Thomas Webler - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Thomas Webler
Journal of environmental …, Jan 1, 2012
In this study, we describe local decision maker attitudes towards vernal pools to inform science ... more In this study, we describe local decision maker attitudes towards vernal pools to inform science communication and enhance vernal pool conservation efforts. We conducted interviews with town planning board and conservation commission members (n ¼ 9) from two towns in the State of Maine in the northeastern United States. We then mailed a questionnaire to a stratified random sample of planning board members in August and September 2007 with a response rate of 48.4% (n ¼ 320). The majority of survey respondents favored the protection and conservation of vernal pools in their towns. Decision makers were familiar with the term "vernal pool" and demonstrated positive attitudes to vernal pools in general. General appreciation and willingness to conserve vernal pools predicted support for the 2006 revisions to the Natural Resource Protection Act regulating Significant Vernal Pools. However, 48% of respondents were unaware of this law and neither prior knowledge of the law nor workshop attendance predicted support for the vernal pool law. Further, concerns about private property rights and development restrictions predicted disagreement with the vernal pool law. We conclude that science communication must rely on specific frames of reference, be sensitive to cultural values, and occur in an iterative system to link knowledge and action in support of vernal pool conservation.
To enable successful public participation in environmental decision making, practitioners need to... more To enable successful public participation in environmental decision making, practitioners need to know what works, but evaluation of proposed and existing processes is often lacking. We tested three tools for evaluation—focus groups, Q method, and surveys—at two contaminated sites with extensive public participation. Each tool is evaluated based on its requirements for implementation, the information it produces, and its acceptability to stakeholders. Which tool is most appropriate depends heavily on the available resources , what is happening at the site, and the evaluator's goals. Environmental Practice
Trust is widely recognised as a key variable in perceptions and decision-making about environment... more Trust is widely recognised as a key variable in perceptions and decision-making about environmental risks. However, most considerations of trust treat it as a simple two-agent relationship. Based on an analysis of a contaminated site cleanup in New Jersey, we identify a more complex construction of trust formed between multiple stakeholders. We refer to this construction as 'bridging'. In the case study presented, two distrusting stakeholders were able to achieve cooperation through moderate links of trust with two intermediaries. Then, we show how this bridge of trust can be broken by the formation of too much trust, as the intermediaries come to be seen by one distrusting stakeholder as coopted by the other.
Good public participation requires formative evaluation in order to learn from experience and imp... more Good public participation requires formative evaluation in order to learn from experience and improve the participation process as it’s happening. Q method is a promising tool for conducting such formative evaluations. Q allows the user to define the major perspectives held by stakeholders about the process, and clarify the sources of agreement and disagreement between them. Weaknesses of Q method include its unfamiliarity, its small sample size, and its dependence on a clear group of knowledgeable stakeholders.
This report is intended to present a basic description of the data from the two community surveys... more This report is intended to present a basic description of the data from the two community surveys and to document the text of the questions; the methods used for the survey data collection; and a brief overview of the results. Completed surveys were conducted at local communities near the Rocky Flats, Colorado and the Fernald, Ohio sites; no survey was
Society & Natural Resources, 2009
Public participation can benefit from formative evaluation to learn from experience and recommend... more Public participation can benefit from formative evaluation to learn from experience and recommend improvements to the participation process as it is happening. Q method is a promising tool for conducting formative evaluations. It specifies the different perspectives held by participants about the process and clarifies the sources of their agreement and disagreement. Further advantages are that the technique relies on
Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management, 2012
Technological hazards research, including that on oil spills and their aftermath, is giving great... more Technological hazards research, including that on oil spills and their aftermath, is giving greater attention to human dimension impacts resulting from events and response. While oil spill contingency planners recognize the importance of human dimension impacts, little systematic attention is given to them in contingency plans. We introduce an approach to identifying human dimensions impacts using concepts from hazard and vulnerability assessment and apply it to the Bouchard-120 oil spill in Buzzards Bay, MA. Our assessment covers the spill, emergency response, clean-up, damage assessment, and mid-term recovery. This approach, while still exploratory, did demonstrate that the spill produced a range of positive and negative impacts on people and institutions and that these were mediated by vulnerabilities. We suggest ways in which the framework may help spill managers to learn from events and improve contingency planning by anticipating risks to social systems and identifying strategies to reduce impacts.
Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 2009
Marine oil spills can cause major social, economic, and ecological disruptions. Spill response ma... more Marine oil spills can cause major social, economic, and ecological disruptions. Spill response managers must weigh different options and objectives when deciding what to do. We investigated the ways in which preferences for spill response objectives vary among those who are responsible for oil spill contingency planning and response in Buzzards Bay, Delaware Bay, San Francisco Bay, and Washington State regions. We begin this paper with a discussion of the research method used in the study: the Q method. In Buzzards Bay, Delaware Bay, and San Francisco Bay three perspectives were identified in each case. In Washington State, two perspectives were identified. An analysis of the 11 case-specific perspectives reveals that they can be described by four 'composite' perspectives that describe how different stakeholders prioritize spill response objectives. These four perspectives are compared on several themes, including the emphasis they placed on mitigating economic impacts, protecting health and safety, mitigating ecological impacts, implementing a coordinated and timely response, addressing the needs and concerns of the affected public/communities, gaining public support for the response, mitigating cultural impacts, and mitigating social nuisance impacts. The implications for spill response planning and spill response evaluation are discussed.
Risk Analysis, 1995
Two methodological steps in the study of peoples' concerns are elicitation and classification. El... more Two methodological steps in the study of peoples' concerns are elicitation and classification. Elicitation of concerns through analytical methods such as surveys can be supplemented with techniques that perform more diversively. We present two examples of how this can be accomplished one in the expert community and one in the lay community. A classification taxonomy is a subjective choice of the researcher and it can only be evaluated against the stated objectives of the research. We present a classification schema that is explicitly oriented toward diagnosing the substantive needs of public discourses about risk decision making. To illustrate how concerns can be elicited in a social setting and how this classification tool can be applied, we report on a public participation exercise in New Jersey where citizens discussed the impacts of land application of sewage sludge at an experimental farm.
Environmental Policy and Governance, 2011
Nitrogen loading models are often designed and built without any input from decision makers. Bett... more Nitrogen loading models are often designed and built without any input from decision makers. Better understanding and communication between modelers and decision makers would improve the usefulness of models. In interviews with sixteen modelers and outreach professionals in southern New England, USA, we inquired about how nitrogen-loading models should be designed and used in local decision-making. Qualitative analysis revealed several insights about: differences between models intended to advance science and those to advance policymaking; matching the scale of the model with that of the decision; the danger that models might promote technocracy; how to present uncertainty information; ecological transferability and social acceptance of models to new locales; involvement of local decision makers and citizens in the design of models; and the use of models by lay decision makers. The findings highlight both opportunities and obstacles to the use of models in local policy making.
Journal of Environmental Management, 2012
In this study, we describe local decision maker attitudes towards vernal pools to inform science ... more In this study, we describe local decision maker attitudes towards vernal pools to inform science communication and enhance vernal pool conservation efforts. We conducted interviews with town planning board and conservation commission members (n ¼ 9) from two towns in the State of Maine in the northeastern United States. We then mailed a questionnaire to a stratified random sample of planning board members in August and September 2007 with a response rate of 48.4% (n ¼ 320). The majority of survey respondents favored the protection and conservation of vernal pools in their towns. Decision makers were familiar with the term "vernal pool" and demonstrated positive attitudes to vernal pools in general. General appreciation and willingness to conserve vernal pools predicted support for the 2006 revisions to the Natural Resource Protection Act regulating Significant Vernal Pools. However, 48% of respondents were unaware of this law and neither prior knowledge of the law nor workshop attendance predicted support for the vernal pool law. Further, concerns about private property rights and development restrictions predicted disagreement with the vernal pool law. We conclude that science communication must rely on specific frames of reference, be sensitive to cultural values, and occur in an iterative system to link knowledge and action in support of vernal pool conservation.
Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 1991
A variation on the conventional Delphi was used to assemble an informational summary of expert op... more A variation on the conventional Delphi was used to assemble an informational summary of expert opinion regarding the risks involved with the application of sewage sludge to farmland. The aim was to reduce uncertainties surrounding the associated health and environmental risks so agreement among citizens, farmers, and regulators could be reached. An expert panel was assembled for one day to take part in a structured communication process modeled after the Delphi. A Two-part questionaire using Likert scaling and open questions was iterated among rotating subgroups to build consensus and define disagreement. Plenary discussions were held between iterations to foster peer review.There was consensus about the risks of heavy metals, pathogens, and nutrients; but clear disagreement about the risk of organic toxins. Existing state regulations were deemed inadequate only for lead and some organic toxins. Expert quantitative ratings were found to differ radically for two hypothetical contexts: academic and public.
