Action Research and Wicked Environmental Problems

Abstract

The authors report on a 3-year action-research project designed to facilitate public involvement in the planned dredging of a canal and subsequent disposal of the dredged sediments. Their study reveals ways that community members struggle to define the problem and work together as they gather, share, and understand data relevant to that problem. The authors argue that the primary goal of action research related to environmental risk should be to identify and support the strategies used by community members rather than to educate the public. The authors maintain that this approach must be supported by a thorough investigation of basic rhetorical issues (audience, genre, stases, invention), and they illustrate how they used this approach in their study.

Introduction to the Symposium on Engaged Rhetoric of Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine

“…This situation has long plagued action-oriented programs like some Women's and Gender Studies programs or community engagement programs in Sociology. One strategy for managing this risk is to turn that actionoriented research into peer reviewed publication as Blythe, Grabill, and Riley did with their work with community members in the community they called Harbor as they struggled with the proposal to dredge the canal that runs through their community (Blythe et al, 2008). This strategy is less than ideal, however.…”

“…This is not wholly new, of course. Scholars such as Condit, Tarla Rae Peterson, Stuart Blythe, Jeffrey Grabill, Kirk Riley, Blake Scott, and myself have been working in this interdisciplinary space for some time (Condit, 2009;Peterson, 1997;Blythe et al, 2008;Scott, 2003;Burkart et al, 2005). Furthermore, the call for a more interdisciplinary and engaged RSTEM is only a localized version of the general move toward public or civic engagement in rhetoric.…”

Visual communication in environmental health

“…Similar to Blythe and Grabill's description of participatory action research [2], CBPR is a research framework that emphasizes a bi-directional relationship with the community and research participants where information is shared between the community and academic institution in a mutually beneficial way [3].…”

Women Reaching Women: a story of change. The role of narrative in building trust and commitment during an action research project

“…(Wheatley 2009, 130) This paper arose out of an acknowledged gap in the literature in terms of gender, international development and climate change (Brody, Demetriades, and Esplen 2008;Denton 2002). The literature on wicked problems appears to focus on links with action research (Blythe, Grabill, and Riley 2008), policy development (Australian Public Service Commission 2007; Head and Alford 2008) and networks (van Bueren, Klijn, and Koppenjan 2003;Weber and Khademian 2008) but there is little from the perspective of gender and action research in informal adult education.…”