The disruptions brought by rapid environmental change are unsettling. There is the pain of seeing treasured vistas developed or paved-over before our eyes as urban populations spread beyond their existing boundaries. There is the loss of sensitive, native ecosystems and landscapes as the resource needs of growing populations begin to take their toll on the land. There is also the delicate balance between our enjoyment of our wilderness and open space areas and the preservation of their natural splendor. It doesn’t help to simply be worried, frustrated, or angry about such issues. Finding solutions and making choices requires a next step – active participation in community policy-making and problem-solving processes.

This website offers a process through which individuals, students, and community groups can think through environmental policy disputes and sort out the many difficult choices such issues usually involve. Understanding Environmental Problems asks you to consider some very difficult environmental policy issues, for which there are no easy or “right” answers. It is our belief that by going through this process, you are likely to learn that the implications of growth are more complex and challenging than you might have initially realized.

The way that we think about the actions that we decide to take to advance our interests result from the way we define what environmental issues are “about.” Conflict resolution scholars refer to such definitions as “framing.” The Environmental Framing Consortium has developed this idea through a number of theoretical chapters and various case studies in their book, Making Sense of Intractible Environmental Conflicts [1], which provided the framework for this framing training website.

As we decide what we think about environmental issues, we are making a number of important framing decisions. In most cases, these decisions are made at a subconscious level, and we are often unaware of their importance. We also often fail to consider the very real possibility that further consideration of our framing decisions might significantly alter the way we think about the environment and the actions that we advocate for addressing it.

This site offers a free online introduction to the practical application of a new tool, Environmental Framing Theory, to difficult environmental conflicts. Please view the training program overview for a discussion of the possible uses and applications of this online training program, as well as our recommendations for using this site. This site is designed to introduce Environmental Framing Theory by applying it to our hypothetical case scenario.

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[1] Roy Lewicki, Barbara Gray, and Michael Elliott, eds., Making Sense of Intractable Environmental Conflicts (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2003).