Friday, March 6, 2009

[EQ] Enabling Environmental Justice: Assessment of Participatory Tools

Enabling Environmental Justice: Assessment of Participatory Tools

 

Background Report Prepared for: Environmental Department

United Nations Institute for Training and Research

 

Manjula Amerasinghe, Leanne Farrell, SheeShee Jin, Nah-yoon Shin, Kristen Stelljes

Department of Urban Studies and Planning - Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT  - 2008

 

Executive Summary [78p.] at: http://web.mit.edu/jcarmin/www/carmin/EnablingEJ.pdf

 

“…..A growing body of literature points to the importance of public participation in enabling procedural justice in public decision making. Procedural justice, in turn, is a prerequisite for distributive justice, which in environmental decision-making contexts, is the underlying tenet of environmental justice. Without the meaningful inclusion of those who will be impacted by the outcomes of environmental decision-making, fair distribution of environmental benefits and harms is unlikely to result.

 

This report sets out to test the extent to which various participatory tools have the potential to enable procedural justice in the environmental arena. The report synthesizes the findings of 59 case studies applying seven different participatory tools to environmental decision-making contexts in developed and developing countries. Tools analyzed are: notice and comment, public hearings, focus groups, participatory workshops, citizen advisory committees, citizen juries and referenda.

 

Findings show that different participatory techniques can, indeed, play an important role in improving decision making and enabling procedural justice, a fundamental component of environmental justice. Of the tools analyzed, participatory workshops have the greatest potential to be inclusive, interactive and empowering to participants. Yet, even for this tool and others that demonstrate high potential along these dimensions, several key capacity requirements must be first fulfilled. Participatory tools in general were found to be time consuming, financial and human resource intensive, and requiring of specialized skills and knowledge from their sponsors. Furthermore, the adequate inclusion of marginalized groups – a fundamental component of procedural justice – requires special attention on the part of governments to make sure participatory processes serve to level the playing field among stakeholders rather than perpetuating imbalances in access to power…..”

 

Content:

 

I. Introduction

1. Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making

Principles and features of participation

The benefits of public participation

Limitations of participation

Considerations Necessary in Public Participation

Inclusion of Public Participation in International Environmental Decision-Making

2. Environmental Justice via Public Participation

Principles of Environmental Justice: Distributive and Procedural Justice

Distributive justice

Procedural justice

Significance of Environmental Justice

Implementation of democratic environmental science

Establishment of legal frameworks at national and international levels

International Diffusion of Environmental Justice Movement

3. Purpose of Report

4. Methodology and Limitations

Identification and contextualization of participatory “tools”

