Social Geography Discussions www.soc-geogr-discuss.net 1816-1499 1816-1502 6 1 2010 10.5194/sgd-6-39-2010 http://www.soc-geogr-discuss.net/6/39/2010/ http://www.soc-geogr-discuss.net/6/39/2010/sgd-6-39-2010.html http://www.soc-geogr-discuss.net/6/39/2010/sgd-6-39-2010.pdf 39 50 2010-05-18 Participative environmental management and social capital in Poland A. Hunka a.hunka@science.ru.nl W. T. de Groot Centre for Sustainable Management of Resources, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands Institute of Environmental Science, Leiden University, The Netherlands now at: Roskilde University, Department of Environmental, Social and Spatial Change, Denmark Eastern European countries, such as Poland, are often used as exemplary in social capital studies. Upon entering the European Union, the low social capital level in Poland posed problems with implementing new regulations, particularly in the environmental policy field. Environmental issues often present a high degree of complexity – and European legislation requires multi-stakeholder involvement in decision-making processes. Thus, the dilemma: on the one hand, there is a demand to engage and consult many actors; on the other hand, low social capital contributes to an administrative culture with a ubiquitous top-down approach taken by institutional decision-makers. <br><br> The paper addresses this problem from the perspective of social capital theory. A study of administrative culture and decision-making processes shows the way decisions are currently made. We also propose a way to achieve more participative environmental management. Adamowski, W.: Opinia w sprawie oddziaływania obwodnicy Augustowa na środowisko przyrodnicze projektowanego rezerwatu Rospuda, Dzikie Życie, 4, 1999. Arnstein, S R.: Ladder of Citizen Participation, J. Am. I. Planners, 35, 216–224, 1969. Arrow, K J.: Observations on social capital, The World Bank, Washington DC, USA, 2000. Bourdieu, P.: The forms of capital, Greenwood, New York, USA, 1986. Chloupkova, J., Svendsen, G. L H., and Svendsen, G T.: Building and destroying social capital: The case of cooperative movements in Denmark and Poland, Agr. Hum. Values, 20, 241–252, 2003. Coleman, J S.: Social Capital in the Creation of Human-Capital, Am. J. Sociol., 94, S95–S120, 1988. de~Groot, W T. and Tadepally, H.: Community action for environmental restoration: a case study on collective social capital in India, Environment, Development and Sustainability, 10, 519–536, 2008. Hunka, A D. and Palarie, T A.: WFD, Institutional Infrastructure, Decision-making and Stakeholders' Participation in Water Risk Management in Poland and Romania, in: EASY-ECO Vienna Conference: Governance by Evaluations: Institutional Capacities and Learning for Sustainable Development, Vienna, Austria, 2008. Hunka, A D., de~Groot, W T., and Biela, A.: Visions of Nature in Eastern Europe: A Polish example, Environ. Value., 18, 429–452, 2009. Legutko-Kobus, P.: Public participation in creation of documents on sustainable development exemplified by the Region of Lubelszczyzna, Prace naukowe AE im. Oskara Langego we Wrocławiu, Wrocław, Poland, 2007. Olsson, P. and Folke, C.: Local ecological knowledge and institutional dynamics for ecosystem management: A study of Lake Racken Watershed, Sweden, Ecosystems, 4, 85–104, 2001. Paldam, M. and Svendsen, G T.: Missing social capital and the transition in Eastern Europe, Journal for Institutional Innovation, Development and Transition, 5, 21–34, 2002. Portes, A.: Social Capital: Its origins and applications in modern sociology, Annu. Rev. Sociol., 24, 1–24, 1998. Putnam, R D.: Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2000. Putnam, R D., Leonardi, R., and Nanetti, R.: Making democracy work: civic traditions in modern Italy, Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA, 1993. Rose, R.: Getting things done in an anti-modern society: Social capital networks in Russia, The World Bank, Washington DC, USA, 2000. Szymczuk, R.: Bruksela dla Rospudy, Dzikie \.Zycie, wydanie Specjalne dla Rospudy, 2007. Wacquant, L.: Negative social capital: State breakdown and social destitution in America's urban core, Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 13, 25–40, 1998. Webler, T., Tuler, S., and Krueger, R.: What is a good public participation process? Five perspectives from the public, Environ. Manage., 27, 435–450, 2001. Woolcock, M.: Social capital and economic development: Toward a theoretical synthesis and policy framework, Theor. Soc., 27, 151–208, 1998. Woolcock, M. and Narayan, D.: Social capital: Implications for development theory, research, and policy, World Bank Res. Obser., 15, 225–249, 2000. World Bank: Assessing aid: what works, what doesn't, and why, A World Bank policy research report, Oxford University Press, Washington DC, USA, 1998.