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- Wibeck, Victoria, 1974-
(författare)
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Communicating progress towards environmental quality objectives : the case of "Zero eutrophication"
- 2008
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Ingår i: Vetenskap för hållbar utveckling,2007.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Sweden, efforts to achieve environmental sustainability have been canalised through a system of management-by-objectives (MBO), including sixteen national environmental quality objectives. In the process of monitoring and assessing progress towards the environmental objectives, communication of scientific information is a crucial component. While management literature emphasizes well-functioning communication as a prerequisite for successful MBO, empirical studies have shown that communication problems and misunderstandings are likely to arise in the dissemination, implementation and assessment of visionary objectives at different levels in the environmental bureaucracy. Thus, there is a need to further identify and discuss obstacles in the communication process, focusing on the information flow between the scientific community and the environmental bureaucracy. In the paper, I discuss prerequisites for communication between scientists, practitioners and policy makers involved in the assessment of environmental goal achievement. I take my point of departure in the communicative context at hand when communicating progress towards the national environmental objective -Zero eutrophication-. The paper is based on analyses of policy documents on the environmental objectives, and individual and focus group interviews with key actors within the environmental bureaucracy and scientists developing statistical tools for the assessment of progress towards environmental objectives. When scrutinizing the communicative context at hand when results from the environmental objectives are communicated, it is obvious that all parts of the communicative chain could be problematized and are not always clear to the actors involved in the communicative situation. Thus, I argue that in the efforts to communicate messages related to the assessment of environmental objectives, there is a need to return to the following five fundamental questions: - WHY should assessment activities take place? - WHAT should be assessed? - HOW should assessment be effected? - BY WHOM should assessment be effected? - TO WHOM should the assessment methods and results be communicated? In the paper I discuss the questions above, taking my point of departure in the interview data and the analysis of the policy documents. I also discuss different models for communicating results of the assessment of progress towards the objective -Zero eutrophication-. In this discussion, dialogical and participatory aspects of communication are emphasised.
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| 2. |
- Wibeck, Victoria, 1974-
(författare)
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Communication of scientific information in the assessment of environmental goal achievement
- 2006
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Ingår i: Public Communication of Science and Technology - PCST9,2006.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- During the last few decades, the discourse of sustainable development has motivated new global, national and regional political strategies for action, not least in the environmental arena.. One such strategy, used in several countries, is management-by-objectives, which implies that objectives are formulated, their attainment is directed and the results are measured. In Sweden, which is frequently cited as a world-leading country as regards environmental policy, efforts to achieve sustainability have been canalised through sixteen national environmental quality objectives. In the process of monitoring and assessing progress towards the environmental objectives, communication of scientific information is a crucial component. Thus, there is a need to identify obstacles in the communication process, focusing on the information flow between the scientific community and the environmental bureaucracy. In this paper, I present results from a Swedish case study, where key actors within the environmental bureaucracy were interviewed about their experiences of using statistical tools and methods in the assessment of environmental goal achievement. The analyses focus on the management and communication of uncertainty and the role of science in the assessment of environmental objectives.
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| 3. |
- Wibeck, Victoria, 1974-
(författare)
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Perceptions of useful knowledge in environmental management-by-objectives
- 2007
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Ingår i: Annual meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science,2007. ; , s. 294-294
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- During the last few decades, the discourse of sustainable development has motivated new political strategies for action in the environmental arena. One such strategy, used in several countries, is management-by-objectives, which means that objectives are formulated, their attainment is directed and the results are measured. In Sweden, which is frequently cited as a world-leading country as regards environmental policy, efforts to achieve sustainability have been canalised through sixteen national environmental quality objectives. The process of monitoring progress towards the environmental objectives relies on scientific theories and methods. Nevertheless, choices of e.g. indicators to measure goal achievement and methods for data analysis are by no means uncomplicated. Different ways of conceiving of -good science-, -usefulness- and -expertise- are competing in the system that has been developed to attain the environmental objectives. In this paper, I present results from a Swedish case study which encompasses in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with scientists and civil servants involved in the process of assessing progress towards the environmental objectives. I will address questions such as: What types of knowledge are judged to be relevant, credible and legitimate in the assessment of environmental goal achievement? How do scientists, practitioners and policy makers position themselves and others? How is scientific knowledge communicated between different actors? How can supply of and demand for knowledge be reconciled in the assessment process?
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