Determinants of the willingness-to-participate in an environmental intervention in a Beirut neighborhood

Abstract

Participatory environmental management can empower communities and enhance the sustainability of environmental interventions. However, existing power structures and inequalities along class, gender, or ethnic lines could prevent part of the community from accessing the full benefits of the intervention. An analysis of determinants of the willingness-to-participate in an environmental intervention in a Beirut neighborhood is conducted. Socioeconomic, health-risk distribution, and perception of community efficacy are used as predictors. A randomly selected sample of residents was surveyed. Respondents were asked to specify the frequency with which they were willing to be involved in an intervention to address priority environmental problems in the neighborhood. Bivariate and multivariate ordinal regression analyses were conducted. Tests of significance were based on the 95percent confidence intervals (CI) of the odds ratio (OR). Males versus females (OR = 4.89, P 0.001), respiratory patients versus nonsufferers (OR = 5.65, P 0.001), tenants versus house owners (OR = 2.98, P 0.01), and the less educated versus the more educated (OR = 2.42, P 0.05) were significantly more likely to be willing to participate. The reluctance of female community members to participate might be a major hindrance to community-based environmental protection and special strategies must be devised to overcome it. On the other hand, respondents suffering from an illness perceived to be related to environmental toxins are likely to be strong participants in environmental conservation efforts. Finally, the study yielded no evidence that belief or lack of it in the efficacy of community action is a good predictor of the willingness-to-participate in such action. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.Agarwal B, 2000, CAMBRIDGE J ECON, V24, P283, DOI 10.1093-cje-24.3.283; Ahmed M. R., 2003, Forests, Trees and Livelihoods, V13, P79; Beck U., 1992, RISK SOC NEW MODERNI; DESAI V, 1996, 3 WORLD PLANNING REV, V18, P217; Edwards SD, 1997, OCEAN COAST MANAGE, V36, P143, DOI 10.1016-S0964-5691(97)00011-2; ELZEIN A, 2005, UNPUB RISK ANAL INT; Etzioni A, 1996, DEV CHANGE, V27, P301, DOI 10.1111-j.1467-7660.1996.tb00591.x; FALSBORDA O, 1981, INTERMEDIATE TECHNOL; Gupte M, 2004, HUM ECOL, V32, P365, DOI 10.1023-B:HUEC.0000028086.63366.3d; JACKSON C, 1993, DEV CHANGE, V24, P649, DOI 10.1111-j.1467-7660.1993.tb00500.x; Kapoor I, 2001, J ENVIRON MANAGE, V63, P269, DOI 10.1006-jema.2001.0478; KONGOLO M, 2002, J INT WOMENS STUDIES, V4, P79; Lahiri-Dutt K., 2004, COMMUNITY DEV J, V39, P13, DOI 10.1093-cdj-39.1.13; Lall SV, 2004, J DEV STUD, V40, P1, DOI 10.1080-002203802000213184; Laurian L, 2004, J AM PLANN ASSOC, V70, P53, DOI 10.1080-01944360408976338; Lubell M, 2002, ENVIRON BEHAV, V34, P431, DOI 10.1177-00116502034004002; Mansuri G, 2004, WORLD BANK RES OBSER, V19, P1, DOI 10.1093-wbro-lkh012; Marjolein BAV, 2002, GLOBAL ENVIRON CHANG, V12, P167; MCBETH M, 1992, EC DEV REV, V10, P41; *MIN ENV REP LEB, 2001, STAT ENV REP; MOHAI P, 1992, SOC NATUR RESOUR, V5, P1, DOI 10.1080-08941929209380772; MORRISON WR, 1994, J CEREAL SCI, V20, P69, DOI 10.1006-jcrs.1994.1046; Mukhopadhyay L, 2004, ECOL ECON, V49, P215, DOI 10.1016-j.ecolecon.2004.03.020; Paraskevopoulos S, 2003, SOC NATUR RESOUR, V16, P759, DOI 10.1080-08941920390227167; Parisi D, 2004, SOC NATUR RESOUR, V17, P97, DOI 10.1080-08941920490261212; Polk M, 2003, TRANSPORT RES D-TR E, V8, P75, DOI 10.1016-S1361-9209(02)00034-2; Putnam R. D., 2000, BOWLING ALONE COLLAP; Snary C., 2002, J ENVIRON PLANN MAN, V45, P267, DOI 10.1080-09640560220116332; Soderqvist T, 2003, ECOL ECON, V47, P105, DOI 10.1016-j.ecoleon.2002.09.004; Tesh SN, 1999, POLICY SCI, V32, P39, DOI 10.1023-A:1004398228075; Vanslembrouck I, 2002, J AGR ECON, V53, P489, DOI 10.1111-j.1477-9552.2002.tb00034.x; Williams B. L., 2001, J ENVIRON PLANN MAN, V44, P41; Woolcock M., 2001, ISUMA CANADIAN J POL, V2, P11; Zanetell BA, 2004, WORLD DEV, V32, P793, DOI 10.1016-j.worlddev.2004.01.002; ZURAYK R, 2003, ARIDLANDS NEWSLETTER, V53; Zurayk R, 2001, AGR ECOSYST ENVIRON, V86, P247, DOI 10.1016-S0167-8809(00)00287-521