During a period when the relationship between government agencies and citizen environmental monitoring activities is shifting, this paper examines the nature of the relationship between government and citizen stewardship, by describing some citizen monitoring initiatives in Ontario, Canada. The authors begin by characterizing the changing nature of environmental governance by focusing specifically on the complexity surrounding the relationship between government administrative reform, demands for improved and increased environmental monitoring, and the role and function of citizens in monitoring activities. Then, building on the experience of one citizen-based environmental organization, Citizens' Environment Watch, as well as on two other local examples, they document possible new forms of collaboration that retain government responsibility while building community authority, knowledge, and power to improve local environmental quality. Suggested remedies include a recognition and public articulation of what government should do and what it does not do. In the case of the latter, government should commit to provide support for citizen monitoring efforts, and to heed the work of volunteer monitors. Finally, government needs to follow up on concerns about degraded environmental quality raised by local citizens through strong investigative and enforcement responses.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AklandG GSchwabMZenickHPahlD, 1997, “An interagency partnership applied to the study of environmental health in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas”Environment International23595–609.
2.
ArnsteinS R, 1969, “A ladder of citizen participation”Journal of the American Institute of Planning35(4) 216–224.
3.
BernsteinS, 2001The Compromise of Liberal Environmentalism (Columbia University Press, New York).
4.
BerryM RJohnsonL SBrennerK PThomasK W, 1997, “Dietary characterizations in a study of human exposures in the Lower Rio Grande Valley: II. Household waters”Environment International23693–703.
5.
ChessC, 2000, “Evaluating environmental public participation: Methodological questions”Journal of Environmental Planning and Management43769–784.
6.
ConcaKLipschutzR D, (Eds), 1993The State and Social Power in Global Environmental Politics (Columbia University Press, New York).
7.
DaleA, 2001At the Edge: Sustainable Development in the 21st Century (UBC Press, Vancouver).
8.
DoornbosM, 2001, “Good governance: The rise and decline of a policy metaphor?”Journal of Development Studies37(6) 93–108.
9.
DorceyA H JMcDanielsT, 2001, “Great expectations, mixed results: Trends in citizen involvement in Canadian environmental governance”, inGoverning the Environment: Persistent Challenges, Uncertain Innovations Ed. ParsonE A, (University of Toronto Press, Toronto) pp 247–302.
10.
EricsonR VStehrN, (Eds), 2000Governing Modern Societies (University of Toronto Press, Toronto).
11.
FriedmannJ, 1998, “Introduction”, in Urban and Regional Governance in the Asia Pacific Ed. FriedmannJ, Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, pp v–vii.
12.
GibsonR B, 1999Voluntary Initiatives: The New Politics of Corporate Greening (Broadview Press, Peterborough, Ontario).
13.
GriffinC B, 1999, “Watershed councils: An emerging form of public participation in natural resources management”Journal of the American Water Resources Association35505–518.
14.
HarrisonK, 2001, “Voluntarism and environmental governance”, inGoverning the Environment: Persistent Challenges, Uncertain Innovations Ed. ParsonE A, (University of Toronto Press, Toronto) pp 207–246.
15.
HaughtonG, 1999, “Information and participation within environmental management”Environment and Urbanization11(2) 51–62.
16.
HowlettM, 2001, “Complex network management and the governance of the environment: Prospects for policy change and policy stability over the long term”, inGoverning the Environment: Persistent Challenges, Uncertain Innovations Ed. ParsonE A, (University of Toronto Press, Toronto) pp 303–344.
17.
KrajncA, 2000, “Wither Ontario's environment? Neo-conservatism and the decline of the Environment Ministry”Canadian Public Policy26111–127.
18.
LangfordJ, 2002, “Managing public—private partnerships in Canada”, in New Players, Partners and Processes: A Public Sector Without Boundaries? Eds EdwardsMLangfordJ, joint publication of National Institute of Governance, Canberra, and School of Public Administration, University of Victoria, Victoria BC, pp 68–84.
19.
McCarneyP, 2000, “Thinking about governance in global and local perspective: Considerations on resonance and dissonance between two discourses”Urban Forum February, pp 1–38.
20.
McCarneyPHalfaniMRodriguezA, 1995, “Towards an understanding of governance”, in Perspectives on the City Eds ShenRKjellberg-BellJ, Centre for Urban and Community Studies, Toronto, pp 91–142.
21.
MerrittJGoreC, 2001Drinking Water Services: A Functional Review of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment Commissioned Paper 5, The Walkerton Inquiry (Queen's Printer for Ontario, Toronto).
MitchellB, 2002Resource and Environmental Management (Prentice-Hall, Toronto).
24.
MOE, 2000, “City of Hamilton fined $487,000 for discharge of leachate into Red Hill Creek”, news release, 18 September, Ministry of the Environment, Ottawa.
25.
MoogRChovanecA, 2000, “The ecological integrity of environment aquatic”Hydrobiologia number 422/423, 99–109.
26.
O'ConnorD, 2002aReport of the Walkerton Inquiry: The Events of May 2000 and Related Issues, Part One (Queen's Printer for Ontario, Toronto).
27.
O'ConnorD, 2002bReport of the Walkerton Inquiry: A Strategy for Safe Drinking Water, Part Two (Queen's Printer for Ontario, Toronto).
28.
OPSEU, 1997, “Nothing left to cut: A field report on the activities of the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy”, 2nd edition, Ontario Public Services Employee Union, 100 Lesmill Road, North York, Ontario M38 3P8.
29.
ParsonE A, (Ed.), 2001Governing the Environment: Persistent Challenges, Uncertain Innovations (University of Toronto Press, Toronto).
30.
RosenauJ, 1995, “Governance in the twenty-first century”Global Governance1(1) 13–43.
31.
SavanBMorganA JGoreC, 2003, “Environmental monitoring, community action and the role of the universities: The case of Citizens' Environment Watch”Environmental Management31561–568.
32.
SharpeTSavanBArnottN, 2000, “Testing the waters”Alternatives26(4) 30–33.
33.
SinclairA JDiduckA P, 2001, “Public involvement in EA in Canada: A transformative learning experience”Environmental Impact Assessment Review21113–136.
34.
SkogstadG, 2003, “Who governs? Who should govern?: Political authority and legitimacy in Canada in the twenty-first century”Canadian Journal of Political Science36955–973.
35.
SparrowL ASharpleyA NReuterD J, 2000, “Safeguarding soil and water quality”Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis311717–1742.
36.
StokerG, 1998, “Governance as theory: Five propositions”International Social Science Journal15517–28.
37.
StrangeS, 1996The Retreat of the State: The Diffusion of Power in the World Economy (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge).
38.
StrenRPolèseM, 2000, “Understanding the new sociocultural dynamics of cities: Comparative urban policy in a global context”, The Social Sustainability of Cities Eds PolèseMStrenR, (University of Toronto Press, Toronto) pp 3–38.
