Actor analysis can be seen as an approach to
environmental management
Environmental resource management is the management of the interaction and impact of human societies on the environment. It is not, as the phrase might suggest, the management of the environment itself. Environmental resources management aims ...
.
Environmental issue
Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment o ...
s are often very complex, because many parties are involved. All parties have their own interests, goals and strategies. Actor analysis provides a structured inventory of the parties and their interests to get an overview.
Instead of parties we speak of actors which comprise both individuals and groups like
organizations
An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose.
The word is derived from ...
, administrative authorities or
consumer organisations
Consumer organizations are advocacy groups that seek to protect people from corporate abuse like unsafe products, predatory lending, false advertising, astroturfing and pollution.
Consumer Organizations may operate via protests, litigation, cam ...
. All these actors can change an existing situation by their priorities or
value systems
In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of something or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live (normative ethics in ethics), or to describe the significance of dif ...
.
There have been many changes of environmental behaviour that can be described via Actor Analysis. For example, all cars are now equipped with
catalytic converter
A catalytic converter is an exhaust emission control device that converts toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine into less-toxic pollutants by catalyzing a redox reaction. Catalytic converters are usual ...
s. Environmental organisations, governments, companies, legislators, customers, have all been actors in this process.
See also
*
Actor–network theory
Actor–network theory (ANT) is a theoretical and methodological approach to social theory where everything in the social and natural worlds exists in constantly shifting networks of relationships. It posits that nothing exists outside those rela ...
*
Stakeholder analysis
References
External links
Communication: a meeting ground for sustainable development
Environmental terminology
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