Degree project
Enable citizens to monitor and protect the environment using Web 2.0 tools
Author: Mahsa Eshtehardi Shahbeik Date: 2012-05-30
Subject: Informatics Level: Master Course code: 5IK00E
1 Abstract
Although information systems have had a great impact on environmental information, they can still influence how the environment is protected through the use of new technology. In this study, it was revealed that while the majority of people, including citizens, environmental experts and related civil servants are active and collaborate in this domain, they are still concerned about it. While information is found to be a key player, it is necessary to find a system that can lead it from the source to the proper destination. Consequently this study investigates how environmental information can be shared and more easily accessed.
Different actors in the system create the opportunity to have more holistic view of the problem at hand. Soft systems methodology inspires me to draw requirements of different groups of actors, represent diverse conceptual models of their desired system and eventually examine a proposed information system. The study characterises a framework for employing Web 2.0 technology to facilitate the collaboration and coordination of environmental information with the goal of protecting the environment.
Keywords: Web 2.0, Monitoring environment, Information system, Soft system Methodology
2 Executive Summary
Introduction and problem identification
The problem is the protection of the environment but the issue is the lack of proper information. While each individual can be a source of information, civil servants and experts only have limited information. Hence, this study seeks to find out how individuals can collect or reciprocally access environmental information. The target location is Iran which is a developing country with an increasing rate of Internet penetration.
Methodology
A soft system methodology which is mainly developed for tackling problematic situations in a social environment is tailored for this study. SSM is supported by the multiple view constructed approach and seeks involvement from a range of problem owners or decision makers and stakeholders, at different stages of solving a problem, from analysis to finding a solution. Citizens, environmental experts and environmental civil servants are three different stakeholders in this study. Regarding SSM, each of them present their concerns, worldviews and desired models that are supposed to improve the problematic situation.
Their models evaluate in the real world. According to an accommodation on their different proposed models, a final action is defined.
Findings
Slow output of system of protection of environment, express a maltreated system. It is a complex situation that different groups with distinctive and sometimes conflicting opinions have made even more complex, due to the feelings and perceptions that are involved.
Different methodology can address different results. While the methodology of this study is inspired by SSM, different approaches of three stakeholders of the study who are citizens, experts and relevant civil servants investigated and different groups come up with an accommodation (agreement) towards a successful resolution for environmental collaboration.
In this study, social media as an open information system enables with collaboration among citizens and provide valuable information for relevant organisations. Meanwhile experts influence the quality of the data and enhance the process that leads to better environment protection. In addition, social media can be tailored to improve the access and sharing of environment-related information which is useful when people are less inclining to collaborate.
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To Hooman
4 Table of Contents
1 Introduction ... 1
1.1 Background and Problem Area ... 1
1.2 Objectives and Research Questions ... 3
1.3 Limit and Scope (Scope and Limitations/Tentative Outline) ... 4
1.4 Disposition of the Thesis ... 4
2 Literature Review ... 6
2.1 Environmental Issues and Public Participation ... 6
2.2 Information Systems ... 8
2.3 Social Media ... 9
2.3.1 Efficiency and Effectiveness of Social Media ... 10
2.3.2 Defect Points of Social Media: ... 11
2.4 Web 2.0 ... 11
2.5 Comparison of Web 2.0 and Other Sharing of Information Technologies ... 12
2.6 Internet Penetration in Iran ... 13
