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Contents:

1 - Citizenship participation in sustainability assessments; 2 - Contexts of citizen participation; 3 - Models as metaphors; 4 - Collage processes and citizens' visions for the future; 5 - Citizen interaction with computer models; 6 - Citizens' reports on climate strategies; 7 - Venture capital and climate policy; 8 - COOL: exploring options for carbon dioxide-reduction in participatory mood; 9 - Expert stakeholder-participation in the Thames region; 10 - On the art of scenario development; 11 - From projects to program in integrated assessment; 12 - Citizen participation and developing country agendas; 13 - Linking the citizen to governance for sustainable climate futures.

Review:

Why is there, in general, so little absolute support and action about key environmental issues? It's easy to say that one is in favour of some idea or proposed change but this seems to alter when it needs to be put into practice. Perhaps the problem lies at some fundamental level. People might know something about an issue but not get any further than reading an article or watching television. Since active participation is a key element of both informed citizenship and environmental change management it follows that any study on this topic is to be welcomed. It's not going too far to say that active participation is at the heart of many education programmes especially with 'civics' and 'citizenship' programmes in a number of nations from the UK to Australia (which thus gives this text immediate utility).

This text is divided into four parts. The first part deals with the theory of the study. The aim is to build towards a method which might be used to get more people involved. Chapter one describes the development of public interest in climate change (the main case study for this research). The argument is that with a maturing science there is a need for greater public involvement but that this can only happen when the public are informed in a meaningful way. Part of this work is to motivate the public into getting involved. By using a range of examples especially of mutualism in personal finances the authors put forward a well-argued, reasoned case for increasing public involvement. At the beginning we need to find out why people are not more engaged with the debate. A range of reasons are suggested (e.g. complexity of the issue). To focus the attention, the study devised IA (Integrated Assessment) groups which address the issues raised. The study showed that it was not just interest that dictated involvement but also other factors such as the complexity of the science. The remainder of the chapter highlights how these groups work. Chapter two explores contexts within which these debates are being held. We find, not surprisingly, that the contexts surrounding the issue (and the participant) have a direct bearing on the outcome. Chapter three takes one item further. Many issues use complex modelling systems and yet these can reduce understanding if they are too complex. The aim is to use a model 'metaphor' something which will allow complex issues to be discussed but without recourse to the full model. Part two takes the idea of IA methodology further. IA appears to work best when split into a number of stages. The first stage (chapter four) is to use collages to draw out people's opinions. The advantage of using this technique is that it allows ideas to open up rather than be constricted. The collage acts as a starting point. Once an outline has been devised its possible to make the work more complex by using models (chapter five). Here, there are immediate problems. Most of the models currently in use are far too complex and so the aim is to get a simpler case. One key finding from this research (a pan-EU study) is that people can handle notions of risk and uncertainty better than could have been predicted. The final phase is for the IA participants to put forward their own views and conclusions. This work, summarised in chapter six, shows how people relate to the issue and their own feelings and surroundings. Part three compares this study to other, similar ones. Chapter seven shows how the views of venture capitalists and technologists relate to the IA groups. Not surprisingly, views differed between groups over relative importance of items but both agreed with the need to mitigate global warming. Chapter 8 describes a Dutch study which sought to discuss climate change issues at a variety of scales from local to regional. Chapter 9 broadens the study by showing how climate change might be able to be adapted to. It's relevance to this volume is that it shows how other groups can be brought in the issue. A final chapter critically looks at how scenarios can be made to help the decision-making process. Part four looks at the way in which this work can be harnessed and not just in the EU (chapter 11). Chapter 12 shows that this can be applied equally elsewhere especially the developing world. Finally, chapter 13 is an examination of the way we can get more participation in decision-making in sustainability science.

Overall, this is a thought-provoking book. People must be more involved in the decision-making process although, as this book shows, it's not always easy to achieve. It requires re-thinking the ways in which we access and use knowledge. This book is valuable in a number of ways. As a text looking at sustainability and public participation we see which methods work and which don't. As a manual for increasing involvement it shows how we can get the best out of the situation. Finally, it gives us a range of pedagogical ideas we can try. This is a crucial text for those wishing to understand how we can get involved.