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Public access to environmental information orpublic generated environmental information?Presentation that was given in 2010 in several places
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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?