3 Methodology, Methods and Ethical Considerations ... 14
3.1 Social Constructivist– a Worldview ... 14
3.2 A Systematic Approach - Soft System Methodology ... 15
3.2.1 Soft Systems Methodology ... 15
3.3 Methods ... 20
3.4 Data collection ... 21
3.4.1 Survey ... 21
3.4.2 Interviews ... 22
3.4.3 Documents ... 23
3.5 Validity and Reliability of the Study ... 23
3.6 Ethical Considerations ... 24
4 Problematic Situation ... 26
4.1 Citizens’ Experiences and Attitudes – Surveys ... 27
4.1.1 Contribution in Environmental Context ... 28
4.1.2 Decision Factors for Citizens to Contribute ... 28
4.1.3 Internet and Social Networks as a Reliable Medium ... 29
4.1.4 Limitations and Constraints ... 29
4.1.5 How Responsible Civil Servants React to the Environmental Concerns ... 30
4.1.6 The Challenges to Inform Responsible Civil Servants ... 30
4.1.7 Evaluating the Responsibilities of Organisations in Charge of Environment Monitoring and Protection ... 31
4.2 Expert Citizens’ (e-Bloggers) Experiences and Attitudes ... 31
4.2.1 Interviewees’ Concerns ... 32
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4.2.2 Limitations and Constraints ... 32
4.2.3 Challenges ... 34
4.2.4 Other Constraints ... 35
4.3 Responsible Organisation ... 37
4.3.1 Interview with Responsible Civil Servants ... 37
4.3.2 Reviewing Several Municipalities’ Websites ... 40
5 Modelling ... 41
5.1 PQR, Root Definition, CATWOE and Purpose of Activity ... 41
5.1.1 Citizens’ Experiences and Attitudes – Surveys ... 42
5.1.2 Expert Citizens’ (e-bloggers) Experiences and Attitudes ... 45
5.1.3 Responsible organisations ... 50
6 Comparison and Defining Action ... 57
6.1 Comparison and Discussion ... 57
6.1.1 Citizens’ Scenario ... 57
6.1.2 Expert Citizens’ Scenario ... 58
6.1.3 Scenario of Responsible Organisation ... 60
6.2 Defining Action and Results ... 60
6.3 Discussion of the Results ... 64
7 Conclusion and Further Research ... 67
7.1 Reflections on the use of SSM ... 68
7.2 Contribution of the Study ... 69
7.3 Further Research ... 70
References ... 71
Appendix A (Websites) ... 80
Appendix B (Consent Form) ... 80
Appendix C (Web-blogger) ... 82
Appendix D (Questionnaire) ... 84
Appendix E (Municipality 1) ... 86
Appendix F (Municipality 2) ... 87
Appendix G (Facebook) ... 87
Appendix H (Citizens’ PQR) ... 88
Appendix I (Expert Citizens’ PQR) ... 91
Appendix J (Responsible Organisations’ PQR) ... 95
6 Table of Figures
Figure 3.1: A simple pattern of activity during an SSM study (adopted from Checkland and
Poulter, 2006b, p.208) ... 16
Figure 3.2: The seven stages of SSM adopted from Checkland (2000) ... 17
Figure 3.3: Guidelines for building models of purposeful activity ... 19
Figure 4.1: Geographical location of participants in the category of citizens ... 28
Figure 4.2: Theme for citizens’ concerns ... 31
Figure 4.3: Theme for e-bloggers’ concerns ... 37
Figure 4.4: Theme for concerns of the responsible civil servants ... 39
Figure 4.5: Theme for the organisation structural complexity ... 40
Figure 5.1: Citizens’ activity model ... 45
Figure 5.2: Expert citizens’ (e-bloggers) activity model ... 49
Figure 5.3: Activity model for organization ... 53
Figure 5.4: Activity to improve an organisation’s structure ... 56
Figure 6.1: Tailored Use case diagram for collaboration of citizens, experts and civil servants ... 64
Figure 7.1: My experience within SSM ... 69
7 Acknowledgements
I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Prof.
Chritina Mörtberg for her excellent guidance, caring and patience.
I would also like to thank to interviewees, especially the Iranian web-loggers, who contributed to this dissertation. They have shown strong ethos of care and commitment to solutions that help protecting the environment.
My appreciation goes to my good friends at Linnaeus University. They supported me all along, did not let me feel lonely in the hard moments and cheered me up at all times.
Thanks to my best friend, Hooman. He has helped me to develop a stronger and even more independent character. He supported me throughout different phases of my study and gifted me the enjoyment of creating opportunities and making decision in my study and throughout my life experience in Sweden. I owe him a new dimension to my life experience.
Last but not least, I would like to express my love and appreciation to my parents for all of their support and encouragements as well as my brothers for their best wishes and support throughout this process.
