Stakeholder Dialogue as an Institutional Strategy for Sustainable Development in China : The Case of Community Environmental Roundtables

Wang, Hua

关键词: ACCESS TO INFORMATION;    ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES;    AIR POLLUTION;    AUTHORITY;    BUDGET SYSTEM;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-5759
RP-ID  :  WPS5759

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Stakeholder dialogue, as an alternativeinstitutional strategy for environmentally and sociallysustainable development, has received little attention fromresearchers and practitioners in developing countries suchas China, even though the dialogue strategy can potentiallylead public governance to a more efficient level. This paperfirst discusses the potential of stakeholder dialogue as aninstitutional tool for promoting sustainable development inChina, and then presents a pilot program of stakeholderdialogue recently developed in China -- the communityenvironmental roundtables. Community leaders organizeroundtable dialogues where representatives from governmentagencies, companies and the local residents exchange theirviews toward certain environmental issues they are facingand discuss possible ways to resolve the issues. Informalagreements are reached during the dialogues and implementedafter them. This community roundtable dialogue strategy hasbeen piloted in dozens of Chinese municipalities, addressingvarious environmental issues. A survey of dialogueparticipants shows that significant impacts have beengenerated on environmental protection, community management,as well as social and institutional development at thecommunity level. Mutual understanding and trust among thegovernment, companies, and local citizens are enhanced,environmental and social conflicts are reduced, and thepublic performance of various parties has been improved.This approach is expected to help solve other conflicts andpublic governance issues in China as well. The potentialchallenges of institutionalizing such a program in China arealso discussed in the paper.