Negotiating Common Goals Among Diverse Stakeholders: An Ethnography of the Czech Environmental Education’s Organisational Field

Abstract

The development of environmental education (EE) goals has rarely been problematised. To shed light on this process, we focused on EE in the Czech Republic. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) play a key role there, facilitating the process in coordination with government institutions, schools and for-profit companies. Drawing on three theoretical perspectives that explain the formation of organisational goals (consensus building, community of discourse and practice and governmentality), we examined how different stakeholders contribute to the definition of common goals for EE. Through ethnographic research in an NGO and at EE events, complemented by interviews with lecturers and leaders, our research revealed that despite the high diversity of stakeholder positions and interests, the organisational field of EE is highly inclusive and shows few internal conflicts. Using chosen theoretical perspectives, we explain how vaguely defined common goals and weak manifestations of conflict contribute to the sharing of knowledge, practices and ethical responsibilities in the EE field.