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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Commun.
Sec. Science and Environmental Communication
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1387111
This article is part of the Research Topic Insights in Science and Environmental Communication: 2023-2024 View all 9 articles

Analyzing Environmental Communication and Citizen Science in the context of Environmental Monitoring and Assessment for Agenda 2030 in Rural Settings of Chile and Sweden

Provisionally accepted
Cristian Alarcon Cristian Alarcon 1*Mari Jönsson Mari Jönsson 1Thao Do Thao Do 2Solomon Gebreyohannis Gebrehiwot Solomon Gebreyohannis Gebrehiwot 3Linley Chiwona-Karltun Linley Chiwona-Karltun 1Cecilia Mark-Herbert Cecilia Mark-Herbert 1Neil Powell Neil Powell 2,4Alejandro Ruete Alejandro Ruete 5Tuija Hilding-Rydevik Tuija Hilding-Rydevik 1Kevin Bishop Kevin Bishop 1
  • 1 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
  • 2 Uppsala University, Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden
  • 3 Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  • 4 University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, Queensland, Australia
  • 5 Greensway.se, Uppsala, Sweden

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This article offers an analysis of environmental communication (EC) and citizen science (CS) in the context of Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (EMA) for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 15 (Life on Land) in Chile and Sweden. The paper is based on fieldwork in two rural study areas of Chile and Sweden where we followed different CS initiatives in relation to EMA and Agenda 2030. We conducted interviews, analyzed documentation and conducted an SDG mapping workshop to understand the implementation of SDG 15 in these two rural forest settings. Our findings suggest that CS has potential as a democratic innovation for environmental governance in both countries. However, we also found important barriers to the legitimacy of CS as a feature of EMA and local environmental governance in both countries. The paper situates CS in the wider governance and environmental communication processes in regional politics surrounding implementation of national policies for the use of natural resources. The article offers new insights into the barriers and possibilities for public participation in environmental governance and policy at local levels, by addressing the interlinkages between environmental communication and citizen science in rural settings.

    Keywords: LegitimacyAgenda 2030, citizen science, Democratic innovation, Communication, Environmental monitoring and assessment, Sustainable Development Goal 15 (Life on Land), Tree plantations, forests

    Received: 16 Feb 2024; Accepted: 13 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Alarcon, Jönsson, Do, Gebrehiwot, Chiwona-Karltun, Mark-Herbert, Powell, Ruete, Hilding-Rydevik and Bishop. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Cristian Alarcon, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.