209
communication’. A common analytical framework guided all fi ve case studies
ensuring the comparability of the cases, which were performed using similar
research designs (cf. Gilek et al. 2011 ). All case studies employed an explorativeinterpretative approach of qualitative social research, and their results have been
derived from three main sources: document analysis, semi-structured qualitative
interviews and a series of round-table events. This allows us to draw conclusions
about communicative aspects of environmental governance of BSR, whereas we
will also when possible use the case of BSR to discuss regional and marine environmental governance more generally.
In the next section, we will introduce our main theoretical perspectives that focus
on risk communication in environmental governance, risk communication with and
to the public and the role of the news media . We will then turn to our analysis of the
empirical material and start with a discussion about existing institutional arrangements and procedures of risk communication and the forms of communication that
can be identifi ed. Thereafter we address the topic of risk communication with the
public and how this communication can be understood and characterised with a
special focus on arenas for communication and the role of the media. Finally, we
conclude the chapter with a discussion on the role of public risk communication in
(regional) environmental risk governance and possible ways forward.
9.2 Theoretical Perspectives
9.2.1 Environmental Governance and Risk Communication
We use the concept of risk communication as defi ned in the 1989 report on
‘Improving Risk Communication’, produced by the Committee on Risk Perception
and Communications of the US National Research Council (NRC). The report
argues that risk communication is:
[…] an interactive process of exchange of information and opinion among individuals,
groups and institutions. It involves multiple messages about the nature of risk and other
messages, not strictly about risk, that express concerns, opinions or reactions to risk messages or to legal and institutional arrangements for risk management. (US NRC 1989 : 1)
Risk communication is a fundamental part of environmental risk governance (cf.
Renn 2008 ), but can also be seen as part of the wider notion of environmental communication. Environmental communication by Cox is defi ned as ‘the pragmatic and
constitutive vehicle for our understanding of the environment as well as our relationships to the natural world; it is the symbolic medium that we use in constructing
environmental problems and negotiating society’s different response to them’ (Cox
2010 : 20). Contemporary risks are rarely a fi rst-hand experience, but something
communicated through different channels of information fl ows in today’s modern
society. Risk communication is a fi eld of research that addresses communication
between experts and the public, or as it has traditionally been, risk information
9 Risk Communication and the Role of the Public: Towards Inclusive Environmental…
communication’. A common analytical framework guided all fi ve case studies
ensuring the comparability of the cases, which were performed using similar
research designs (cf. Gilek et al. 2011 ). All case studies employed an explorativeinterpretative approach of qualitative social research, and their results have been
derived from three main sources: document analysis, semi-structured qualitative
interviews and a series of round-table events. This allows us to draw conclusions
about communicative aspects of environmental governance of BSR, whereas we
will also when possible use the case of BSR to discuss regional and marine environmental governance more generally.
In the next section, we will introduce our main theoretical perspectives that focus
on risk communication in environmental governance, risk communication with and
to the public and the role of the news media . We will then turn to our analysis of the
empirical material and start with a discussion about existing institutional arrangements and procedures of risk communication and the forms of communication that
can be identifi ed. Thereafter we address the topic of risk communication with the
public and how this communication can be understood and characterised with a
special focus on arenas for communication and the role of the media. Finally, we
conclude the chapter with a discussion on the role of public risk communication in
(regional) environmental risk governance and possible ways forward.
9.2 Theoretical Perspectives
9.2.1 Environmental Governance and Risk Communication
We use the concept of risk communication as defi ned in the 1989 report on
‘Improving Risk Communication’, produced by the Committee on Risk Perception
and Communications of the US National Research Council (NRC). The report
argues that risk communication is:
[…] an interactive process of exchange of information and opinion among individuals,
groups and institutions. It involves multiple messages about the nature of risk and other
messages, not strictly about risk, that express concerns, opinions or reactions to risk messages or to legal and institutional arrangements for risk management. (US NRC 1989 : 1)
Risk communication is a fundamental part of environmental risk governance (cf.
Renn 2008 ), but can also be seen as part of the wider notion of environmental communication. Environmental communication by Cox is defi ned as ‘the pragmatic and
constitutive vehicle for our understanding of the environment as well as our relationships to the natural world; it is the symbolic medium that we use in constructing
environmental problems and negotiating society’s different response to them’ (Cox
2010 : 20). Contemporary risks are rarely a fi rst-hand experience, but something
communicated through different channels of information fl ows in today’s modern
society. Risk communication is a fi eld of research that addresses communication
between experts and the public, or as it has traditionally been, risk information
9 Risk Communication and the Role of the Public: Towards Inclusive Environmental…