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1 Introduction
1.1 Background and Problem Area
Pasargadae, the capital of Cyrus the Great (559-530 BC) is a UNESCO cultural heritage site in Iran. The tomb of Cyrus is at constant risk of being damaged due to environment impacts and because of the failure of people in charge to maintain this unique historical and cultural heritage. One recent example of such failure is the construction of a new dam downstream which is relatively close to this site. The site is located in the South West of the country, near the Polvar River. Irrigation and municipal water supply are the two major reasons for the construction of the dam. Also, the dam helps to control the river flow downstream. The water from the dam reservoir may cause the soil in the area to have high moisture content. Many archaeologists are concerned about the tomb becoming damaged due to high levels of ground moisture. However, others have used numerous scientific measurements to reject this argument. Although such issues require sophisticated calculation and analysis, lack of a central management authority has made it even more difficult to come up with a concrete action plan. Moreover, environmental activists do not have sufficient financial support, which means they cannot gather enough evidence to build up a strong judiciary case against the dam construction.
In a rather creative move, environmental activists asked local citizens to upload images of the current situation in Pasargadae on Facebook and other social networks (Freidooni, 2009; Telkabadi, 2011). The action of uploading photos improved the spread of information about the severity of the situation to wider audiences. This caused the construction company to put the plan to build the dam on hold while scientists, engineers and archaeologists assessed the situation from a more advanced approach.
This vignette has been chosen to exemplify how social networks as an information system can be useful in interventions related to environmental issues. Hence citizens’
responsibility and activism have always been important, whether this is related to environmental or other issues that affect people. However, when social networks have been used as a means of collaboration, social responsibility has levelled to a new era. This is a core element of communication and is taking benefit from a major upraise (Meyer, 2011). In addition, De Oliveira et al. (2008, 2009) argued that typically in a collaborative environment, under collaborative systems such as wiki, various independent agents with different behaviours and types can interoperate to achieve a goal. While they suggested that a system is required to arrange the interactions of different agents (De Oliveira et al., 2008, 2009), Maisonneuve et al. (2009) argue that the impact of a system is related to the motivation and accountability of participants and their activities. Further, Silva (2007) adds that a traditional system with the aid of new technology can offer new ways to carry out a new set of activities or to implement traditional procedures within new structures as a result of geographical information systems, computer aided design or database systems. On the other hand, some scholars argue that the usefulness of such technologies is firmly tied to the attitude of the users (e.g. Shu and Chuang, 2011; Cummings, Massey and Ramesh, 2009).
Many researchers consider environmental issues among the most crucial problems for human kind (e.g. different United Nations Environment Programmes and conventions such as Agenda 21 and Kyoto Protocol). In addition, a wide range of international and regional organisations (United Nations Environment Organization, Environmental Protection Agency,
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Municipalities) make an effort to deal efficiently with environmental issues. General time and financial resource bandwidth are typical difficulties that can be expected in the process of environmental protection. This study highlights some of the issues in detail. Every day media channels communicate global warming, pollution, climate change, deforestation and other environmental issues as a top priority. Evidence of this is the increase in stories about climate change in recent years. However, the earlier spikes in media attention were triggered by the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC) in 1992 and the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 (Boykoff and Roberts, 2007).
The changes in atmosphere and physical effects of carbon dioxide on climate have been evident for over a century. Some Experts (e.g. Akadiri, 2011; Head and Lam, 2011) suggested that as population grows and energy transform to non-renewable resources (e.g.
animal to fossil fuel) and as urbanisation progresses we have to start evaluating the probability of serious problems for the global environment. The reality about this risk has been certified in various texts. There are different definitions for risk. According to Lofstedt (1997, p.1237), risk is defined as the “probability that a particular adverse event occurs during a stated period of time, or results from a particular challenge”.
In addition to natural disasters such as drought, volcanic eruptions, tidal waves, hurricanes etcetera, Environmental damage caused by humans seriously impacts the situation (Boyce, 2007). Some environmental experts (e.g. De Carvalho Maffia, Silva and Jacovine, 2011; O'Connor, Bord and Fisher, 1999) suggest that trivial activities like frequently overloaded waste bins in the neighbourhood, river contamination, destruction of gardens and many other forms of misbehaviour should be confined and education about how to protect the environment should be put in place because these activities can cause critical issues.
Despite widespread media attempts to raise awareness on environmental issues, more public attention is still required. A BBC World Service poll, in 2007 among 22,000 people conducted in 21 countries, suggested that 65% of people believe “it is necessary to take major steps starting very soon.” (BBC World Service poll, 2007, p.10) In another poll among approximately 2000 young people it is shown that the participants are clearly concerned about climate change and with a majority (among its participants) confirmation of necessity of taking an immediate action (UNEP, 2008). The BBC’s World Service poll (2007) also mentioned that 79% of participants believe “human activity, including industry and transportation” (BBC World Service poll, 2007, p.9) is a significant cause of climate change.
