Taking the heterogeneity of citizens into account: flood risk communication in coastal cities – a case study of Bremen

The likely manifestations of climate change like flood hazards are prominent topics in public communication. This can be shown by media analysis and questionnaire data. However, in the case of flood risks an information gap remains resulting in misinformed citizens who probably will not perform the necessary protective actions when an emergency occurs. This paper examines more closely a newly developed approach to flood risk communication that takes the heterogeneity of citizens into account and aims to close this gap. The heterogeneity is analysed on the meso level regarding differences in residential situation as well as on the micro level with respect to risk perception and protective actions. Using the city of Bremen as a case study, empirical data from n=831 respondents were used to identify Action Types representing different states of readiness for protective actions in view of flood risks. These subpopulations can be provided with specific information to meet their heterogeneous needs for risk communication. A prototype of a computer-based information system is described that can produce and pass on such tailored information. However, such an approach to risk communication has to be complemented by meso level analysis which takes the social diversity of subpopulations into account. Social vulnerability is the crucial concept for understanding the distribution of resources and capacities among different social groups. We therefore recommend putting forums and organisations into place that can mediate between the state and its citizens

"Consumerist predators"? Emerging lifestyles between McDonaldization and sustainability perspectives ; the case of highly qualified employees (HQEs) in India

"In industrializing countries new groups of consumers with remarkable purchasing power are emerging. Representing a 'new middle class' they are seen as a carrier and promoter of a so-called 'western way of life' beyond the OECD countries. They are presented as having a consumerist predator lifestyle which stands in conflict with the requirements for a sustainable future. Furthermore, they are imputed a profound lack of a sense of responsibility towards society. However, such a 'civil society spirit' is a core prerequisite for coping with the challenge of changing existing lifestyles to insure a more sustainable future. Based upon data from a survey this paper demonstrates that these assumptions are flawed and constitute a misleading perception of the so-called new middle class and their potential role as contributor to and even promoter of a more sustainable future in industrializing countries. The situation is contradictory: on one hand they are clearly the most relevant agents of spreading non-sustainable lifestyles, predominantly confined to the OECD countries in the past. On the other hand relevant parts of them do acknowledge social responsibilities beyond the traditional ambit of their families, and they also acknowledge responsibilities to contribute to a more sustainable future. Thus, comparing the middle class of industrializing countries to those of the (post)industrializing countries, the most interesting question is not whether sustainability is explicitly an issue or not. It seems far more interesting to ask: what are the specific profiles of attitudes and everyday practices of particular groups of the 'new middle class' in particular countries, and are these conducive to a more sustainable future in terms of both social and ecological responsibility? In pursuit of this our case study focuses on HQEs in India." (author's abstract

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) as a challenge to spatial planning: on vision-building and decision-making: an empirical evaluation of applied planning in Germany

"Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) as a means of enhancing sustainability has been the topic of a model project promoted by the EU during the late 1990s. Meanwhile, all member states are urged by an EU recommendation to develop national ICZM strategies, based on a set of criteria derived from this model project. The most prominent rationale of the criteria is a request to reassess existing spatial planning procedures and routines, in order to make them more participative and to strengthen and diversify the role of civil society actors. However, before ICZM was promoted, many European countries had already developed more or less complex features to include a growing number of actors in various stages of spatial planning processes: In concept building, decision making, and implementation. As a consequence, the EU recommendations have not been unanimously appreciated. One of the main arguments against them claimed that already existing schemes and procedures (i) provide a wide array of participative elements, and that (ii) participation has thus been a core element of spatial planning, even before ICZM appeared on the scene. Against this background, our study evaluated the performance of the German spatial planning system, in terms of integrating and co-ordinating different stakes into planning procedures of large scale infrastructure projects in the German coastal zone. The mechanisms for ensuring participation were assessed as well. The research was part of the development of a German National Strategy for Integrated Coastal Zone Management, a reaction to the EU recommendation. Based on the assumption that the established German spatial planning and approval system fulfils a decisive role in environmental regulation, regional economic development and the co-ordination of sectoral policies, the connection between ICZM and spatial planning will be discussed, with reference to the theoretical discussion about sustainable governance. The study thus helps to understand the prerequisites for participative management, and the relation between formal and informal administrative, as well as political, processes in countries with highly developed administrations and tightly applied regulations for decision-making. To introduce sustainability-oriented governance concepts, such as ICZM, in countries like Germany requires the government to combine instruments of spatial planning with participatory forms of vision building, in order to create new governance arrangements." (author's abstract