... found a link between the contents of public statements in the hearings and the regulatory dec... more ... found a link between the contents of public statements in the hearings and the regulatory decisions, suggesting that citizens can influence the decision ... This can happen if the emotion or fashion of the moment is permitted to dictate a decision that flies in the ... Decentralization. ...
Organization & Environment, 1992
... Thomas Webler, Horst Rakel and Robert JS Ross Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA ... upon W... more ... Thomas Webler, Horst Rakel and Robert JS Ross Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA ... upon Weber's theory of rationalization and, in the light of Hegelian and Marxist philosophies, elab-orate on the meaning and setting of domination (Horkheimer and Adorno, 1946; Marcuse ...
More and more the decision makers and affected parties engaged in solving environmental problems ... more More and more the decision makers and affected parties engaged in solving environmental problems are recognizing that traditional decision making strategies are insufficient. Often heavily shaped by scientific analysis and judgment, these kinds of decisions are vulnerable to two major ...
Policy Sciences, 1993
This article introduces a novel model of public particpation in political decisions. Structured i... more This article introduces a novel model of public particpation in political decisions. Structured in three consecutive steps, the model is based on the view that stakeholders, experts, and citizens should each contribute to the planning effort their particular expertise and experience. Stakeholders are valuable resources for eliciting concerns and developing evaluative criteria since their interests are at stake and they have already made attempts to structure and approach the issue. Experts are necessary to provide the data base and the functional relationships between options and impacts. Citizens are the potential victims and benefactors of proposed planning measures; they are the best judges to evaluate the different options available on the basis of the concerns and impacts revealed through the other two groups. The three-step model has been developed and frequently applied as a planning tool in West Germany. We compare this experience with the model's first application in the United States, and conclude that the three-step procedure offers a limited, but promising future for democratizing policy making in the United States.
Journal of environmental …, Jan 1, 2012
In this study, we describe local decision maker attitudes towards vernal pools to inform science ... more In this study, we describe local decision maker attitudes towards vernal pools to inform science communication and enhance vernal pool conservation efforts. We conducted interviews with town planning board and conservation commission members (n ¼ 9) from two towns in the State of Maine in the northeastern United States. We then mailed a questionnaire to a stratified random sample of planning board members in August and September 2007 with a response rate of 48.4% (n ¼ 320). The majority of survey respondents favored the protection and conservation of vernal pools in their towns. Decision makers were familiar with the term "vernal pool" and demonstrated positive attitudes to vernal pools in general. General appreciation and willingness to conserve vernal pools predicted support for the 2006 revisions to the Natural Resource Protection Act regulating Significant Vernal Pools. However, 48% of respondents were unaware of this law and neither prior knowledge of the law nor workshop attendance predicted support for the vernal pool law. Further, concerns about private property rights and development restrictions predicted disagreement with the vernal pool law. We conclude that science communication must rely on specific frames of reference, be sensitive to cultural values, and occur in an iterative system to link knowledge and action in support of vernal pool conservation.
To enable successful public participation in environmental decision making, practitioners need to... more To enable successful public participation in environmental decision making, practitioners need to know what works, but evaluation of proposed and existing processes is often lacking. We tested three tools for evaluation—focus groups, Q method, and surveys—at two contaminated sites with extensive public participation. Each tool is evaluated based on its requirements for implementation, the information it produces, and its acceptability to stakeholders. Which tool is most appropriate depends heavily on the available resources , what is happening at the site, and the evaluator's goals. Environmental Practice
Trust is widely recognised as a key variable in perceptions and decision-making about environment... more Trust is widely recognised as a key variable in perceptions and decision-making about environmental risks. However, most considerations of trust treat it as a simple two-agent relationship. Based on an analysis of a contaminated site cleanup in New Jersey, we identify a more complex construction of trust formed between multiple stakeholders. We refer to this construction as 'bridging'. In the case study presented, two distrusting stakeholders were able to achieve cooperation through moderate links of trust with two intermediaries. Then, we show how this bridge of trust can be broken by the formation of too much trust, as the intermediaries come to be seen by one distrusting stakeholder as coopted by the other.
