• 
• Japanese
• 
• IETC's Focal Area
• Waste Management
• Publications & Tools
• Meetings & Workshops
• Global Partnership on Waste Management
• Background
• Objectives
  & Expected Outcomes
• Framework
• Sub-focal Areas
• Information Platform
• Meetings
• Participation / Membership
• Water and Sanitation
• Publications & Tools
• Meetings & Workshops
• Resources
• Publications & Tools
• About IETC
• Background and History
• Director
• Activity Reports
• Supporting Foundations
• Internship
• Contact Us

<The Councillor as Guardian of the Environment>

An Essay and Workshop for Local Elected Leaders on Environmental Governance
with Emphasis on Adopting Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs)
- Training for Elected Leadership -

Part II - Workshop on the Councillor as Guardian of the Environment
- WORKSHOP -

WORKSHOP COMPONENTS

13.2 Trainer Presentation: CONCEPTS AND PROBLEMS

This presentation is to: 1) clarify the meaning of several important environmentally related concepts which have different meanings but are often used interchangeably causing confusion, and 2) familiarize participants with the problem formulation process.

Develop a short presentation to prepare participants for the following exercises on identifying and formulating environmental problems. As preparation, use the material on Assessing Risks from Part I supplemented by the following information and ideas of your own.

Precision in the use of environmental terms is important . The terms problem, hazard, and risk are used extensively in the environmental literature to describe conditions associated with the threat of exposure for humans and the ecology to toxic agents. Used interchangeably, however, as they often are, these terms can be a source of confusion and misunderstanding. Accurate formulation of environmental problems is a way of narrowing the focus of concern to the "real" environmental problems and avoid spending time on symptoms and solutions masquerading as problems.

The environmental field is replete with technical terms. Owing to the complexity of the terminology and the resulting potential for differences in meaning, many technical documents on environmental matters come with a glossary of technical terms. Lay people, like councillors, have little need to know or use many of these terms. However, a few of the more common ones can be problematic if they are used incorrectly or as synonyms for one another. We have selected several of these common terms for this presentation. We have selected these particular terms because they are so often used interchangeably and because of the difficulty of communicating effectively about environmental matters without using them. The three terms we want to clarify are:

1. Problem 2. Hazard 3. Risk

Normally any discussion among councillors or with staff or community residents about unsatisfactory urban environmental conditions will include use of the terms problem, hazard, and risk. Lets take a few moments to agree on a common definition for each of them and then look at how they are related to one another.

Trainer's definitions:

1. Problem: the discrepancy between what is wrong and what is right as related to urban environmental conditions.
2. Hazard: a possible cause of harm to people or damage to the ecology.
3. Risk: the probability of an adverse effect, direct or indirect, on human health or the ecology.

Let's look more closely at these definitions. When we speak of a problem, as defined this way, we mean conditions that are not as they should be. For example, the existence of uncollected and rotting garbage at the curb in an urban residential area might be regarded as an undesirable condition or problem. A problem becomes a hazard when it has the potential to harm people or cause damage to the environment. Curbside rotting garbage, for example, is a hazard to human health to the extent that is serves as a food source for rodents with disease-carrying potential. A hazard poses a risk when exposure to the hazard is sufficient in length and intensity to produce expected ill effects. The hazard posed by curbside rotting garbage, for example, becomes a risk when it continues to be uncollected and there is evidence of illness in the neighborhood that could be the result of contact with contaminated food or disease-bearing rodents.

A graphic and perhaps oversimplified portrayal of the relationship of these three terms might look like this:

PERSISTENT POTENTIAL PROBABLE

PROBLEMS HAZARDS RISK

As we have observed, the first contact for most councillors with issues of environmental sustainability is a problem or problems with possible environmental consequences. Problem formulation, sometimes called problem finding, is taking steps to more fully understand environmental concerns that could be hazardous and, thereby, pose a significant risk to humans or the ecology. Problem formulation might be described as narrowing the focus of concern. This is necessary to provide widespread assurance that the problem is serious and urgent enough that the community and the council are willing to invest resources to deal with it. Formulating the problem involves taking a closer look at it; that is, asking questions about the problem that can aid understanding. Questions that might be asked are:

• Why is it a problem?
• What possible hazard does the problem represent?
• What is the probability that the problem could lead to an environmental risk?
• What might happen if nothing is done about the problem?

Be careful in problem formulation not to fall into one of two common traps. The first trap is to mistake the problem for one of its symptoms, i.e., a local authority cleaning up a polluted wetland area without adopting tough, new regulations that would prevent this from happening again. Another trap to avoid is confusing the problem with a solution. A common example of this dilemma is the local authority with a solid waste disposal problem. When asked to identify the problem, councillors might say they need to acquire a sizable, accessible tract of land for the disposal of the community's solid waste. A solution it is, but what's the problem? By looking more closely at the situation, councillors might discover two problems hiding behind their solution. One, doubling of the weekly volume of garbage for disposal resulting from a recent population explosion. Another, rising cost for compliance with new disposal regulations imposed by the central government. Discovery of the "real" problem could help councillors realize that the landfill was only one of several possible solutions to their two-faced solid waste disposal dilemma.

A common vocabulary is important in any field of endeavor. With respect to environmentally sustainability, agreement on the meaning of basic words like problem, hazard, and risk is particularly important to avoid fundamental disagreements and misunderstandings, particularly among councillors serving as Guardians of the Environment. An early step in the process outlined in this workshop is problem formulation whereby councillors examine environmental problems more closely to avoid mistaking the "real" problem for a symptom or a solution.

Table of Contents

• Brochure
• 
• 



• International Year of Forests
• 
• 



• World Environment Day
• 
• 



• UNEP Campaign
• 
•