Public access to environmental information

Public access to environmental information or

public generated environmental information

Muki Haklay, CEGE, UCL

Source: iMP

Outline

• The development of environmental information

within the wider „environmental‟ theme

• Three phases:

– Experts access

– Top-down delivery

– Collaborative

• Summary and future directions

The modern environmental movement

1962 – Silent Spring

1970 – USA Earth Day

1972 –Stockholm Conference

1987 – Montreal protocol,

Our Common Future

1992 - Rio Conference, Agenda 21

1997 – Kyoto Protocol

1998 – Aarhus convention

2001 –Johannesburg Conference (Rio + 10)

2003 – Aarhus EU directives

2005 – UK Environmental

information regulations

2006 - An inconvenient

truth

2009 –Copenhagen

Themes

• Local pollution concern (Clean Air Act) to global

issues (Climate change)

• Developing vs. Developed world

• Role of government and civic society – growing

acceptance of stakeholders in decision making

processes

• From specific environmental concerns to

sustainable development

US National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) ,1970

• Technologies: environmental impact assessment, state of the environment report, CEQ.

„…Each member shall be a person who, as a result of his

training, experience, and attainments, is exceptionally

well qualified to analyze and interpret environmental

trends and information of all kinds…‟ (U.S. Congress,

1970, sec. 201)

Information in environmental decision

making

1972 Stockholm declaration, Principles 19 & 20 –differentiating between experts and the public:

“It is also essential that mass media of

communications … disseminates information of an

educational nature on the need to protect and

improve the environment”

“In this connection, the free flow of up-to-date

scientific information and transfer of experience

must be supported and assisted, to facilitate the

solution of environmental problems”

Information systems

• 1972 – INFOTERRA – Mainframe based directory of

environmental expertise, used by national nodes

• 1982 – Global Resources Information Database –

GRID – a global Geographical Information System

with information about environmental conditions

The costs of environmental information

• 1977 – Infoterra (5 years in development) ($1500 per query, which could be answered with good card library)

• 1985 – Global Resources Information Database “for cost-effective telecommunication between GRID nodes, direct satellite links will clearly have to be established…” ($2000000 investment in 1985)

Phase I – 1970-1990

• Deficit model

• Top-down attitude to environmental decision

making

• Environmental information by experts, for

experts

Rio - Principle 10 (1992)

„Environmental issues are best handled with

participation of all concerned citizens, at the

relevant level. At the national level, each

individual shall have appropriate access to

information concerning the environment that is held

by public authorities, including information on

hazardous materials and activities in their

communities, and the opportunity to participate in

decision-making processes. States shall facilitate

and encourage public awareness and participation by

making information widely available. Effective

access to judicial and administrative proceedings,

including redress and remedy, shall be provided.‟

„…Improved access to information and public

participation in decision-making enhance the quality

and the implementation of decisions, contribute to

public awareness of environmental issues, give the

public opportunity to express its concerns and enable

public authorities to take due account of such

concerns...‟ (P. 2).

„…Each party shall ensure that environmental information

progressively becomes available in electronic

databases which are easily accessible to the public

through public telecommunications networks...‟

(Article 3.3).

Convention on Access to Information, Public

Participation in Decision Making and Access to justice

in Environmental Matters (UN/ECE,1998)

The assumptions behind Aarhus

Public access to information

Public is more aware of environmental issues and is able to

participate in decision-making

Public participation in environmental decision making provides

legitimacy, improved decisions and environmental justice

Environmental Tecnophilia

Agenda 21 - “National and international data and information centres should set up continuous and accurate data-collection systems and make use of geographic information systems, expert systems, models and a variety of other techniques for the assessment and analysis of data.”

"Using new electronic technologies can become a major tool in giving the public easy, cheap, direct access to information that the authorities hold. Using electronic means, in a sophisticated manner, is the answer to those countries' fear that they cannot provide the necessary manpower to respond to the needs of the public for information and participation in more bureaucratic manners." - John Hontelez, SG European Environmental Bureau, Environment for Europe Conference, Aarhus, Denmark, June 1998.

ArcInfo 7

SAS

CIESIN, EPA, Environment Canada

1994

1997 version, Archive.org

1995

Sun Sparc 20

ArcInfo 7 (donated by ESRI)

Oracle 6

Susan Pipes, Leslie St. James

1999

1998

2000

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/

2008

2010

1997

http://www.naei.org.uk/emissions/postcode_2003.php

2008

http://www.londonnoisemap.com/

2004

Phase II – 1990 – 2000

• Public access to environmental information is

seen as a prerequisite to participation

• The Web is emerging as a dissemination medium

• Delivery is top-down, experts preparing

information for the public

Issues with environmental information

delivery

• Use of jargon and technical terminology

• Different semantic scale – from raw data to

processed reports

• Use of maps and GIS – but with an assumption

that the user is familiar with the technology

Issues with environmental information

delivery – web GIS

• Many usability problems:

– Scale

– Cartography

– Selection

– Content

– Semantics

The rise of citizen-science

• Background: environmental inequalities /

environmental justice

• Mistrust in official sources or „this is not

community information in community language‟

• Alternative: local data collection

Archway

• Archway is experiencing high volumes of traffic

and there are local problems resulting from the

major traffic node that is passing through the

area. These are examples from the work that we

have carried out with the Better Archway Forum

Perceptions and

Issues Mapping

These scans are part of a community survey of perceptions and issues

Pedestrian

Issues were

identified as a

problem that

the community

want to collect

more

information

about

Identifying key issues

Archway Pedestrian Surveys were carried out in collaboration with Space Syntax who specialised in pedestrianmovement analysis

500 to 700

350 to 500

200 to 350

100 to 200

1 to 100

Saturday 12:00 to 14:00

Space Syntax

Results of the survey were used by the community to discuss future planning directions

Noise mapping training

Pepys – Noise Mapping

Distribution of Survey Points

50m Squares - Averages

Numbers indicate how

Many readings in each

50m square

Source: West Wiltshire

Diffusion tubes

Summary

• Public access to environmental information evolves from authoritative, top-down to collaborative contribution

• However, Access to environmental information must be seen as a band-aid, covering a serious problem in environmental decision making and environmental democracy.

• Participation is not just about scientific and government information, it is also about local knowledge and understanding – and non-scientific arguments should be allowed in. But how?