The ‘green’ and ‘self’ in green self-governance – a study of 264 green space initiatives by citizens

Abstract

Scholars observe an increased involvement of citizens in green space governance. This paper focuses on green self-governance, in which citizens play a major role in realizing, protecting and/or managing green space. While existing research on green selfgovernance focuses mostly on specific cases, we aim to contribute towards a large overview via an inventory of 264 green self-governance practices across The Netherlands. With this, we discuss the relevance of green self-governance for nature conservation and its relationship with authorities. In our analysis, we show that green self-governance practices are very diverse: they pursue a wide variety of physical and social objectives; employ a multitude of physical and political activities; involve different actors besides citizens; mobilize different internal and external funding sources; and are active within and outside of protected areas. While green selfgovernance can contribute towards protection and management of green space and towards social values, we highlight that this contribution is mostly of a local relevance. Most practices are small scale and objectives do not always match those of authorities. Although we speak of self-governance, authorities play an important role in many practices, for example, as financial donor, landowner or regulatory authority. In this, self-governance is often not completely 'self'.

Place-Keeping for Health? Charting the Challenges for Urban Park Management in Practice

“…Levels of political support and accompanying funding for urban green space wax and wane over time [40,42,43], which can have a detrimental effect on their quality, negatively affect their use, and potentially reduce the potential health benefits [44]. Recent changes in United Kingdom (UK) policy have emphasised the decentralisation of responsibility [45], which influences the context within which green space management is conducted as more non-state stakeholders become involved [27].…”

“…This calls on community groups that may already be involved in park management, and can often be driven by a desire to improve their local green spaces [33,46,57]. The implications of the reliance on volunteers have not yet been fully examined in the parks context in the UK to date, although recent research examined collaborations building on citizens' engagement in Berlin, Amsterdam, and Milan [27]. Buizer and Van Herzele found that volunteers don't necessarily represent all the citizens living in an area [58], which is echoed by Mathers et al, who found that green space community groups are largely made up of retired, older white residents [46].…”

“…Five interviews and one focus group were carried out with professional stakeholders who were closely involved in parks management at the local government. Local governments such as Sheffield's Parks and Countryside Service (SPCS) play a significant role as the landowner and principle manager of urban green space [68], and therefore play a key role in the long-term future of parks [27]. The local government often oversees the maintenance and management, while it is increasingly recognised that local residents and community groups should be involved in the process [33].…”

“…It allows for understandings of park management, including the embodied processes and the wider context or "place" (Figure 1). This study acknowledges that place-keeping is not the only analytical framework that could have been applied; however, it was considered suitable for testing, given its recent application elsewhere [27] and ongoing exploration by the authors [21].…”

“…An extended focus on governance is also found within the Policy Arrangement Approach framework (PAA) [25], which was originally developed in conjunction with policy arrangements rather than governance directly [26]. The PAA has recently been employed to scrutinise aspects of green self-governance practices [27]. With an emphasis on partnership, multiple stakeholders or groups are recognised as having varying roles and responsibilities for green space management [28], as shared responsibility is often associated with partnerships [29,30].…”