Organizing Citizen Engagement for Democratic Environmental Planning

In recent years civic engagement emphasizing community involvement and collective learning has become a centerpiece of environmental management. This article explores civic participation in water resources management and whether a framework developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) fosters democratic environmental planning. We provide an overview of citizen involvement in water resource management, discuss the U.S. EPA framework, and highlight key issues with two case studies. It is widely acknowledged that lack of meaningful stakeholder and other public input in the planning process may lead to barriers to successful environmental management. Our case studies indicate that the U.S. EPA framework, while not new or especially innovative, represents a necessary commitment to civic engagement and provides a structure for organizing it. Findings from our study emphasize the importance of financial resources and strong commitment to the principle of civic engagement in order to increase and sustain the democratic underpinnings of environmental planning.