We explore the theory and practice of participation in EU biodiversity governance, focusing on the implementation of the Birds and Habitat directives and Natura 2000 at the EU and member-state levels in the cases of France and Germany. We identify three shifts in EU biodiversity governance which potentially lead to intensifying participatory processes, but which may also be induced by more participation: (i) a shift from a top-down state-centred administrative understanding of policy making towards more flexible and bottom-up approaches; (ii) a shift towards more democratic, ‘postnormal’, types of science; and (iii) a shift from a conservation focus towards a more anthropocentric ecosystems goods-and-services approach framed in a normative context of sustainability. We look at whether these shifts happen in practice and also look at the link with participation. At all political levels a big gap remains between the rhetoric on participation and the real-life implementation of participatory processes.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlphandéryPFortierA, 2001, “Can a territorial policy be based on science alone? The system for creating the Natura 2000 network in France”Sociologia Ruralis41311–328
2.
BakerS, 2003, “The dynamics of European Union biodiversity policy: interactive, functional and institutional logics”Environmental Politics1223–41
3.
BUGV, 2006, “Europäischer Biotopverbund Natura 2000: Nachmeldekulisse beschlossen” [European network of biotopes Natura 2000: decision about late registration], Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Umwelt, Gesundheit und Verkehr, http://www.stmugv.bayern.de/de/natur/nat2000/dialog.htm
4.
BullerH, 1996, “Towards sustainable water management”Land Use Policy13289–302
5.
BullerH, 2004, “France—getting between the vertical”, Environmental Policy in Europe Eds JordanA, LiefferinkD (Routledge, London) pp 81–98
Commission of the European Communities, 2006, “Halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010—and beyond”, Communication from the Commission no. 216, Brussels
9.
Commission on Global Governance, 1995Our Global Neighborhood: The Report of the Commission on Global Governance (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
10.
CostanzaR, 2006, “Nature: ecosystems without commodifying them”Nature443749
11.
DixonJ, 1998, “Nature conservation”, British Environmental Policy and Europe Eds LoweP, WardS (Routledge, London) pp 214–231
12.
DryzekJ, 1990Discursive Democracy: Politics, Policy and Political Science (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)
13.
EllisRWatertonC, 2005, “Caught between the cartographic and the ethnographic imagination: the whereabouts of amateurs, professionals, and nature in knowing biodiversity”Environment and Planning D: Society and Space23673–693
14.
EngelenEKeulartzJLeistraG, 2008, “European nature conservation policy making: from substantive to procedural sources of legitimacy”, Legitimacy in European Nature Conservation Policy—Case Studies in Multilevel Governance Eds KeulartzJ, LeistraG (Springer, Heidelberg) pp 3–21
15.
EscobarA, 1998, “Whose knowledge, whose nature? Biodiversity, conservation and the political ecology of social movements”Journal of Political Ecology553–82
FaberMManstettenR, 2003Mensch – Natur – Wissen, Grundlagen der Umweltbildung (Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen)
20.
FairbrassJJordanA, 2001a, “Protecting biodiversity in the European Union: national barriers and European opportunities”Journal of European Public Policy8499–518
21.
FairbrassJJordanA, 2001b, “European Union environmental policy and the UK government: a passive observer or a strategic manager?”Environmental Politics10(2) 1–21
22.
FrischmuthTMayrC, 2003, “Große Ziele, kleine Schritte: ein klagenreicher Weg” [Great aims, small steps: a path full of claims]EU-Rundschreiben1210–13
23.
FuntowiczSRavetzJ, 1993, “Science for the post-normal age”Futures25735–755
24.
GammellA, 1987Manual on European Council Directives on the Conservation of Wild Birds (European Environmental Bureau, Brussels)
25.
GibsonC COstromEAhnT K, 2000, “The concept of scale and the human dimensions of global change: a survey”Ecological Economics32217–239
26.
GörgCRauschmayerF, forthcoming, “Multi-level-governance and the politics of scale—the challenge of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment”, Environmental Governance, Power and Knowledge in a Local–Global World Eds KüttingG, LipschutzR (Routledge, London) in press
27.
GörgCBeckSBerghöferAvan den HoveSKoetzTKornHLeinerSNeßhöverCRauschmayerFSharmanMWittmerHZaunbergerK, 2007International Science—Policy Interfaces for Biodiversity Governance—Needs, Challenges, Experiences: A Contribution to the IMoSEB Consultative Process (Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research UFZ, Leipzig)
JordanA, 2002Environmental Policy in the European Union: Actors, Institutions, and Processes (Earthscan, Sterling, VA)
31.
JordanALiefferinkD, 2004Environmental Policy in Europe (Routledge, London)
32.
LoreauMOteng-YeboahAArroyoM T KBabinDBarbaultRDonoghueMGadgilMHäuserCHeipCLarigauderieAMaKMaceGMooneyH APerringsCRavenPSarukhanJScheiPScholesR JWatsonR T, 2006, “Diversity without representation”Nature442245–246
33.
McCauleyD J, 2006, “Selling out nature”Nature44327–28
34.
MarksGHoogheL, 2004, “Contrasting visions of multi-level governance”, Multi-level Governance Eds BacheI, FlindersM (Oxford University Press, Oxford) pp 15–30
35.