Retrospektive Analyse größerer Planverfahren in der Küstenzone unter der Perspektive "IKZM-Tauglichkeit"

"Vor dem Hintergrund einer dynamischen wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung vieler Küstenzonen einerseits und der schleichenden Degradation ihrer ökologischen Systeme andererseits werden in verschiedenen europäischen und außereuropäischen Ländern seit längerem Konzepte für ein integriertes Küstenzonenmanagement (IKZM) entwickelt und auch bereits praktische Erfahrungen gesammelt (die umfangreiche Literatur dazu soll hier nicht zitiert werden). Auch die EU hat zum IKZM eine Reihe von Aktivitäten entwickelt, die über das Demonstrationsprogramm der Europäischen Kommission zum integrierten Küstenzonenmanagement (EU 1999a) zu der Empfehlung 2002/413/EG zur Umsetzung einer Strategie für ein IKZM (EU 2002) geführt haben. Seit einigen Jahren gibt es auch in Deutschland verschiedene Ansätze, die Idee des IKZM zu implementieren (KANNEN 2000; STERR & COLIJN 2000), die aktuell vor dem Hintergrund der Berichtspflicht der Bundesregierung an die EU im Jahr 2006 an Relevanz gewinnen. So werden aktuell vom BMVBW/BBR das Projekt „Integriertes Küstenzonenmanagement (IKZM): Raumordnungsstrategien im Küstenbereich und auf dem Meer“ (s. GLAESER et al. 2004) und im BMBF-Förderprogramm „Forschung für ein nachhaltiges Küstenzonenmanagement“ zwei Verbünde gefördert, die regionale, umsetzungsorientierte und insbesondere dem Prinzip der Nachhaltigkeit verpflichtete IKZM-Konzepte entwickeln wollen. Diese Ansätze zielen insbesondere auf die Einrichtung von IKZM-Foren als neue kommunikative Strukturen zur Realisierung von IKZM [...]" [Textauszug

Rapid change in agricultural policies: the BSE-crisis in Germany (2000-2001)

"Today, 'governance' is regarded as the most effective tool to work on and to solve civil political conflicts between competing social claims (Grote/Mbikpi2001). This applies for the field of agricultural and rural problems, too (Berkes/Folke/Colding 1998; Lance/Gunderson/Holling 2001). Governance is considered to compensate the weaknesses of traditional forms of political-administrative interventions (state failure due to continuous functional differentiation and individualisation). On the other hand, governance mostly enables incremental changes only. Such a change usually proceeds slowly. But in view of the dramatic potential of non-sustainable practices and routines and there is a strong demand for a more substantial and rather rapid change. Agriculture represents in many respects a perfect example for this expectation. However, the more substantial and rapid the intended changes are being conceived the more they inevitably get in conflict with more or less firmly established power structures. Thus, the question arises: How do such hierarchies of power get moving? Or even better: How can rapid and substantial change in favour of more sustainable practices and orientations can be stimulated? Metaphorically speaking: Are there examples to be found where the focus was not primarily on modifying the distribution of a given cake but where the recipe of the cake is fixed anew? The political conflict regarding the reorientation of agricultural policy in Germany which came up in connection with the BSE scandal in the year 2000 may be seen as an example of this kind of change. In this case, the political power of an bb-industrial cluster which had been very stable over decades was shaken to its foundations within just a few weeks time. This process is being described within the scope of an analysis of beliefs, discourses and story-lines (Hajer 1996) of the relevant actors in politics and associations as well as in the press. The decisive point is seen in a rapid process of de-legitimation of the actor discourses having been dominant until then. On this basis existing discourse alliances can be dismantled and new alliances can be formed. The process of de-legitimation is mainly a result of two interrelated elements: The specific logic of more or less voluntarily chosen discourses (about “good agriculture” and the character of BSE) on the one hand and real incidents (identification of an infected cow with undoubtedly German origin) on the other hand. Finally, it will be discussed what are the limits of such processes of rapid dismantling of power positions and political concepts (Kingdon 2001)." (author's remark

Lebensstile - der sanfte Weg zu mehr Nachhaltigkeit?

