Managing Global Transitions (Sep 2018)
Different Ways of Environmental Issue Management by Active Citizens: Case Studies from Hungary
Abstract
The paper illustrates how active citizens can manage environmental issues by participation in local or national programs or events. The aim of this paper is to provide – on the one hand – the theory of social participation of active citizens with the focus on environmental issues. On the other hand, the paper attempts to illustrate the topic with three good examples from Hungary based on secondary information and interviews. The first one is a program of school gardens; the second one is an issue in Szentgotthárd and is related to the case of a planned incinerator, which was banned by the debut of local civic organisations some years ago. The third program namely TeSzedd (the program is about collecting litter in an organised campaign in Hungary) is a case, which is initiated by a top down approach but managed by local citizens. The results show that citizens can be active in shaping environmental issues but the most important factor seems to be that they need to be concerned personally about the issues.
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