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Soc. Geogr., 6, 39-45, 2011
www.soc-geogr.net/6/39/2011/
doi:10.5194/sg-6-39-2011
© Author(s) 2011. This work is distributed
under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
 
31 Mar 2011
Participative environmental management and social capital in Poland
A. Hunka1,* and W. T. de Groot1,2
1Centre for Sustainable Management of Resources, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2Institute of Environmental Science, Leiden University, The Netherlands
*now at: Roskilde University, Department of Environmental, Social and Spatial Change, Denmark

Received: 23 Apr 2010 – Published in Soc. Geogr. Discuss.: 18 May 2010
Revised: 17 Jan 2011 – Accepted: 23 Mar 2011 – Published: 31 Mar 2011
Abstract. Eastern European countries, such as Poland, often illustrate social capital studies. Upon entering the European Union, social capital in Poland was seen as a problem in implementing new regulations, particularly in the field of environmental policy. Equally important, environmental issues often present a high degree of complexity – and European legislation requires multi-stakeholder involvement in decision-making processes. Thus, the dilemma: on the one hand, there is a demand to engage and consult many actors; on the other hand, the actors function in administrative culture with a ubiquitous top-down approach taken by institutional decision makers.

This paper attempts to address the problem from the perspective of social capital theory. An overview of administrative culture and examples of decision-making processes shows the way decisions are currently made. We also propose a way to achieve more participative environmental management.

Citation: Hunka, A. and de Groot, W. T.: Participative environmental management and social capital in Poland, Soc. Geogr., 6, 39-45, doi:10.5194/sg-6-39-2011, 2011.
 
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