Environmental management as behavioural policy
Article Abstract:
Environmental management means managing people, not the ecosphere. One implication of that obvious but uncomfortable fact is that the policies that are required when only a few factors are involved are different from those where mass behaviour is expected to change. Governmental influences over the "few" and the "many" are markedly different, and so are different nations' capacities to improve environmental behaviour. Industrialized countries can often deal with environmental degradation by influencing the behaviour of the few, but developing countries must deal with mass publics. In both cases such influence has been traditionally exercised through conventional ministries and departments. Environment is not a "sector" in this conventional sense, however. Accordingly, governments must either coordinate the environmental policies of existing agencies or set up new super agencies to produce the necessary changes in public behaviour. Both procedures are politically and administratively sensitive, and it is no surprise that much of the action that has been taken so far, in both industrialized and developing countries, has come in response to international influences. But these influences are limited: international bodies usually confine their activities to conferences or to research producing descriptive macro-level data, accompanied by expressions of abstract policy preferences. National governments therefore have to deal with the difficult problem of public behaviour on their own. The article suggests means of improving their performance by measuring the public's responses and by appraising their own policy experiences. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: Canadian Public Administration
Subject: Government
ISSN: 0008-4840
Year: 1990
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
An ethical approach to environmental protection: a code of conduct and guiding principles
Article Abstract:
The World Commission on Environment and Development felt that it was desirable to build a common framework and action plan to communicate across the divides of world cultures, religions, and regions. Towards this, the commission recommended a set of ethical principles concerning environmental protection and sustainable development for states to follow. Canada, among several nations, conceded the need for developing such a code of environmental stewardship through its Green Plan. The purpose of this paper is to discuss: our attitudes towards nature which have resulted in the present stae of environmental crisis; the extent the world cultures and religions could assist humanity to change its perspectives towards nature; the need for an environmental code of conduct, its basic principles and tenets; suggested guiding principles for environmental management so that governmental commitment to environmental stewardship is on firmer ground; and the role of the media, non-governmental organizations, and individual citizens in raising the consciousness about the environment through the use of the proposed code. In the end, the arguments presented in support of the suggested code and guiding principles are summarized. Further, an outline of the proposed code and guiding principles is appended. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: Canadian Public Administration
Subject: Government
ISSN: 0008-4840
Year: 1992
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Environmental lobbying and political posturing: the role of environmental groups in Ontario's debate over NAFTA
Article Abstract:
This paper examines the involvement of Ontario-based environmental organizations in the debate over NAFTA and their relationship with various ministries at Quebec's Park responsible for developing policy on the agreement. More specifically, this study seeks to explain why and how the Ontario government relied on a select group of environmental organizations to advance its anti-NAFTA campaign. The paper concludes by arguing that while a handful of environmental organizations played an important role in increasing public awareness about the potential environmental implications of NAFTA, these organizations also served as effective vehicles for conveying Ontario's opposition to the agreement. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: Canadian Public Administration
Subject: Government
ISSN: 0008-4840
Year: 1995
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: The cost-effectiveness of alternative instruments for environmental protection in a second-best setting. Environmental regulation and labor demand: evidence from the South Coast Air Basin
- Abstracts: The ethics of information management. Ethics and the environment: a business perspective. Ethical issues in land-use planning and development
- Abstracts: The honest society: stability and policy considerations. Dynamics of social ties and local public good provision
- Abstracts: Fusing old, new alarm systems gets boost with receiver. Securing phones means prevention and vigilance
- Abstracts: Are local governments governed by forward looking decision makers? An investigation of spending patterns in Swedish municipalities