205
© The Author(s) 2016
M. Gilek et al. (eds.), Environmental Governance of the Baltic Sea,
MARE Publication Series 10, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-27006-7_9
Chapter 9
Risk Communication and the Role
of the Public: Towards Inclusive
Environmental Governance of the Baltic Sea?
Anna Maria Jönsson , Magnus Boström , Marion Dreyer , and Sara Söderström
Abstract This chapter focuses on forms of and challenges for risk communication
within regional environmental governance, based on an analysis of fi ve environmental risks in the Baltic Sea – marine oil transportation, chemicals, overfi shing,
eutrophication and alien species. We address questions about how risks are framed
and communicated and also analyse the role of communication in the governance
process. Our main focus is on risk communication with the public (e.g. existing
institutional arrangements and procedures of risk communication), but we also
relate this analysis to discussions on communication with a broad range of actors
and issues of stakeholder participation and communication. In the study we have
identifi ed some examples of relatively well-working risk communication with parts
of the organised public in the Baltic Sea region (BSR), such as in fi sheries or eutrophication, but also a number of different barriers and obstacles. Our key result from
this study is that BSR consists of many national institutions for risk communication,
but that there are hardly any centralised institutions for risk communication activities relating to environmental governance in the region. Another key conclusion is
that public risk communication in this array of cross-national environmental risks is
restricted mainly to (one-way) information. Against this backdrop and from our
A. M. Jönsson (*)
School of Culture and Education , Södertörn University , 14189 Huddinge , Sweden
e-mail: anna.maria.jonsson@sh.se
M. Boström
School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences , Örebro University ,
SE-701 82 Örebro , Sweden
e-mail: magnus.bostrom@oru.se
M. Dreyer
DIALOGIK , Lerchenstrasse 22 , 70176 Stuttgart , Germany
e-mail: dreyer@dialogik-expert.de
S. Söderström
School of Natural Sciences, Technology and Environmental Studies , Södertörn University ,
14189 Huddinge , Sweden
e-mail: sara.soderstrom@sh.se
© The Author(s) 2016
M. Gilek et al. (eds.), Environmental Governance of the Baltic Sea,
MARE Publication Series 10, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-27006-7_9
Chapter 9
Risk Communication and the Role
of the Public: Towards Inclusive
Environmental Governance of the Baltic Sea?
Anna Maria Jönsson , Magnus Boström , Marion Dreyer , and Sara Söderström
Abstract This chapter focuses on forms of and challenges for risk communication
within regional environmental governance, based on an analysis of fi ve environmental risks in the Baltic Sea – marine oil transportation, chemicals, overfi shing,
eutrophication and alien species. We address questions about how risks are framed
and communicated and also analyse the role of communication in the governance
process. Our main focus is on risk communication with the public (e.g. existing
institutional arrangements and procedures of risk communication), but we also
relate this analysis to discussions on communication with a broad range of actors
and issues of stakeholder participation and communication. In the study we have
identifi ed some examples of relatively well-working risk communication with parts
of the organised public in the Baltic Sea region (BSR), such as in fi sheries or eutrophication, but also a number of different barriers and obstacles. Our key result from
this study is that BSR consists of many national institutions for risk communication,
but that there are hardly any centralised institutions for risk communication activities relating to environmental governance in the region. Another key conclusion is
that public risk communication in this array of cross-national environmental risks is
restricted mainly to (one-way) information. Against this backdrop and from our
A. M. Jönsson (*)
School of Culture and Education , Södertörn University , 14189 Huddinge , Sweden
e-mail: anna.maria.jonsson@sh.se
M. Boström
School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences , Örebro University ,
SE-701 82 Örebro , Sweden
e-mail: magnus.bostrom@oru.se
M. Dreyer
DIALOGIK , Lerchenstrasse 22 , 70176 Stuttgart , Germany
e-mail: dreyer@dialogik-expert.de
S. Söderström
School of Natural Sciences, Technology and Environmental Studies , Södertörn University ,
14189 Huddinge , Sweden
e-mail: sara.soderstrom@sh.se