionnaire specifically designed to measure U and P. Confirmation of this factor structure was examined by comparing the factors extracted from two independent pseudorandom subsamples selected from the original sample.