Der überwiegende Teil der Deutschen hält es für sehr wichtig, 'für wirksamen Umweltschutz' zu sorgen. Trotz zwischenzeitlicher Schwankungen hält sich dieses hohe Niveau seit den 1980er Jahren stabil und erreicht 2004 einen Wert von 92 Prozent. Anders stellen sich die Verhältnisse jedoch dar, wenn Befragungen keine Antwortmöglichkeiten vorgeben: Der Anteil derer, die den Umweltschutz zu den wichtigsten politischen Problemen zählen, sinkt dann deutlich von 60 Prozent in 1989 auf 19 Prozent in Westdeutschland in 2004. Die Bürger(innen) selbst sehen die persönliche Alltagsgestaltung offenkundig als ein Feld an, auf dem in wesentlichem Maße darüber entschieden wird, ob der für so wünschenswert gehaltene Schutz der Umwelt tatsächlich vorankommt. Sie haben sich damit einen strategischen Gedanken zu eigen gemacht, der in Deutschland seit dem Gutachten des Rates von Sachverständigen für Umweltfragen (SRU) von 1978 in zahlreichen umweltpolitischen Schlüsseldokumenten propagiert worden ist. Die strategische Orientierung auf die Veränderungen von Alltagsmustern findet ihre Fortsetzung in der Ausweitung der umweltpolitischen Thematik zur Nachhaltigkeitsthematik. Unter der Überschrift 'Veränderung der Konsumgewohnheiten' fordert die Agenda 21 in Kapitel 4 die 'Entwicklung einer nationalen Politik und nationalen Strategie, um eine Änderung nicht nachhaltiger Verbrauchsgewohnheiten herbeizuführen'. Diese Aufgabe wird an gleicher Stelle als 'tiefgreifende Veränderungen der Verbrauchsgewohnheiten von Industrie, Haushalten und Einzelpersonen' präzisiert. Wo im öffentlichen ökologischen Diskurs und - in geringerem Maße - in der politischen Konzeptbildung darüber nachgedacht wird, wie dieses Ziel erreicht werden könnte, werden Lebensstile mehr oder minder durchgehend als Kristallisationspunkte umwelt- und nachhaltigkeitspolitischer Veränderungen verstanden. Was ist davon zu halten? Der vorliegende Beitrag geht der Frage nach, inwiefern Lebensstilstrategien einen Beitrag zu mehr Nachhaltigkeit liefern. (ICD2

Ökologisches Handeln als sozialer Konflikt: eine Zwischenbilanz der Umweltbewußtseinsforschung

Inhaltsverzeichnis: 1 Der Weg des Themas "Umweltbewußtsein" auf die politische Tagesordnung; 1.1 "Umweltbewußtsein" als Thema politischer Akteure; 1.2 Umweltbewußtsein und Medien; 2 Entwicklung und Probleme der Umweltbewußtseinsforschung; 2.1 Die kognitive Struktur des Umweltbewußtseins und das Desaggregationsproblem; 2.2 Die Forderung nach Berücksichtigung der sozialen Kontexte und das Verallgemeinerungsproblem; 2.3 Methodische Probleme der Umweltbewußtseinsforschung; 2.4 Implizite Menschenbilder als Probleme der Umweltbewußtseinsforschung; 3 Perspektiven; 3.1 Ökologische Handlungsoptionen als Werte- und Zielkonflikt; 3.2 Problembezogene Einzeluntersuchungen und Methodenvielfalt; 3.3 Ökologische Gelegenheitsstrukturen als Verteilungskonflikte; 3.4 Ökologische Handlungsbereitschaft als politischer und soziokultureller Kontrollkonflikt