The social management of environmental change

While environmental change and policy responses to environmental threat have attracted considerable attention from government and industry over the past decade, conventional approaches have tended to be individualistic, naturalistic and government-led in orientation. This article considers a perspective on ‘sustainable development’ which emphasizes citizen-led initiatives. In particular, the possibilities for ‘bridging the gap’ between innovation processes and the implementation of technology are discussed. Three European case-studies are presented of a constructive and citizen-led ‘social management’ of environmental change—urban ecology, wind energy and science shops. Conclusions are then reached about the policy and theoretical significance of these social experiments.