The way people or organizations describe or depict nature conveys their view of nature. In the Dutch discourse, views of nature are mostly conceived as socio-cultural constructs regarding the character, value, and appreciation of nature. Views of nature tell us how we perceive nature and *
The implementation of a National Ecological Network poses a significant challenge to the Dutch government. The establishment of this ecological network has led to conflicts among various interest groups in the public sphere, each of which defends its own interests. In this struggle for recognition communication fulfils an important role. This article contends that the discourse about nature is driven by deep frames, is comprised of values and is rooted in world-views. The insight that worldviews play a role elucidates the various positions in the debate and shows normative dimensions in communication. This article argues that the network society, more than ever, requires the government to be explicit about its normative choices. IntroductIon Today we find ourselves living in a network society. Castells (2009) writes that in a network society each participant is a sender who can determine who receives his or her messages. At the same time each participant is a receiver who can determine from which sender he or she would like to receive messages. As compared to the industrial society that preceded it, this means a shift from allocution-where the sender determines what, when, and via keywords nature policy government communication contextual turn interaction frames world-views
The network society is generally challenging for today’s communication practitioners because they are no longer the sole entities responsible for communication processes. This is a major change for many of them. In this paper, it will be contended that the normative practice model as developed within reformational philosophy is beneficial for clarifying the structure of communication practices. Based on this model, we argue that government communication should not be considered as primarily an activity that focuses on societal legitimation of policy; rather, it focuses on clarifying the meaning of the actions of the government. If the government can convincingly answer the question about the reason for their actions, societal legitimation will subsequently follow. Hence, it is argued that government communication is primarily linguistically qualified.
Based on in-depth interviews, this article presents findings of a study centred on public communication regarding Tiengemeten, a Dutch island previously occupied by farmers. An answer is sought to the question of how visitors to Tiengemeten evaluate, according to their own experiences, the discourse of people involved in Tiengemeten from a policy and communication perspective. This study showed that visitors' experiences do not always match the emotions appealed to in public communication materials. It is also suggested that people involved from a policy and communication perspective should refrain from using 'heavily value-laden' phraseology. For reasons of trust, this article suggests aligning public communication with genuine experiences of visitors. This is also necessary for avoiding scepticism of visitors as policy makers and communication professionals run a risk that public communication regarding nature becomes counterproductive.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION 7 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 WISTFUL WILDERNESS: COMMUNICATION ABOUT 'NEW' NATURE IN THE NETHERLANDS 5.1 11 10 1 GENERAL INTRODuCTION GENERAL INTRODuCTION GENERAL INTRODuCTION 21 20 1.5 OuTLINE OF ThE ThESIS the respondent says during the interview is maybe not 'the truth' in a factual sense 'but it is a recordable statement that can be interpreted and placed alongside other statements' (9). In the terminology used by Gadamer ([1975], 2004), my PhD research is about 'outside science' which, in this context, means that my aim is not to consider individual experiences as statements of general rules or confirmations and refutations of general laws (cf. Oudemans, 1988). In this sense, my goal is not a generalisation of research data but an attempt to identify links that contribute to a better understanding of natuurbeelden and the role that religious elements play in the communication about nature. 1.5 OUTLINE OF THE THESIS As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, in this PhD thesis I examine the communication about nature in the Netherlands, in particular searching for (implicit) religious elements in this communication. To summarize and as a reading guide, based on a literature study in the second chapter, I examine the question of the extent to which the new perception of the relationship between government and other parties influences the discourse about the nature policy in the Netherlands. Therefore, a comprehensive review of communication is necessary. As a consequence, in my second chapter, I also briefly address the question: what is government communication? The third chapter aims to further clarify the structure of government communication practice. An answer is sought to the question of whether the model of normative practice, as developed within the reformational philosophy, is beneficial for clarifying the task of government communication practitioners. The fourth chapter begins with a socio-historical overview of the Dutch nature policy. Based GENERAL INTRODuCTION 23 22 1.5 OuTLINE OF ThE ThESIS
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