On the other hand, Jones (2010) studied the rate of American citizens’ concerns about eight environmental problems over a decade on 1,014 random adults. The result suggested a dramatic decline from 1989 to 2009. In the 1990s, 63% worried about “the pollution of rivers, lakes, and reservoirs”. This was 54% in the 2000s and 46% in 2010. These outcomes reiterate what Gillroy and Shapiro (1986, p.270) argued:
"The environmental protection issue has had its ups and downs and continued but as a result of recurring problems and serious incidents, the environment has been a persistent concern".
Some environmental experts (e.g. Savan, Gore and Morgan, 2004; Vandeweerd, 1997) suggest that the environmental process is difficult, expensive and time consuming.
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The existence of many organisations and activists in environmental information systems has made environmental governance a challenging activity. Information is fragmented, disconnected and outdated in many circumstances. The absence of efficient, thorough and intelligent access to an integrated information system is a visible challenge (Kajtazi, 2011; Visser et al., 2001; Savan, Gore and Morgan, 2004). Through the emergence of technology and increases in the capacity of software and hardware resources and nonetheless the Internet itself, activists can be more optimistic about the struggle with environmental issues. One benefit of new technological advancements is (Savan, Gore and Morgan, 2004) that normal people can participate more actively in the production and publishing of the information, evaluating knowledge and voting for solutions. Mansour (2011) has called social media a new generation of web technologies that based on social interactions among its user, can improve the production of information. Access rights to the information and the usage of information rights has also been distinguished in international legal organisations (UN/ECE, 1998), as well as user-generated content (O’Reilly, 2007).
Recently, a web-phenomenon called VGI (Volunteered Geographical Information) emerged that is based on information which is produced by people (Goodchild, 2007). Social networks, in addition to providing free data can generate more volunteers and experts (Mergel, 2011; Coleman, Georgiadou, and Labonte, 2009). Social networks have also brought about time-aware solutions that in the context of environmental issues can facilitate disaster prevention in an effective manner (Gao, Barbier and Goolsby, 2011). Social networks are a form of media that speed up the flow of information (Mergel, 2011), even for less-known demanding places and/or resolution suppliers. Global monitoring of the environment can serve different functions such as:
Establishing a basic process in a complex environment like evaluating the quality of available water
Providing reliable information to improve decisions making
Providing higher qualification of analysis and timely action.
Developments in awareness are another benefit for global monitoring of environment issues (Vandeweerd, 1997).
Although there is knowledge about environment issues, environmental agencies are confronted with difficulties about how to obtain environmental information and tracking processes because of the common problems of staff and ability limitations (Goodchild and Glennon, 2010). Modern technology has created services and made it easier to overcome such limitations, as citizens without professional skill can provide data for organizations with minimum costs (Goodchild and Glennon, 2010). Moreover, crowd-sourcing that comes about due to new technologies, helps civil servants to solve issues in a group without special expertise rather than experts to provide reliable information while validate the information by a group without special expertise. The obvious benefits of this are lower costs and fewer geographical limitations (Howe, 2008; Goodchild and Glennon, 2010).
1.2 Objectives and Research Questions
The main purpose of this study is to investigate the problematic situation in the current environmental protection system among different stakeholders like responsible civil servants, experts and citizens in Iran. In addition, the role and feasibility of social networks for the sharing of environmental information in order to sustain the environment is being explored.
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To find out about the problematic situations regarding the current environmental protection system.
To define proper action to solve the problematic situation.
Hence, the research question in this study is to explore:
How can individuals share environmental information?
How can individuals access environmental information?
1.3 Limit and Scope (Scope and Limitations/Tentative Outline)
According to Clough and Nutbrown (2002 cited in Hart, 2004) the purpose of a master dissertation research study can be to bring about change. This study value the research as an inspiration (Hart, 2004) with an aim to make some interventions. The limits and the scope are as follows:
Derivatives:
The environment should be protected by involving people in programmes, policies, and processes which might be developed. Also, the following should be considered: transparency should be expanded, interdependency should be maintained, the involved parties should be made accountable for their own actions and their influence on the environment should also be examined. However, this is outside the scope of this research.
