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Public Participation in Environmental Science

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Abstract

This chapter focuses on the participation of publics in environmental science. The STS classification—co-production, dialogue and education—of different ways in which science and lay people relate, is introduced as an analytical framework. This framework organises the discussion of environmental participation practices in three clusters: co-production projects, stakeholder deliberation and citizen science. Examples of each cluster are presented, demonstrating the diversity of environmental participation in scientific research. Finally, I reflect on how the diverse practices could challenge the framing typology and raise some issues that seem to be left out of most discussions of environmental participation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Understanding Environmental Knowledge Controversies: The case of flood risk management 2007–2010, funded by the Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) programme, PI professor Sarah J. Whatmore, Co-Is professor Stuart Lane and professor Neil Ward.

  2. 2.

    This project provided subject matter for several academic articles, for example, Landström et al. (2011), Lane et al. (2011), and Whatmore and Landström (2011).

  3. 3.

    The UK Forestry Commission provides an account of the demonstration project at https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/research/slowing-the-flow-at-pickering/.

  4. 4.

    This model is presented in Odoni and Lane (2010).

  5. 5.

    Producing a multitude of accounts of the work in Pickering and the method trialled we realised that it was important to signal that we did not know whether the approach would be useful for participation in research on other than environmental issues, hence we added the qualifier environmental to competency groups.

  6. 6.

    Professor Jim Hall was PI for the MaRIUS (Managing the risks, impacts and uncertainties of drought and water scarcity) and it involved Co-Is at University of Oxford, University of Bristol and Cranfield University.

  7. 7.

    Kennet ECG (2017).

  8. 8.

    The lack of diversity among the actors does, however, contribute to a lack of innovation in UK drought management according to Grecksch (2018).

  9. 9.

    For an account of this project see the final report Kallenbach-Herbert et al. (2014).

  10. 10.

    For an example of analyses generated in this project see Konopasek et al. (2018) and Landström and Bergmans (2014).

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Correspondence to Catharina Landström .

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Landström, C. (2020). Public Participation in Environmental Science. In: Environmental Participation. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33043-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33043-9_2

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Cham

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