Beyond Technocratic Environmentalism: Citizen Inquiry in Sustainable Development

This chapter outlines the ways in which environmental politics became dependent on science and pointed to its problematic implications for citizen participation, an important feature of the early history of the environmental movement. It examines how this resultant "technocratic environmentalism" has come to shape the politics of sustainable development. Given that an estimated 60 percent of the contents of sustainable development programs have to be addressed at a local level, the goal of motivating local communities is critical to the success of Agenda 21 as a whole. The chapter also outlines a methodology developed by the Danish Board as a form of citizen inquiry. To bring lay voices into technological and environmental inquiries, the board sought to move beyond the use of narrow expert advisory reports by taking issues directly to the public. As a highly innovative contribution to the facilitation of democratic practices, the consensus conference would seem to provide a model for returning citizens to environmental policymaking.