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Soc. Geogr. Discuss., 6, 39-50, 2010
www.soc-geogr-discuss.net/6/39/2010/
doi:10.5194/sgd-6-39-2010
© Author(s) 2010. This work is distributed
under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
 
18 May 2010
Review status
This discussion paper has been under review for the journal Social Geography (SG). Please refer to the corresponding final paper in SG.
Participative environmental management and social capital in Poland
A. Hunka1,* and W. T. de Groot1,2
1Centre for Sustainable Management of Resources, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2Institute of Environmental Science, Leiden University, The Netherlands
*now at: Roskilde University, Department of Environmental, Social and Spatial Change, Denmark

Received: 23 Apr 2010 – Accepted: 28 Apr 2010 – Published: 18 May 2010
Abstract. 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.

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.

Citation: Hunka, A. and de Groot, W. T.: Participative environmental management and social capital in Poland, Soc. Geogr. Discuss., 6, 39-50, doi:10.5194/sgd-6-39-2010, 2010.
 
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