Excerpt from Lawrence, A. (2005) Reluctant citizens? The disjuncture between participatory biological monitoring and participatory environmental governance. Paper presented at the International Sociology Conference “Environment, Knowledge and Democracy” 6-7 July 2005. Faculte des Sciences de Luminy, Marseilles. Full paper available here.
On the one hand, participants are longing for the opportunity, indeed the ‘excuse’, to observe nature; on the other, they are disenchanted with governance opportunities howsoever presented to them, and displace responsibility for decision-making on to others. Their relationship with science is ambivalent; whilst sceptical about the link between scientific data and good decision-making, many discover a new relationship with science… through satisfaction derived from contribution to ‘the bigger picture’.
… in relation to the institutions of conservation, many expressed powerlessness, resignation… carefully distanced themselves from the processes of power. Most felt there was little likelihood of their activities changing anything: ‘I don’t see our roles as having any power to change things, I see our role as … providing records for other more experienced people to use … I mean the decisions that I would want to make are probably not the decisions that are going to be made. Because I would be biased towards keeping things natural, whereas this is not always possible.’
Most significantly, these people are doing something because it is important and meaningful to them, and also links them up with other people because of that shared sense of meaning. ‘… their experiences and related discourses are not significant purely in terms of the environment per se. They also enhance the personal meaning of these individuals’ lives and, consequently, contribute to their sense of well-being.’