Good public participation requires formative evaluation in order to learn from experience and imp... more Good public participation requires formative evaluation in order to learn from experience and improve the participation process as it’s happening. Q method is a promising tool for conducting such formative evaluations. Q allows the user to define the major perspectives held by stakeholders about the process, and clarify the sources of agreement and disagreement between them. Weaknesses of Q method include its unfamiliarity, its small sample size, and its dependence on a clear group of knowledgeable stakeholders.
This report is intended to present a basic description of the data from the two community surveys... more This report is intended to present a basic description of the data from the two community surveys and to document the text of the questions; the methods used for the survey data collection; and a brief overview of the results. Completed surveys were conducted at local communities near the Rocky Flats, Colorado and the Fernald, Ohio sites; no survey was
Society & Natural Resources, 2009
Public participation can benefit from formative evaluation to learn from experience and recommend... more Public participation can benefit from formative evaluation to learn from experience and recommend improvements to the participation process as it is happening. Q method is a promising tool for conducting formative evaluations. It specifies the different perspectives held by participants about the process and clarifies the sources of their agreement and disagreement. Further advantages are that the technique relies on
Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management, 2012
Technological hazards research, including that on oil spills and their aftermath, is giving great... more Technological hazards research, including that on oil spills and their aftermath, is giving greater attention to human dimension impacts resulting from events and response. While oil spill contingency planners recognize the importance of human dimension impacts, little systematic attention is given to them in contingency plans. We introduce an approach to identifying human dimensions impacts using concepts from hazard and vulnerability assessment and apply it to the Bouchard-120 oil spill in Buzzards Bay, MA. Our assessment covers the spill, emergency response, clean-up, damage assessment, and mid-term recovery. This approach, while still exploratory, did demonstrate that the spill produced a range of positive and negative impacts on people and institutions and that these were mediated by vulnerabilities. We suggest ways in which the framework may help spill managers to learn from events and improve contingency planning by anticipating risks to social systems and identifying strategies to reduce impacts.
Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 2009
Marine oil spills can cause major social, economic, and ecological disruptions. Spill response ma... more Marine oil spills can cause major social, economic, and ecological disruptions. Spill response managers must weigh different options and objectives when deciding what to do. We investigated the ways in which preferences for spill response objectives vary among those who are responsible for oil spill contingency planning and response in Buzzards Bay, Delaware Bay, San Francisco Bay, and Washington State regions. We begin this paper with a discussion of the research method used in the study: the Q method. In Buzzards Bay, Delaware Bay, and San Francisco Bay three perspectives were identified in each case. In Washington State, two perspectives were identified. An analysis of the 11 case-specific perspectives reveals that they can be described by four 'composite' perspectives that describe how different stakeholders prioritize spill response objectives. These four perspectives are compared on several themes, including the emphasis they placed on mitigating economic impacts, protecting health and safety, mitigating ecological impacts, implementing a coordinated and timely response, addressing the needs and concerns of the affected public/communities, gaining public support for the response, mitigating cultural impacts, and mitigating social nuisance impacts. The implications for spill response planning and spill response evaluation are discussed.
Risk Analysis, 1995
Two methodological steps in the study of peoples' concerns are elicitation and classification. El... more Two methodological steps in the study of peoples' concerns are elicitation and classification. Elicitation of concerns through analytical methods such as surveys can be supplemented with techniques that perform more diversively. We present two examples of how this can be accomplished one in the expert community and one in the lay community. A classification taxonomy is a subjective choice of the researcher and it can only be evaluated against the stated objectives of the research. We present a classification schema that is explicitly oriented toward diagnosing the substantive needs of public discourses about risk decision making. To illustrate how concerns can be elicited in a social setting and how this classification tool can be applied, we report on a public participation exercise in New Jersey where citizens discussed the impacts of land application of sewage sludge at an experimental farm.
