Using Public Deliberation and Environmental Issues Forums …
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1.2 Deliberation Democracy
Deliberation democracy is a field of political inquiry that is concerned with improving
collective decision-making. The deliberation democracy process values the openness
that would allow people “to question assumptions about the roots and the character of
environmental issues and the scientific understanding upon which analysis is based”
(RCEP 1998 paragraph 7.22); alternatively, the community will remain effectively
disengaged and disempowered. National Issue Forums and Kettering Foundation
have developed a series of issue guides to promote public deliberation about difficult
public issues. The issues guides cover a wide variety of topics, such as climate change,
water, energy, safety and justice, higher education, and so forth. In collaborating with
Kettering Foundation, North American Association for Environmental Education has
developed a new initiative—Environmental Issues Forums (EIF). The first issue guide
and program focuses on climate change—Climate Choices.
1.3 Hope Concerning Climate Change and Public
Deliberation
To effectively engage people in problem solving and taking actions to address climate
change, researchers studied the role of sense of hope and found that constructive
hope had a unique positive influence on pro-environmental behavior (Ojala 2012).
Given that many of the public deliberation programs are aiming to improve local civic
capacity to solve critical issues through building stronger relationships, creating more
productive decision making processes, and bolstering collaborative action, there is
lack of research and evaluation studies that look at the effectiveness of deliberation
process on fostering civic engagement competency and sense of hope. Thus, this
study aimed at answering the following research questions.
2 Research Questions
1. What are participants’ motivations and expectations for community-based
forums, focusing on climate change?
2. What are the effects of EIF forums and deliberation on building hope regarding
climate change? What do community members gain from participating in deliberative forums? To what extent does the deliberative forums affect participants’
understanding and actions on climate change?
3. What actions do adults value the most to mitigate and adapt to climate change at
the community level and personal level? What actions do youth value the most?
Do youths think similarly or differently than adults on preference for action on
climate change? How does this compare to climate change expert suggestions?
513
1.2 Deliberation Democracy
Deliberation democracy is a field of political inquiry that is concerned with improving
collective decision-making. The deliberation democracy process values the openness
that would allow people “to question assumptions about the roots and the character of
environmental issues and the scientific understanding upon which analysis is based”
(RCEP 1998 paragraph 7.22); alternatively, the community will remain effectively
disengaged and disempowered. National Issue Forums and Kettering Foundation
have developed a series of issue guides to promote public deliberation about difficult
public issues. The issues guides cover a wide variety of topics, such as climate change,
water, energy, safety and justice, higher education, and so forth. In collaborating with
Kettering Foundation, North American Association for Environmental Education has
developed a new initiative—Environmental Issues Forums (EIF). The first issue guide
and program focuses on climate change—Climate Choices.
1.3 Hope Concerning Climate Change and Public
Deliberation
To effectively engage people in problem solving and taking actions to address climate
change, researchers studied the role of sense of hope and found that constructive
hope had a unique positive influence on pro-environmental behavior (Ojala 2012).
Given that many of the public deliberation programs are aiming to improve local civic
capacity to solve critical issues through building stronger relationships, creating more
productive decision making processes, and bolstering collaborative action, there is
lack of research and evaluation studies that look at the effectiveness of deliberation
process on fostering civic engagement competency and sense of hope. Thus, this
study aimed at answering the following research questions.
2 Research Questions
1. What are participants’ motivations and expectations for community-based
forums, focusing on climate change?
2. What are the effects of EIF forums and deliberation on building hope regarding
climate change? What do community members gain from participating in deliberative forums? To what extent does the deliberative forums affect participants’
understanding and actions on climate change?
3. What actions do adults value the most to mitigate and adapt to climate change at
the community level and personal level? What actions do youth value the most?
Do youths think similarly or differently than adults on preference for action on
climate change? How does this compare to climate change expert suggestions?