Target plan:
The environment has different aspects and many factors need to be monitored. This leads to indefinite amounts of information. The focus of this research is on the gathering of voluntary and community based information.
Target groups:
In this study people’s collaboration to protect the environment in Iran will be examined. The experiences of experts and civil servants about people’s collaboration will be inspected.
Consequently, citizens, experts and civil servants are the target groups in this study.
1.4 Disposition of the Thesis
Considering frequent dreadful news about environmental issues, this research started with a study on responsible environmental organizations and the problems they have. At this point, it is expected that the reader will have an image of the environmental issues, but will be lacking relevant information about how to protect the environment. Some information about social media as an information system and its role in sustaining the environment has been presented.
The background and motivation to solve the problem have been defined, as has a brief description about the problem and the proposed action. This has been presented in the introduction and the rest of the thesis is structured as following. In the second chapter, literature review and the different elements that I have used to conduct this study are described.
Chapter 3 describes the worldview (social constructivism), method (mixed) and methodology (soft system methodology) that have been chosen for the study. Also, the data collection is described in more detail. In addition, how the validity and reliability of the study is checked and ethical considerations are presented. Chapter 4 is dedicated to the data
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collection. All of the related data that has been collected through interviews and surveys is classified. Chapter 5 provides an analysis inspired by the soft system methodology, the title of this section is modelling. Chapter 6 deals with a comparison of the proposed model in Chapter 5 with the real world and defines an action to improve the problematic situation that we encountered in Chapter 4. Chapter 7 concludes the dissertation and suggests ideas for further research. It also incorporates a list of everything that has been done, the results, contribution of the study and soft system methodology and further research.
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2 Literature Review
In this chapter, elements such as environmental issues, people´s role in the protection of environment, concepts such as system definition and information system are explained. Social media, its efficiency and effectiveness and defects, Web 2.0, and the relationships between them are illustrated. Also, at the end of this section there will be a comparison between Web 2.0, and other forms of media.
2.1 Environmental Issues and Public Participation
In 1972 the Stockholm conference initiated the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). This was the start of global monitoring and assessment activities of environment issues. Since then progress has been made with the development of a variety of environmental monitoring and management programmes. Agenda 21 is one example of these global programmes which emphasises the need for global information. Despite all of these achievements, we still cannot overcome the risk of environmental issues and relevant knowledge is limited and fragmented. Therefore, a particular focus on providing reliable information to support relevant environmental actions, rather than the evaluation and qualification of environmental issues could be effective.
Agenda 21 is an action plan that was created by the United Nations (UN) in 1992 at a conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It addresses the current environmental problems and aims at sustainable development. It is a comprehensive plan of action to be used at different levels, from global to local groups. It can be applied to every area of the environment that is directly affected by humans (UNEP, n.d.). Although environmental agreements like Agenda 21 have been welcomed by several governments, in reality there is no momentum for collecting sufficient funds to finance environmental action. In a poll that was conducted on behalf of the United Nations Environment Programme in October 2008, of 2000 young adults, ranging in age from 12 to 18 years old, 89% of participants said that young people feel empowered to do environmental activity and 61% of participants agreed that world leaders are not doing an adequate amount of protection (UNEP, 2008).
In addition to the UN programmes there are various concerns about the steady increase of environmental issues and the paradox of the lowering of priorities in budget allocation and public awareness in environment sectors (Lawson and Bird, 2008). Financial concerns are still the main reason that developing countries are lagging behind in the process of environmental protection. Somanathan (2010) stated that to achieve the proper action to overcome this issue, it is necessary for the public and the responsible organizations to develop an understanding and to recognise long-term environmental problems. In addition, he mentioned that to overcome this challenge, the first question to ask is whether environmental issues do exist and if yes, do we actually need to manage them? In order to address this issue it is important to have up-to-date data and easily understandable information. It has been argued that the lack of proper environmental information systems cannot be overcome by simply investing a lot of money at different levels of various environmental protection programmes and needs more research and public efforts (Somanathan, 2010; Pattanayak, Wunder and Ferraro, 2010).
The increasing long-term and irreversible damage by humans has become ordinary and routine (Akadiri, 2011). While the growth of the population and emergence of new technology has equipped humans with the two opposite capabilities of destroying its environment and also providing the whole population with a high standard of living. The
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reality that people can be affected by a changing environment has started to be accepted all around the world. Although, the main issues are the limited possibility to identify emerging issues and the lack of proper information, which is a main cause (BBC World Service poll, 2007).
