Abstract:
Present approaches used in environmental management are typified by a reliance on
technical and economic tools within a segregated top-down institutional framework.
This is ill suited to cope with a whole breed of problems that impact on common
environmental resources and are the result of the widespread and legitimate activity of
the majority of individuals within society. These have been termed as "no technical
solution problems".
Tropospheric ozone is a good example of such a problem. The main source of the
pollutant is diffuse and distant from its impact. The form the pollution event takes
shows spatial and temporal variation. It is also to a great extent a result of the use of
the motor-car which is not usually an activity in for its own sake but a supporting
feature of common life-styles. Policy needs to be able to identify the social
requirements of the activity which may vary in among populations and represent this
variation by recognising the needs and desires of a wide range of the public.
The thesis proposes that the main problem for environmental management is not the
lack of scientific knowledge or regulatory clout, but how modem society has been
managed with regard to its impact on environmental resources. It argues that the
paradigm of interdisciplinarity is necessary tool for bridging what can be seen as a
distinct strategic gap between the present institutional culture in air quality
management and the social and physical environments it aims to influence.
This proposition is supported by investigations into the quantitative and qualitative
nature of those social and biophysical processes which are responsible for the
generation, transportation and impact of tropospheric ozone. The thesis concludes by
proposing a novel strategic framework the management of this pollutant based on the
need to identify and communicate issues inherent to the social and physical aspects of
the problem, as well as the resolution of conflicts arisingfrom them.
