218
The public as consumers are, however, thought of in different ways in the fi ve
cases. According to Agenda 21 that addresses education in BSR, it is important that
the work towards a sustainable society equips citizens with education and training
and raises public awareness (Baltic 21 2002 ). However, according to our knowledge, there are no Baltic Sea regional organisations that develop and carry out targeted educational campaigns in any of the fi ve risk issues. We are not aware of any
cases where it is either discussed or specifi ed how public awareness should be raised
and whose responsibility this is.
9.3.4 The Role of the News Media
There are different barriers to public participation and communication in environmental governance and decision-making. First, there are structural factors including
lack of opportunities and resources to participate. The other main problem seems to
be a lack of interest from the public (Zavestoski et al. 2006 ), something that at least
in part could be explained by differences in agenda between scientists, policymakers and citizens. Previous studies of communication in marine governance procedures underline the importance of common agendas. Experiences of stakeholder
communication and participation reveal that it is diffi cult to recruit citizens to participate in deliberative procedures such as hearings (RISKGOV 2011 ). One possible reason is that the concerned issues are not part of the public’s agenda.
We see a relationship between the amount of media reporting and action taken.
In Sweden and Germany , national news media have, for example, widely acknowledged the issue of overfi shing , and the extent and content of reporting has induced
public authorities to take corrective action through highly targeted information provision. There is however less incentive for regional organisations like HELCOM to
take such actions because of the lack of reporting and a common agenda at the
regional (i.e. transnational) level (cf. Dreyer et al. 2011 ; Jönsson 2011 ). This lack of
a regional public arena and agenda supported by the mass media makes it more diffi cult to raise awareness of regional environmental risk issues among the public of
that region. The media can play an important role in the development of common
agendas on a national level (cf. McCombs 2005 ; McCombs and Shaw 1972 ), which
in turn is crucial for generating interest from citizens and consumers (cf. Dreyer
et al. 2011 ). The reasons that common agendas are important are because they place
a certain (risk) issue on the agenda that may consequently enhance (public) engagement and increase the possibility and quality of (public) participation , which will
result in improved (risk) management and policy implementation. In this process,
the media and its agenda-setting function (cf. McCombs and Shaw 1972 ) is of
utmost importance. The basic logic behind the ‘agenda-setting’ concept is that there
is a relationship between the amount of attention a certain issue receives in the news
media and the extent to which the public consider this issue to be of special importance. This thus also means that in order to become part of the public agenda, news
about environmental risks in relation to the Baltic Sea must be considered
A.M. Jönsson et al.
The public as consumers are, however, thought of in different ways in the fi ve
cases. According to Agenda 21 that addresses education in BSR, it is important that
the work towards a sustainable society equips citizens with education and training
and raises public awareness (Baltic 21 2002 ). However, according to our knowledge, there are no Baltic Sea regional organisations that develop and carry out targeted educational campaigns in any of the fi ve risk issues. We are not aware of any
cases where it is either discussed or specifi ed how public awareness should be raised
and whose responsibility this is.
9.3.4 The Role of the News Media
There are different barriers to public participation and communication in environmental governance and decision-making. First, there are structural factors including
lack of opportunities and resources to participate. The other main problem seems to
be a lack of interest from the public (Zavestoski et al. 2006 ), something that at least
in part could be explained by differences in agenda between scientists, policymakers and citizens. Previous studies of communication in marine governance procedures underline the importance of common agendas. Experiences of stakeholder
communication and participation reveal that it is diffi cult to recruit citizens to participate in deliberative procedures such as hearings (RISKGOV 2011 ). One possible reason is that the concerned issues are not part of the public’s agenda.
We see a relationship between the amount of media reporting and action taken.
In Sweden and Germany , national news media have, for example, widely acknowledged the issue of overfi shing , and the extent and content of reporting has induced
public authorities to take corrective action through highly targeted information provision. There is however less incentive for regional organisations like HELCOM to
take such actions because of the lack of reporting and a common agenda at the
regional (i.e. transnational) level (cf. Dreyer et al. 2011 ; Jönsson 2011 ). This lack of
a regional public arena and agenda supported by the mass media makes it more diffi cult to raise awareness of regional environmental risk issues among the public of
that region. The media can play an important role in the development of common
agendas on a national level (cf. McCombs 2005 ; McCombs and Shaw 1972 ), which
in turn is crucial for generating interest from citizens and consumers (cf. Dreyer
et al. 2011 ). The reasons that common agendas are important are because they place
a certain (risk) issue on the agenda that may consequently enhance (public) engagement and increase the possibility and quality of (public) participation , which will
result in improved (risk) management and policy implementation. In this process,
the media and its agenda-setting function (cf. McCombs and Shaw 1972 ) is of
utmost importance. The basic logic behind the ‘agenda-setting’ concept is that there
is a relationship between the amount of attention a certain issue receives in the news
media and the extent to which the public consider this issue to be of special importance. This thus also means that in order to become part of the public agenda, news
about environmental risks in relation to the Baltic Sea must be considered
A.M. Jönsson et al.