TY - JOUR
T1 - Communicating with citizens
T2 - The power of photosimulations and simple editing
AU - Sullivan, William C.
AU - Kuo, Frances E.
AU - Prabhu, Mona
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by a grant from the National Consortium for Environmental Education and Training at the University of Michigan and through the Office of Environmental Education at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; our thanks to both institutions. We also thank the administrators, teachers, and students at Joliet West and Joliet Central High Schools for their interest and participation in this study. Thanks also go to Harold Balbach, of the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, for his comments.
PY - 1997/7
Y1 - 1997/7
N2 - There is considerable evidence that Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) may be failing in one of their chief aims- communicating information about proposed environmental changes to citizens. This paper proposes and tests two relatively simple techniques for making EISs accessible to members of the general public. We presented three versions of the project description portion of an EIS for flood control measures on the Hickory Creek in Joliet, Illinois, US, to 373 Joliet citizens. After reading the materials, each citizen answered a number of questions about the proposed project and its environmental consequences. The original project description yielded almost no understanding, but the two modifications had consistently positive and substantial effects on understanding. These findings, in combination with the low cost of the techniques, offer considerable hope for more effective public participation in the EIS process, and therefore, more viable public projects.
AB - There is considerable evidence that Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) may be failing in one of their chief aims- communicating information about proposed environmental changes to citizens. This paper proposes and tests two relatively simple techniques for making EISs accessible to members of the general public. We presented three versions of the project description portion of an EIS for flood control measures on the Hickory Creek in Joliet, Illinois, US, to 373 Joliet citizens. After reading the materials, each citizen answered a number of questions about the proposed project and its environmental consequences. The original project description yielded almost no understanding, but the two modifications had consistently positive and substantial effects on understanding. These findings, in combination with the low cost of the techniques, offer considerable hope for more effective public participation in the EIS process, and therefore, more viable public projects.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0195-9255(97)00007-3
DO - 10.1016/S0195-9255(97)00007-3
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0031177923
SN - 0195-9255
VL - 17
SP - 295
EP - 310
JO - Environmental Impact Assessment Review
JF - Environmental Impact Assessment Review
IS - 4
ER -