The cost of public involvement lessons learned: How we can reinvest in the future
- Equinox Environmental, Inc., Shushan, NY (United States)
- Equinox Environmental, Inc., Ballston Spa, NY (United States)
Throughout the history of environmental remediation and restoration projects, education programs have been viewed as something to develop when the financial climate is good, and something to eliminate when the financial picture declines. Technology and risk are issues that citizens and interested community members have come to be concerned about regardless of the purpose of the project. Many times the public response to an environmental remediation effort is unanticipated. Government and industry representatives often forget that even a {open_quotes}cleanup{close_quotes} effort can cause unrest in a community. Past education and public involvement efforts have been costly, from both a financial perspective and from a public policy and programmatic perspective. Money alone cannot provide education and public involvement opportunities that will enable a project to go forward to completion. Investment in environmental programs and projects for education, public involvement and communication activities has been substantial, from a financial point of view. Investment, from a policy and program success perspective, has not yielded high returns on the investment. One must examine past and current education and public involvement {open_quotes}investments{close_quotes} and where emphasis has been place in development of the programs. In this review, the authors suggest the need to look at the level of investment from the following perspectives: (1) Financial, (2) Educational Opportunity, (3) Public Involvement Opportunity, (4) Policy and Programmatic Success, (5) Evaluation of Cost and Resulting Benefit, and (6) Reinvesting Our Financial Commitments for the Future.
- OSTI ID:
- 474110
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960804-Vol.2; TRN: 97:002181-0118
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: SPECTRUM `96: international conference on nuclear and hazardous waste management, Seattle, WA (United States), 18-23 Aug 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the international topical meeting on nuclear and hazardous waste management (SPECTRM `96): Volume 2; PB: 875 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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