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3.3. Research with emphasis on social instruments

Introduction

Social instruments for the implementation of policy for sustainable development include those

related to issues such as partnership, self-regulation (e.g. environmental auditing and ISO 14000),information related measures (e.g. eco-labelling), and awareness raising (e.g. publicity and

environmental education). These instruments are intended to alter behaviour patterns, as well as to

build capacity for sustainable development, through the establishment of social relationships ornetworking (or social pressure and social commitments). Awareness raising and informationproduce individual incentive and the ability to take appropriate decisions. Participation and

partnerships create organisational ability with the view to sustainable development. Civil society that

incorporates these instruments would be a driving force behind changes in consumption andproduction patterns, and would involve bodies that affect government decision making. Thus, therole of these instruments is increasing in importance, while the causes of environmental problems

become even more complex and expand worldwide.

List of social instruments

The main Social Instruments are defined below:

1. Participation:

Public participation in activities including decision making, and the implementation andmonitoring of sustainable development at local, national, and regional levels.

2. Awareness:

Activities for awareness raising on sustainable development, such as informationdissemination and knowledge enhancement.

3. Partnership:

Collaborative arrangements among participants, such as governments, the private sector,NGOs, community based organisations, academia, development organisations etc.

4. Empowerment:Activities through which the community can regain its self-reliance and/or capacity forsustainable development.

5. Information and Communication:Information exchange and communication in decision making, and the implementation

and monitoring of sustainable development in the community, country, and region. This

also includes the collection of relevant data and the development of indicators ofenvironmental quality and performance.

6. Self-Regulation:Mechanisms of auto-regulation including, but not limited to, voluntary agreements(covenants), voluntary reporting, verification and certification, public voluntary

programmes, industry codes of practice, and auditable environmental management

systems.

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7. Organisational Arrangement:Formal and informal organisational arrangements including corporations, community

associations, business councils, and governmental agencies, which serve as mechanismsfor implementation and monitoring.

8. Capacity Building:

Human resource development, such as programmes that enhance skills of environmentalmanagement at local, national, and regional levels.

Rationale of social instruments for developing countries

Recently, the role of civil society in sustainable development has become increasingly

important, while the significance of environmental problems has moved beyond the ability of centralgovernment. Continuing globalisation in the region is a major factor highlighted in civil society,

because the inter-boundary nature of environmental problems has increased along with economic

globalisation. In order to deal with such problems, it has become important for civil society to holdthe capacity to establish networks across borders, while grassroots civil society activities areessential in the conservation of local/indigenous knowledge, ethics, lifestyle, and culture.

Partnership, Participation of stakeholders, and Multi-stakeholder dialogues have beenhighlighted worldwide since WSSD, and are basic factors activating civil society toward sustainabledevelopment. They can be considered essential factors in so-called environmental democracy.

Environmental Democracy will be subject to greater and greater demand in the process of

developing sustainable society in both developing and developed countries, as environmentalproblems become more complicated and the uncertainty of problems increase. Thus, social

instruments will contribute to making these factors available and to realising environmentaldemocracy.

Constraints on social instrument in developing countries

In the process of creating environmental democracy in developing countries, the context of each

country should be carefully considered in order to introduce an appropriate open system of decisionmaking. Although physical modernisation has diffused to developing countries, traditional culture,

ethics, religion and lifestyle have remained. In addition, there are differences in political systembetween countries. These can be considered the foundation of a society and as a social capital for

future development. Thus, it is essential that open systems such as environmental democracy

introduced into a society are firmly based on the foundation of that society.

Social Instruments for conservation of local environment and natural resources

Based on the role of Social instruments, civil society capacity building has been highlighted asa way to manage the conservation of local environment and natural resources.

Proper environmental management requires careful monitoring of the status of the local

environment to register signs of environmental crisis. In this regard, the participation of civil societyin environmental monitoring is an important part of recognising the signs of environmental change.

It is also important for residents to understand the values of environmental resources. In this

regard, it is necessary to recognise the varying environmental values for each stakeholder. This typeof recognition of the value of environmental resources is a driving force behind individual and

community commitment to the conservation of the local environment and natural resources.Effective environmental education is vital to diffuse the recognition of environmental value.

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The participation of multi-stakeholders in the process of decision making concerning

environmental conservation is essential in the creation of consensus amongst the communityregarding the implementation of environmental conservation, which in turn contributes to the

promotion of social unification such as partnerships and networking for environmental conservation.

Partnerships and networking reinforce the ability of a community to conduct environmentalconservation. It is possible to exchange knowledge and information and to compensate for a lack of

ability or resources by establishing partnerships and networks between individuals and organisations.

With this in mind, the research activities of the three sub-themes of the RISPO project aim toidentify strategic policy options for the conservation of the local environment and natural resources,

with a focus on social instruments for the implementation of innovative policy. Research onFacilitating community-based tourism in protected areas focuses on capacity building for

conservation of environmental resources through the introduction of community-based tourism.Research on Promoting environmental education by NGOs focuses on the role of NGOs activities

for effective environmental education, and Promoting local/indigenous knowledge-based

sustainable resource management focuses on community capacity building in the utilisation oflocal/indigenous knowledge for sustainable resource management.