In Print Vol. 30, No. 4, March 2003
Community Culture and the Environment: A Guide to Understanding a Sense of Place "explores the concepts of community and culture and provides tools for identifying, assessing and working cooperatively within the social dynamics and local values connected to environmental protection." It aims to help practitioners to define community in a particular situation, identify stakeholders, enhance education and outreach, build partnerships and consensus, identify resources, plan and set goals, and integrate local realities with ecological issues. The text is clearly written and presented with many worksheets and a 5-step process; 15 brief case studies are included in an appendix. For more information on this guide, visit www.epa.gov/ecocommunity/tools/community.pdf To request a free copy, visit www.epa.gov/ncepihom/index.htm or call 1-800-490-9198 and request publication EPA 842-B-01-003. Published by USEPA; Nov. 2002; 280 pp. Note - it is unfortunate that bureaucratic rules prevented the acknowledgement of six years work by the principal authors, Michael Kronthal and Theresa Trainor.
Review of EIA in Selected Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean: Methodology, Results and Trends reports on the results of an evaluative study of 26 countries by the Center for Development Studies of the Inter-American Development Bank. It includes sections on Citizen Participation Mechanisms in several chapters. Under Procedural Framework, 73% of the countries report using the print media, 65% observations and 54% public consultations in a variety of forms. Under Perceptual Framework, responses from nearly 700 stakeholders are reported; participation mechanisms are ranked Excellent by about 5%, Good by 20%, Fair by 30% and Insufficient/ Poor by 40%. In the Conclusions, weaknesses in the EIA process are noted: citizen participation is concentrated in the review phase and not in other phases, EIA training programs are insufficient for key stakeholders, lack of community acceptance of the agencies responsible for the EIA systems and inadequate ways to involve the community. Recommendations include strengthening the citizen participation processes. Published in Santiago, Chile; 2001; 90 pp. Available from the Environment Division of the I-ADB, Washington, DC.
Connections, the March 2003 issue published by the Kettering Foundation, focuses on Community Politics and Leadership. The opening pages recall the first decades of the new Republic whose "boisterous and non-deferential" citizens bypassed their elected leaders, building roads and schools where they felt they were needed. They demonstrated "the original meaning of `participation' " says KF president David Mathews. This activism declined in the middle of the last century, perhaps as global awareness came with two world wars. Then, as confidence in governments fell, citizens began to look for better ways to solve local problems by personal activism in communities, like Neighbourhood Watch to support and supplement police services. How is it that, when faced with serious problems, some communities come together while others fall apart? How "put the public back into the public's business"? This issue outlines some of KF's research into how people become engaged in their community (or don't), how do active and inactive communities differ, and what kind of leadership works best in communities. i.e the traditional outstanding kind or many less visible informal leaders? Six other papers address community politics, rebuilding inactive communities, community development, from dialogue to action, catalysts for change in community leadership, and making the leap in community learning. To order, call 800-600-4060, fax 937-435-7367 or visit www.kettering.org
"The Promise of Dialogue" is a report by Paul Wahrhaftig on the first national conference on Dialogue and Deliberation held in Alexandria, VA, last October. Over 200 participants wrestled with the difference between dialogue and mediation, neutrality and advocacy, structured processes and transformational practices, etc. See Interaction, Winter 2003; Conflict Resolution Network; visit www.crnetwork.ca and also www.dialoguenetwork.org and www.thataway.org
"Provisions for more meaningful public participation still elusive in the proposed Canadian EA Bill" by A. John Sinclair and Patricia Fitzpatrick analyses data from statutes, regulations, policies, proceedings, reports and written public input from a series of national hearings. Key themes are public participation, Aboriginal involvement and access to information. While eight changes proposed in the Bill have the potential to improve citizen engagement, they do not include other significant suggestions made during the consultations. Published in Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, September 2002; published by the International Association for Impact Assessment; visit www.iaia.org or email Jsincla@ms.umanitoba.ca
"Out of the Ashes, Cinderella" by Gwenda Blair tells how a 50-yearold dilapidated, dangerous and disliked public housing project was transformed with the leadership of two Chicago lawyers once the architects they retained patiently visited all of the 147 Chinese and African-American tenants, discovered their needs and concerns and built a trusting relationship with them. The result has won a national award from the American Institute of Architects. New York Times, House and Home section, January 2, 2003.
An Environmental Report Card for the George W. Bush Administration, 2001-2002 shows the following grades: Energy Policy F; Climate Change D-; Air Quality D; Water Quality D+; Public Land D; National Env. Policy Act D-; Farm Policy B-; Appointments D-. Published in Green Elephant (online newsletter of "Republicans for Env. Protection", Winter 2003.
The Deliberative Democracy Consortium has a lively, brief monthly newsletter with news of conferences, publications and polls. Visit www.deliberative-democracy.net A related site is www.thataway.org/dialogue
A year ago, Prof. Bojinka Bishop carried out a survey of members of the Intl. Assn. for Public Participation; the results are available as a PowerPoint presentation. Some highlights identified by the author: 52% of the respondents would prefer to practice in the "collaborate" mode - but only 12% of the work falls in the collaborate mode. 20% of organizations using public participation modify their positions a lot, 45% moderately modify, and 32% do some modification (97% of respondents indicated some agency/organization modification of positions). PP seems to work as a way to receive public feedback and advice and modify positions in response to public or stakeholder concerns. Public participation practitioners tend to define the success in public- and process-centered ways (whether the public influenced the decisions, whether good information was exchanged, for example) while organizations were perceived to define success in a project-centered way - on results, that is, whether the project was approved and completed. Major challenges were seen as engaging stakeholders in processes (getting them to participate) and having agencies and organizations recognize the value of and provide resources for PP. For a copy of the presentation, email Prof. Bishop, bishopb@oak.cats.ohiou.edu
The International Council on Mining and Metals continues to foster multistakeholder conversations on redesigning management process to incorporate sustainable development. Visit www.icmm.com
The Grassroots of a Green Revolution: Polling America on the Environment by Deborah Lynn Guber argues that it is essential to really understand the complexities of public opinion about the environment for both environmental progress and to recruit the informed support of average citizens. Polling data from a wide range of sources is used to analyze, explore and interpret this field for use by citizens and policy-makers. MIT Press; January 2003: 328 pp.
This is the last issue of this electronic version of Constructive Citizen Participation. After 30 years of publication, this seems a good time to conclude - after all, I'm 73! Creating each of the 130 issues has been stimulating, and something of a discipline to come up with about 6,000 words every quarter. To keep in touch with the field of public participation, I recommend joining the International Association for Public Participation - visit www.iap2.org I will continue to provide my one-day Workshop and Internet Tutorial, to accept some consulting assignments and to publish my Resource Book, Manual (Eng.& Sp.) and Instructional Video (Eng.& Sp.), For details, visit www.connor.bc.ca/connor. I will also continue a global email exchange with practitioners and graduate students pursuing public participation. Vale!
Desmond M. Connor, Ph.D.
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