TY - JOUR
T1 - Public Representation in Water Management—A Network Analysis of Organization and Public Perceptions in Phoenix, Arizona
AU - Cutts, Bethany B.
AU - Muñoz-Erickson, Tischa A.
AU - Shutters, Shade
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015, Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2015/12/2
Y1 - 2015/12/2
N2 - To better accomplish their mission of an informed public, environmental education organizations often exchange ideas, share financing, and distribute overhead through collaboration. Yet it remains to be seen whether benefits of these collaborations extend to the public. We examine two possible benefits: the ability of the organizations to act as representatives of the public interest, and equitable access to environmental educational materials. We model patterns of public access to water-related education across organizations using two surveys in metropolitan Phoenix, AZ. This enables the study of interorganizational social networks and public outcomes. Results support the idea that environmental education organizations could provide a credible proxy for direct citizen participation. However, not all organizations are equivalently engaged with historically underrepresented groups like women, minority racial and ethnic groups, and those who rent their home. The implications for more inclusive environmental policy decisions are discussed.
AB - To better accomplish their mission of an informed public, environmental education organizations often exchange ideas, share financing, and distribute overhead through collaboration. Yet it remains to be seen whether benefits of these collaborations extend to the public. We examine two possible benefits: the ability of the organizations to act as representatives of the public interest, and equitable access to environmental educational materials. We model patterns of public access to water-related education across organizations using two surveys in metropolitan Phoenix, AZ. This enables the study of interorganizational social networks and public outcomes. Results support the idea that environmental education organizations could provide a credible proxy for direct citizen participation. However, not all organizations are equivalently engaged with historically underrepresented groups like women, minority racial and ethnic groups, and those who rent their home. The implications for more inclusive environmental policy decisions are discussed.
KW - collaboration
KW - public information
KW - social network analysis
KW - urban
KW - water resource conservation
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U2 - 10.1080/08941920.2015.1020581
DO - 10.1080/08941920.2015.1020581
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84947016733
SN - 0894-1920
VL - 28
SP - 1340
EP - 1357
JO - Society and Natural Resources
JF - Society and Natural Resources
IS - 12
ER -