Improving environmental governance in China: Public participation in environmental impact assessments.

摘要

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the challenges of public participation in China's environmental impact assessment (EIA) process and identify opportunities for improvement. The analysis draws from both current literature and in-depth interviews. It reveals that procedural, technical, attitudinal and structural challenges limit the effectiveness of public participation in EIA. These include a lack of clear definition of the public and how to conduct participation processes, lack of education and training among stakeholders, lack of trust between local government and the public, perverse incentives and conflicts of interest, and weak monitoring and enforcement by local government. Changes should be made to address the procedural gaps and resources should be dedicated to conduct research and educate stakeholders. With worsening environmental degradation, rapid urbanization and an increase in citizen protests on environmental issues, public participation in EIA has the potential to integrate citizen concern into decision-making and support local environmental governance in China.