Identification of case studies

Analysis of case studies

Limitations to the methodology

II. Use of Participatory Tools in Practice: Empirical Evidence

1. Notice and Comment

Overview

Contexts/sectors where used

Capacity Requirements

Time

Human Resources and Funding

Education and Knowledge

Tools in Action #1: Notice and Comment, Northwestern United States

Implications for Environmental Justice

Inclusion

Interaction

Empowerment

Other Issues of Relevance to Environmental Justice

Tools in Action #2: Notice and Comment, China

Tool Summary #1: Notice and Comment

2. Public Hearings

Overview

Context/Sectors where used

Capacity Requirements

Time

Human Resources and Funding

Education and Knowledge

Tools in Action #3: Public Hearing, Nepal

Implications for Environmental Justice

Inclusion

Interaction

Empowerment

Tool Summary #2: Public Hearings

3. Focus Groups

Overview

Contexts/sectors where used

Capacity Requirements

Time

Human Resource Capacity and Funding

Education and Knowledge

Tools in Action #4: Focus Group, waste management strategies in Hampshire, UK

Implications for Environmental Justice

Inclusion

Interaction

Empowerment

Tools in Action #5: Focus Group, flood protection in the Netherlands

Tool Summary #3: Focus Groups

4. Participatory Workshops

Overview

Context/Sectors where used

Capacity requirements

Time

Human Resources and Funding

Tools in Action #6: Participatory Workshop, Nepal

Education and Knowledge

Tools in Action #7: Participatory Workshop, Spain and Italy

Implications for Environmental Justice

Inclusion

Interaction

Empowerment

Tools In Action #8: Participatory Workshop, protected areas in Madagascar

Tool Summary #4: Participatory Workshops

5. Citizen Advisory Committees

Overview

Contexts/sectors where used

Capacity Requirements

Time

Human Resources and Funding

Education and Knowledge

Tools in Action #9: Citizen Advisory Committee, Sweden

Implications for Environmental Justice

Inclusion

Interaction

Empowerment

Other Issues of Relevance to Environmental Justice

Tools in Action #10: Advisory Committee, Philippines

Tool Summary #5: Citizen Advisory Committees

6. Citizen Juries

Overview

Contexts/sectors where used

Tools in Action #11: Citizen Jury, Australia

Capacity Requirements

Time

Human Resources and Funding

Education and Knowledge

Implications for Environmental Justice

Inclusion

Interaction

Empowerment

Other Issues of Relevance to Environmental Justice

Tools in Action #12: Citizen Jury, Estonia

Tool Summary #6: Citizen Juries

7. Referenda

Overview

Contexts/sectors where used

Tools in Action #13: Referendum, Peru

Capacity requirements

Time

Human Resources and Funding

Education and Knowledge

Implications for Environmental Justice

Inclusion

Interaction

Empowerment

Other Issues of Relevance to Environmental Justice

Tools in Action #14: Referendum, India

Tool Summary #7: Referenda

III. Conclusions

Key Findings

Table 1: Summary of Input Requirements by Participatory Tool

Table 2: Summary of Outputs by Tool, Overall and for Marginalized Groups

Implications for Environmental Decision Making and Environmental Justice

IV. Works Cited

Annex 1: Comparative Tool Analysis

Annex 2: Case Study Articles Reviewed

 

 *      *     *

This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ KMC Area]

“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is". Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.
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    IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this transmission to the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email to infosec@paho.org, and please dispose of and delete this transmission. Thank you.  

[EQ] US Department of Health and Human Services HHS: Issues Special Report on Health Reform

HHS Issues Special Report on Health Reform and Launches New healthreform.gov Web Site

“…American People Say Health Care System is Broken, Highlight Need for Action This Year on Health Reform..”

March 5, 2009 Press release: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/03/20090305a.html


The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a report, Americans Speak on Health Reform: Report on Health Care Community Discussions. The report summarizes comments from Americans who hosted and participated in Health Care Community Discussions across the country and highlights the need for immediate action to reform health care.

The report is available on a new Web site dedicated to health reform: http://www.healthreform.gov

Table of Contents

Executive Summary and Highlights

I. Overview of Health Care Community Discussions

A. Introduction

B. Motivation

C. Logistics

D. Analysis

II. Participation in Health Care Community Discussions

A. Reasons for Signing Up and Participating

B. Who Participated in Health Care Community Discussions

C. Sample of the Health Care Community Discussions

D. Articles on Health Care Community Discussions

III. Concerns About the U.S. Health Care System

A. Prioritization of Concerns

B. Cost Concerns

C. Access Concerns

D. Quality Concerns

E. System and Other Concerns

IV. Solutions to the Problems in the U.S. Health Care System

A. Principles for a Reformed U.S. Health Care System

B. Roles in a Reformed U.S. Health Care System

C. Specific Suggestions

D. Relationships between Concerns and Solutions

E. Suggestions for Future Engagement

V. Conclusion

Appendices

A. Analysis Team

B. Methodology

 

 

 *      *     *

This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ KMC Area]

“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is". Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PAHO/WHO Website

Equity List - Archives - Join/remove: http://listserv.paho.org/Archives/equidad.html

 

 

    IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this transmission to the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email to infosec@paho.org, and please dispose of and delete this transmission. Thank you.