MayrCFrischmuthT, 2003, “Die Rolle der Naturschutzverbände” [The role of nature protection NGOs]EU-Rundschreiben1218–19
36.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2003Ecosystems and Human Well-being: A Framework for Assessment World Resources Institute (Island Press, Washington, DC)
37.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005Ecosystems and Human Well-beings: Synthesis World Resources Institute (Island Press, Washington, DC)
38.
PintonF, 2008, “Between European injunction and local consultation: analysing the territorialization process for a public nature conservation initiative in France”, Legitimacy in European Nature Conservation Policy: Case Studies in Multilevel Governance Eds KeulartzJ, LeistraG (Springer, Heidelberg) pp 209–226
39.
PintonFAlphandéryPBillaudJ-PDeverreCFortierAGeniauxGPerrotN, 2005, “La construction du réseau Natura 2000 en France: une politique publique à l'épreuve des scènes locales” [The construction of the Natura 2000 network in France: a public policy challenged by local scenes], Report by the Ministère de l'Écologie et du Développement Durable within the framework of the Espaces Protégés research, MEDD, 20 Avenue de Ségur, FR-75302 Paris 07SP
40.
RauschmayerFWittmerH, 2006, “Evaluating deliberative and analytical methods for the resolution of environmental conflicts”Land Use Policy23(1) 108–122
41.
RedfordK HBrosiusJ P, 2006, “Diversity and homogenization in the endgame”Global Environmental Change16317–319
42.
ReidW VMooneyH ACapistranoDCarpenterSChopraKCropperADasguptaPHassanRLeemansRMayR MPingaliPSamperCScholesRWatsonR TZakriA HShidongZ, 2006, “Nature: the many benefits of ecosystem services”Nature443749
43.
RennO, WeblerT, WiedemannP (Eds), 1995Fairness and Competence in Citizen Participation (Kluwer, Dordrecht)
44.
SauerALuzFSudaMWeilandU, 2005, “Steigerung der Akzeptanz von FFH-Gebieten” [Increased acceptance of Flora – Fauna – Habitat Directive areas], BfN-Skripten 144, Bundesamt für Naturschutz, Bonn, http://www.bfn.de/fileadmin/MDB/documents/skript144.pdf
45.
SchreiberR, 2005Umsetzung von Natura 2000 in Bayern—Abschließende Gesamtmeldung [Implementation of Natura 2000 in Bavaria—final complete registration] (Bayerisches Landesamt für Umweltschutz, München)
46.
SharpR, 1998, “Responding to Europeanisation: a governmental perspective”, British Environmental Policy and Europe: Politics and Policy in Transition Eds LoweP, WardS (Routledge, London) pp 33–56
47.
SRU, 1998Umweltgutachten 1998 (Sachverständigenrat für Umweltfragen, Berlin)
48.
SRU, 2002Umweltgutachten 2002 (Sachverständigenrat für Umweltfragen, Berlin)
TakacsD, 1996The Idea of Biodiversity—Philosophies of Paradise (Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD)
51.
ThomasC DCameronAGreenRBakkenesMBeaumontLCollinghamYErasmusBFerreira de SiqueiraMGraingerAHannahLHughesLHuntleyBvan JaarsveldAMidgleyGMilesLOrtega-HuertaMTownsend PetersonAPhillipsOWilliamsS, 2004, “Extinction risk from climate change”Nature427145–148
52.
UngarP M, 2003, “The scientific perspective in the conservation of wild biodiversity: a reflection from the Colombian Amazon—ecological economics and environmental management”, master's thesis, Ecological Economics and Environmental Management, Institute for Environmental Science and Technology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona
van den HoveS, 2000, “Participatory approaches to environmental policy-making: the European Commission climate policy process as a case study”Ecological Economics33457–472
55.
van den HoveS, 2003, “Participatory approaches for environmental governance: theoretical justifications and practical effects”, in Stakeholder Involvement Tools: Criteria for Choice and Evaluation Ed. NEA, Report NEA/RWM/FSC(2003)10 (OECD, Paris), http://www.nea.fr/html/rwm/docs/2003/rwm-fsc2003-10.pdf
56.
van den HoveS, 2006, “Between consensus and compromise: acknowledging the negotiation dimension in participatory approaches”Land Use Policy2310–17
57.
van den HoveS, 2007, “A rationale for science – policy interfaces”Futures39807–826
58.
WeberNChristophersenT, 2002, “The influence of non-governmental organisations on the creation of Natura 2000 during the European Policy process”Forest Policy and Economics41–12
59.
WendlerWJesselB, 2004, “Anwendung und Akzeptanz der FFH-Richtlinie in Deutschland und Frankreich” [Application and acceptance of the Habitats Directive in Germany and France]Naturschutz und Landschaftsplanung36347–352
60.
WittmerHRauschmayerFKlauerB, 2006, “How to select instruments for the resolution of environment conflicts?”Land Use Policy231–9
61.
WynneB, 1992, “Uncertainty and environmental learning: reconceiving science and policy in the preventive paradigm”Global Environmental Change6(1) 111–127
62.
YoungO RBerkhoutFGallopinG CJanssenM AOstromEvan der LeeuwS, 2006, “The globalization of socio-ecological systems: an agenda for scientific research”Global Environmental Change16304–316
