Knowledge, Power and Emotions in Stakeholder Participation within Environmental Governance

Environmental concerns are high on the political agenda in the current circumstances of climate change and uncertainty. Given the complex nature of environmental concerns, incorporating many different stakeholders and fields of expertise, it can be difficult to see how any agreement can be reached on ways forward, and especially what might be the ‘right’ approach to governance.

This thesis uses interpretive policy analysis to investigate the way in which flood alleviation policy is implemented at local scales, examining the decision-making processes that lead to change. The empirical study examines two case studies of flood alleviation sites in South Yorkshire subject to policy processes concerning flood risk following the dramatic weather patterns of recent years, and leading to structural changes to the sites.

By focussing on the themes that emerged from the data and the stories that were important to stakeholders a new perspective on the governance process emerges. The way in which we conceptualise power and knowledge/expertise is examined, and the role of place attachment and relationship to place is positioned alongside traditional interpretation, to offer a more rounded perspective which accounts for the intricacies and individuality of the policy making processes which affect different places. The thesis has developed a new approach to the understanding of environmental governance, which brings together interpretive policy analysis with relationship to place, incorporating understandings of emotions and collective memory to broaden the understanding of the way stakeholders impact on the changes to environmental sites. Through this suggestions are made about the way in which policy processes can be changed to offer more equality and justice within governance processes.