Environmental risk, uncertainty and participation: mapping an emergent epistemic community

Jason Chilvers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

90 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Amid increasing interest in participatory forms of environmental appraisal and decision making, the actors shaping these new governance spaces remain understudied. This paper seeks to refocus accounts of public engagement in science onto these participatory appraisal experts, or ‘experts of community’, through drawing on in-depth empirical research that followed them through networks building up around participatory appraisal practice in the UK environmental-risk domain. A mapping of the general nature and character of this emerging epistemic community provides the context within which to analyse how it has evolved and has begun to influence policy processes in the area of radioactive waste. Prospects for studying networks of public engagement experts at the science – policy interface and wider implications for deliberative democracy under uncertainty are explored.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2990-3008
Number of pages19
JournalEnvironment and Planning A
Volume40
Issue number12
Early online date7 Nov 2007
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2008

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