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A Prerequisite for Participation

Environmental Knowledge and What Residents Know about Local Toxic Sites

Current research and practice on participation assumes that residents are aware of local issues and informed enough to participate meaningfully. I challenge these assumptions and focus on public awareness and information levels as they affect public participation in environmental decision making. The author seeks specifically to demonstrate conceptually that participation requires awareness and information, empirically identify factors affecting awareness and information levels, and recommend policies that foster participation. The analysis finds that newspapers and social networks increase residents’ awareness of local issues but fail to diffuse detailed information. Supporting community mobilization efforts, which increase residents’ awareness and information levels, will foster participation.

Key Words: public participation • environmental knowledge • toxic sites

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