One of the primary steps to effectively influence the protection of environmental resources is to keep track of the state of our environment (Ehmke and Shogren, 2009). Savan, Gore and Morgan (2004) stated that consumers and businesses (citizens and civil servants) should take a more active role in self-monitoring and assessing their own activities.
Environmental monitoring, measuring and reporting have key roles in providing early warnings of environmental changes as an initiative for further actions. Hence, providing some frameworks and a methodology at different levels from global to regional should be considered (Danielsen, Burgess, Jensen and Pirhofer-Walzl, 2010).
On the other hand, environmental watchers can be local inhabitants and passers-by that provide data to responsible organizations or activists. Residents are fairly aware of their surroundings. The holistic view of passers-by about the area improves issue identification and news spreading. Hence, the provided data might be fairly reliable. There is a history of citizen participation in environmental monitoring. However, public participation is an activity that has a growing interest in environmental context. The recent growth in information and communication technologies has provided new opportunities for the promotion of citizen participation in this field (e.g. Rowe and Frewer, 2004; Savan, Gore and Morgan, 2004).
Information Technology (IT) has a long history in addressing environmental issues.
Tveitdal (1997) called IT a means of transmitting environmental data. He said that environmental information has been in active use since the end of the 1970s. In addition, Tveitdal explained that at the beginning information systems were used for the monitoring of local air pollution for example during the winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Environmental information systems were used with the aim of improving environmental management and public awareness. Nevertheless, a proper basis is being prepared based on rapid on-going developments in information systems. A variety of options have been proposed, from establishing an infrastructure for spatial information to forecasting and decision making with data that is gathered by the public (Brovelli, Giori, Mussin and Negretti, 2011).
A rather innovative approach is to attract assistance from individuals to collect and publish information (Annoni and Craglia, 2009; Goodchild, 2007). People can voluntarily store information in an information system. This approach is well supported by law, as stated in Aarhus-agenda 21 and Kyoto protocol. Gouveia and Fonseca (2008) agreed that a fundamental requirement for affectively combatting environmental problems is information, which can reduce uncertainty and change the situation to be more controlled.
One example of public participation is public participation geographical information systems (PPGIS). PPGIS has the aim of engaging the public with environmental information in order to provide useful data, and to promote the exchange of ideas (Bugs et al., 2010).
According to Sieber’s (2006) statements about PPGIS, it could be deduced that people’s involvement can be seen as an effective option for incorporating local knowledge, integrating and contextualizing complex spatial information. If an infrastructure allows participants to dynamically interact with input and analyze alternatives, then individuals and groups might become empowered and the initial purpose can be fulfilled. Rowe and Frewer (2004) studied the effectiveness of public participation from different aspects, like democratic, decision-
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making and economic. They asserted that in the evaluation of public-participation, the effectiveness of different elements is involved. Various constituencies, from those who support participation to other stakeholders influence effectiveness of the process. In the field of environment in particular, different groups are interested in public participation (Bugs et al., 2010; Anderson, Beazley and Boxall, 2009).
2.2 Information Systems
The role of information and usage of information system in environmental context have been remarked. Further, information systems are seen as a means to be used in the monitoring and protection of the environment. In this subsection I will present briefly the key concepts, systems and information systems, as parts of information systems.
Beynon-Davies (2002, p.4) describes a system as “a coherent set of interdependent components that exist for some purpose, that has stability and can be usefully viewed as a whole”. A system can be used in both technology and human activities. A system in human activities (e.g. a social system) is that in which several groups of people are involved in coordinated and collaborative actions to perform a logical collection of activities and to achieve a distinct goal or set of goals. An information system is defined in a different way.
Alter (2008) has found different definitions from roughly twenty experts. Most of them are in agreement that there are relationships between information technology, people and organizations. The most suitable one in this context is that of Buckingham et al. (1987, cited in Alter, 2008, p. 449) which describes IS as
“A system which assembles, stores, processes and delivers information relevant to an organisation (or to society), in such a way that the information is accessible and useful to those who wish to use it, including managers, staff, clients and citizens. An information system is a human activity (social) system which may or may not involve the use of computer systems.”
