Can Environmental Governance Benefit From an ICT-Social Capital Nexus in Civil Society?

Abstract

Although the potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to foster social capital in civil society has been duly acknowledged, few studies have empirically explored the ICT-social capital nexus in the context of community organizations. Huysman and Wulf (2004) consider the lack of interest in the area of ‘ICT and social capital’ as worrisome in today’s increasingly network-centric society. Since the prospect of ICT furthering social capital is simply too significant to ignore, this paper responds to this gap by reporting on one aspect of a 2008 survey of environmental community organizations (ECOs) undertaken to develop a broader understanding of the linkages between organizational social capital and information and communication technologies in the Perth region of Western Australia. By exploring the trend of ICT uptake, pattern of intra-organizational as well as inter-organizational interactions, and the association between ICT uptake and organizational interactions, this paper critically engages in the ‘ICT and social capital’ debate and discusses the implications of ICT-social capital nexus in the context of environmental governance.

Environmental nongovernmental organizations’ digital media practices toward environmental sustainability and implications for informational governance

“…For example, lobbying ENGOs found that physical lobbying was more important to the organizations than the use of digital tools [21,41,43 ], often due to the perception that in-person communication fostered greater levels of trust [41]. While organizations directly trying to lobby policymakers found it more expensive to employ lobbyists than to lobby via digital technology, this form of digital activism was seen to have poor returns [41,46], suggesting that digital tools are not a panacea for enabling the flow of information directly from ENGOs to policy gatekeepers.…”

“…Many environmental organizations often did not employ digital tools beyond email and Internet [21] and were found to prefer digital tools that extended rather than supplemented their physical campaigning. Supplementary forms of digital technology that expanded the functions and repertoires of organizations, including the use of digital gaming and mapping software [48,49], were used occasionally to broadcast information, but tools that extended existing forms of physical tools into the digital sphere, such as enewsletters or email [41,43 ], were more readily used [21,50] and often alongside or following physical actions. Likewise, lobbying groups found digital information flow more successful after face-to-face lobbying had developed networks that could later be engaged online [41].…”

“…A survey of ENGO representatives found that 63% would increase their virtual activism if they could [41], even though it was not perceived as an organizational priority [21], suggesting that ENGOs assess the value of digital tools in the flow of information as not negligible. Even where an ENGO began its life purely in the digital realm, growth prompted the addition of a physical component to its work [43 ].…”

“…The pragmatic approach often entails fitting digital tools into predetermined strategic choices for addressing the broader aims of the ENGOs ( [21,32,43 ], cf. [46]) similarly to other strategic choices [47].…”

“…Early digital tools such as emails have facilitated a change in governance by providing greater direct access to policymakers than had previously existed, allowing flows of information to more easily move toward centers of legislative power. This has been institutionally acknowledged in different countries where email has become the official or preferred form of public communication with policymakers [20,21]. 1 The increased and institutionalized use of electronic mail and other digital tools such as policymakers' personal social media accounts [22] also encourage their adaptation among ENGOs, creating a cycle of reliance on such tools for direct information flow.…”