Abstract
Erica Tauzer, M.S. in Environmental Studies, SUNY ESF Anticipated Completion: December 2013 Major Professor: Valerie Luzadis, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Environmental Studies The Onondaga Lake Experience: Understanding Relationships of Place Attachment and Participation within a Healing Social Ecological Landscape Sense of place and procedural justice are two factors shown to motivate local individuals to participate in ecological planning processes. Onondaga Lake, which once was the most polluted and largest Superfund Site in the US, is currently being cleaned up and restored. Various efforts have been made throughout the process to engage local communities. The objectives of this study are to understand the linkages of between people’s experiences of place attachment at Onondaga Lake and experiences participating in the lake’s cleanup and restoration efforts. Questionnaires and interviews are used to measure place attachment, procedural justice, and typology of participation among local residents involved at cleanup and restoration efforts. Results will be analyzed to determine a relationship between these variables, as well as their situation within an integrative governance framework that looks at differences of values, process engagement and power. In addition to providing a new framework for meaningful participation, results are expected to produce practical new insights for designing public participation processes.
Description
Environmental Science and Studies Panel
