Principles of Environmental Sciences (ESA-20806)
Wageningen University, Sharelle Verheij, October 2017
Social Sciences
Chapter 1: Role of social sciences in environmental problems
Environmental degradation = The (lack of) human action, leading to a change in the
physical environment which has an adverse present or future effect on human well-
being.
Environmental management = Conscious, purposeful human action to prevent or
reduce environmental degradation and/or to remedy or compensate for the effects of
environmental degradation.
Environmental social sciences investigate environmental degradation and
management as societal phenomena.
DPSIR = Drivers (causes), Pressure(s), State, Impact(s), Response(s)
Institutions = rule-based social patterns that structure social interactions
and exert a broad and lasting influence on society (e.g. language, money, environmental
laws, university system, table manners, traffic rules)
Institutionalization = the emerge of a new institution
Inequality:
1. unequal impacts of environmental problems on different persons and social
categories (e.g. living nearby a nuclear site, working in dangerous industries,
being pregnant, being a young child)
2. social-distributional effects of environmental policies (e.g. general tax on
household energy is worse for poor families than for rich families, emission
standards that require heavy investments harder for small and medium-sized
enterprises)
3. inequality between mankind and animals (and plants/species/ecosystems)
Normative (prescriptive; ought to be so; political) vs. Descriptive (claim to be so; scientific)
statements
, Chapter 2: Environmental policy making and the involvement of stakeholders
Policy = set of principles and plans to guide activities towards some goal
(laws, regulations, principles, priorities, plans, time schedules, budgets, consultation,
decision procedures etc.)
Public policy = broad framework of ideas and values where decisions are taken
and (in)action is pursued by governments in relation to some issue/problem
Policy making with the use of ‘policy cycle’ / ‘ phase model’ (consecutive phases):
Problem public and political agendas (e.g. Greenpeace) policy formulation
decision making / policy adoption policy implementation solution / new problem
Policy formation =
agenda setting + policy formulation
National level governmental policies
Policy making according to the ‘rounds model’ / ‘ interactive policy making’ (e.g.
Kyoto Protocol; reduction of greenhouse gas emissions): International policies
Environmental governance = the set of regulatory processes, mechanisms and
organizations through which political actors (the state, communities, businesses, and
NGOs) influence environmental actions and outcomes
Environmental policy occurs at multiple levels and involves multiple actors
Stakeholders = any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the
achievement of the organization’s objective / by a policy/project/problem
- Governmental organizations;
National/provinces/municipalities
Different ministries
- Companies and other business organizations
Industries, finance, retail, farms
Multinationals/medium-sized/one-person micro-enterprise
- Research institutes
Private (consultancies)/public (universities, governmental)
- NGOs = Non-Governmental Organization (civil society organizations)
Local, national and international
Consumer organization, trade union, employers’ association
- Local communities
Organized (social networks/institutes)/fragmented
Gender/occupation/social status
- Media
Wageningen University, Sharelle Verheij, October 2017
Social Sciences
Chapter 1: Role of social sciences in environmental problems
Environmental degradation = The (lack of) human action, leading to a change in the
physical environment which has an adverse present or future effect on human well-
being.
Environmental management = Conscious, purposeful human action to prevent or
reduce environmental degradation and/or to remedy or compensate for the effects of
environmental degradation.
Environmental social sciences investigate environmental degradation and
management as societal phenomena.
DPSIR = Drivers (causes), Pressure(s), State, Impact(s), Response(s)
Institutions = rule-based social patterns that structure social interactions
and exert a broad and lasting influence on society (e.g. language, money, environmental
laws, university system, table manners, traffic rules)
Institutionalization = the emerge of a new institution
Inequality:
1. unequal impacts of environmental problems on different persons and social
categories (e.g. living nearby a nuclear site, working in dangerous industries,
being pregnant, being a young child)
2. social-distributional effects of environmental policies (e.g. general tax on
household energy is worse for poor families than for rich families, emission
standards that require heavy investments harder for small and medium-sized
enterprises)
3. inequality between mankind and animals (and plants/species/ecosystems)
Normative (prescriptive; ought to be so; political) vs. Descriptive (claim to be so; scientific)
statements
, Chapter 2: Environmental policy making and the involvement of stakeholders
Policy = set of principles and plans to guide activities towards some goal
(laws, regulations, principles, priorities, plans, time schedules, budgets, consultation,
decision procedures etc.)
Public policy = broad framework of ideas and values where decisions are taken
and (in)action is pursued by governments in relation to some issue/problem
Policy making with the use of ‘policy cycle’ / ‘ phase model’ (consecutive phases):
Problem public and political agendas (e.g. Greenpeace) policy formulation
decision making / policy adoption policy implementation solution / new problem
Policy formation =
agenda setting + policy formulation
National level governmental policies
Policy making according to the ‘rounds model’ / ‘ interactive policy making’ (e.g.
Kyoto Protocol; reduction of greenhouse gas emissions): International policies
Environmental governance = the set of regulatory processes, mechanisms and
organizations through which political actors (the state, communities, businesses, and
NGOs) influence environmental actions and outcomes
Environmental policy occurs at multiple levels and involves multiple actors
Stakeholders = any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the
achievement of the organization’s objective / by a policy/project/problem
- Governmental organizations;
National/provinces/municipalities
Different ministries
- Companies and other business organizations
Industries, finance, retail, farms
Multinationals/medium-sized/one-person micro-enterprise
- Research institutes
Private (consultancies)/public (universities, governmental)
- NGOs = Non-Governmental Organization (civil society organizations)
Local, national and international
Consumer organization, trade union, employers’ association
- Local communities
Organized (social networks/institutes)/fragmented
Gender/occupation/social status
- Media
