Communication and Public Participation in Environmental Decision Making

The contributors to this volume explore the communication practices of various stakeholders—interested citizens, grassroots and public interest groups, industry representatives, scientists and technical experts, government agencies, federal regulators—engaged in a variety of environmental decision-making contexts in the U.S. and elsewhere. Included are case studies that analyze individuals and organizations participating both within institutional mechanisms and through alternative forms of environmental advocacy. These studies reveal that public participation in environmental decision making is both shaped by and, in many cases, constrained by the ways in which environmental issues, problems, and solutions are defined or framed through the strategic communication practices of the participants.

Stephen P. Depoe is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Cincinnati. At the Center for Environmental Communication Studies, Depoe is Director. John W. Delicath is Communications Analyst with the Natural Resources and Environment Group at the U.S. General Accounting Office in Washington, DC. At the Center for Environmental Communication Studies Marie-France Aepli Elsenbeer is Research Associate.at the Center for Environmental Communication Studies.