Overcoming the ‘value‐action gap’ in environmental policy: Tensions between national policy and local experience

TLDR

Debates over implementing sustainability objectives center on the value‑action gap in environmental policy. The paper investigates how national policies based on an information‑deficit model clash with local experience that sees a more complex relationship between individuals and institutions. Using evidence from the UK Going for Green Sustainable Communities Project in Huntingdonshire, the study highlights tensions between national policies and local research. The study argues that policies must be differentiated through restructuring socioeconomic and political institutions, cautions against superficial increases in participation, and advocates for partnership negotiations that respect local diversity and distribute responsibility equitably among stakeholders.

Abstract

Abstract Abstract This paper is concerned with debates over the implementation of sustainability objectives. In particular, it focuses on policies that address the ‘value‐action gap’ in environmental policy. Using evidence from the author's research connected with the UK Going for Green Sustainable Communities Project in Huntingdonshire, the paper highlights the tensions between national policies that are based on an ‘information deficit’ model of participation, and local research and experience that posits a more complex relationship between individuals and institutions. While this suggests the need to develop more differentiated policies based on the restructuring of socioeconomic and political institutions, the paper warns against knee‐jerk calls for more local, community or public participation which simply replace one set of generalised appeals with another. The paper concludes that greater emphasis must be placed on the negotiation of partnerships that are more sensitive to local diversity, and which involve a more equitable distribution of responsibility between different environmental stakeholders.