Environmental Policy and Governance, 2011
Nitrogen loading models are often designed and built without any input from decision makers. Bett... more Nitrogen loading models are often designed and built without any input from decision makers. Better understanding and communication between modelers and decision makers would improve the usefulness of models. In interviews with sixteen modelers and outreach professionals in southern New England, USA, we inquired about how nitrogen-loading models should be designed and used in local decision-making. Qualitative analysis revealed several insights about: differences between models intended to advance science and those to advance policymaking; matching the scale of the model with that of the decision; the danger that models might promote technocracy; how to present uncertainty information; ecological transferability and social acceptance of models to new locales; involvement of local decision makers and citizens in the design of models; and the use of models by lay decision makers. The findings highlight both opportunities and obstacles to the use of models in local policy making.
Journal of Environmental Management, 2012
In this study, we describe local decision maker attitudes towards vernal pools to inform science ... more In this study, we describe local decision maker attitudes towards vernal pools to inform science communication and enhance vernal pool conservation efforts. We conducted interviews with town planning board and conservation commission members (n ¼ 9) from two towns in the State of Maine in the northeastern United States. We then mailed a questionnaire to a stratified random sample of planning board members in August and September 2007 with a response rate of 48.4% (n ¼ 320). The majority of survey respondents favored the protection and conservation of vernal pools in their towns. Decision makers were familiar with the term "vernal pool" and demonstrated positive attitudes to vernal pools in general. General appreciation and willingness to conserve vernal pools predicted support for the 2006 revisions to the Natural Resource Protection Act regulating Significant Vernal Pools. However, 48% of respondents were unaware of this law and neither prior knowledge of the law nor workshop attendance predicted support for the vernal pool law. Further, concerns about private property rights and development restrictions predicted disagreement with the vernal pool law. We conclude that science communication must rely on specific frames of reference, be sensitive to cultural values, and occur in an iterative system to link knowledge and action in support of vernal pool conservation.
Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 1991
A variation on the conventional Delphi was used to assemble an informational summary of expert op... more A variation on the conventional Delphi was used to assemble an informational summary of expert opinion regarding the risks involved with the application of sewage sludge to farmland. The aim was to reduce uncertainties surrounding the associated health and environmental risks so agreement among citizens, farmers, and regulators could be reached. An expert panel was assembled for one day to take part in a structured communication process modeled after the Delphi. A Two-part questionaire using Likert scaling and open questions was iterated among rotating subgroups to build consensus and define disagreement. Plenary discussions were held between iterations to foster peer review.There was consensus about the risks of heavy metals, pathogens, and nutrients; but clear disagreement about the risk of organic toxins. Existing state regulations were deemed inadequate only for lead and some organic toxins. Expert quantitative ratings were found to differ radically for two hypothetical contexts: academic and public.
... found a link between the contents of public statements in the hearings and the regulatory dec... more ... found a link between the contents of public statements in the hearings and the regulatory decisions, suggesting that citizens can influence the decision ... This can happen if the emotion or fashion of the moment is permitted to dictate a decision that flies in the ... Decentralization. ...
Organization & Environment, 1992
... Thomas Webler, Horst Rakel and Robert JS Ross Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA ... upon W... more ... Thomas Webler, Horst Rakel and Robert JS Ross Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA ... upon Weber's theory of rationalization and, in the light of Hegelian and Marxist philosophies, elab-orate on the meaning and setting of domination (Horkheimer and Adorno, 1946; Marcuse ...
More and more the decision makers and affected parties engaged in solving environmental problems ... more More and more the decision makers and affected parties engaged in solving environmental problems are recognizing that traditional decision making strategies are insufficient. Often heavily shaped by scientific analysis and judgment, these kinds of decisions are vulnerable to two major ...
Policy Sciences, 1993
This article introduces a novel model of public particpation in political decisions. Structured i... more This article introduces a novel model of public particpation in political decisions. Structured in three consecutive steps, the model is based on the view that stakeholders, experts, and citizens should each contribute to the planning effort their particular expertise and experience. Stakeholders are valuable resources for eliciting concerns and developing evaluative criteria since their interests are at stake and they have already made attempts to structure and approach the issue. Experts are necessary to provide the data base and the functional relationships between options and impacts. Citizens are the potential victims and benefactors of proposed planning measures; they are the best judges to evaluate the different options available on the basis of the concerns and impacts revealed through the other two groups. The three-step model has been developed and frequently applied as a planning tool in West Germany. We compare this experience with the model's first application in the United States, and conclude that the three-step procedure offers a limited, but promising future for democratizing policy making in the United States.