There is a huge amount of environmental data but only a bit of the data is useful. It can be said that it is equally important to find ways to filter and to prioritise information. Different environmental information systems from different technologies exist. These range from data collectors such as sensors and monitors to database development, quality assurance, statistical and numerical models, and advanced computer platforms for the transfer of data, its process, distribution and presentation, decision support systems and information highways and networking systems.
However, integrity in the networking system of an information system is key. Integrity enables users to easily access data and as a decision-analytics system empowers users to actively use data when planning his or her actions. Moreover, data can be used to generate new features. Pundt and Bishr (2002) differentiate environmental information systems as entities that can facilitate user access to heterogeneous distributed databases. They highlighted that by using computer networks individuals can send regular environmental information and this enables scientists to produce scientific information from the voluntarily produced environmental information.
Modern information technology has brought about enterprise alternatives at different levels on the state of the environment. Information Technology, in addition to accelerating the
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process of generating information, has also brought a more interactive and participatory attitude to the collection, interpretation and presentation of information. Modern information technology introduced other achievements to the scene like openness, flexibility, versatility and accessibility. Information from the systems is open and can be opened on a worldwide scale in different formats. Different users, according to their attitudes, can explore and structure data and also ask a variety of questions which are not limited to predefined answers.
Searching and retrieving data from these new systems is much easier than before. Pundt and Bishr (2002) stated that environmental information deals with different types of information and Bazerman (2010) emphasised that this information should be understandable, not only for scientists, but also for the general public in order to be used as a suitable basis for further actions. Fedra (1997) believed that by simply offering underlying information to the users rather than processed information, a more enhanced level of information with new qualities could be retrieved. Moreover, he suggested active user participants as an alternative to the regular process of supplied information.
Two examples of providing scientific environmental information by citizens are coordinated activities for breeding bird atlases and the Christmas bird count. They are exercised by the amateur birding community using Web 2.0 technology (Wiersma, 2010). In the following section, I will present social media and Web 2.0 technologies, which is in use in the individual’s activities, as examples of information systems.
2.3 Social Media
The media as one of a multiple inter-dependent social organizations can produce and reproduce knowledge. Media and institutions of science and education have similarities, but media is embedded within a larger society (Ragusa and Holden, 2006). Social media can be considered as a type of information systems which is helpful in the process of reproduction of information in general and especially environment information. In this study I have considered social media as context and web 2.0 as technology.
Modern information technology has been suggested as a key success factor in developing more efficient environmental information systems. Amin (2010) argued that to conserve global environmental activities, different types of information from various sources are required. Different sectors of the society such as lay people, experts, activist and civil servants could be involved in this. Although, in terms of data integrity there are challenging issues which will be mentioned as further study. However, the intensity of the data that is created and collected by innumerable resources has a remarkable value. In addition, to use information in an optimal manner requires it to be available and easy to use (Furness, 2010).
Tveitdal (1997) was aware of the role of IT on awareness of lay people. He cited Geographical Information systems, satellite-based earth observation, database technology and telecommunication as the main tools for providing knowledge in that time. He was very optimistic and his reason for this was the dramatic growth of the Internet as an electronic highway. It is relevant to mention that in 1997 Tveitdal predicted an easy accessible technology that would provide access to information in most private homes and workplaces.
Tveitdal came up with this estimation according to the achievements of the time when it was quite inconceivable. He mentioned that one of the main advantages of using the Internet was to communicate with environmental organisations, as the Internet is not limited to particular
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parts of the world or even particular people. Moreover, it is cheaper and simpler than telephone or fax (Tveitdal, 1997).
Nowadays technologies and peoples’ requests are working towards creating an easy way to connect and communicate. The development of applications like YouTube, Wikipedia and Skype, are evidence of this trend (Ostergaard and Hvass, 2008; Serrat, 2010). All these phenomenon are united under the overall concept of social media. Serrat (2010, p.2) refers to social media as “an umbrella term” and says that through the integration of technology and social interaction, new value can be generated. He believes that this is a revolutionizing lifestyle because it can shorten lengthy bureaucratic procedures, while increasing the power of democracy (Hwang and Mohammed, 2008).
Through this online communication technology (social media), users connect to share their understandings, opinions, experiences and insights. Communication as a monologue is shifting to become an interactive dialogue (McNab, 2009; Serrat, 2010; Tinker, McLaughlin and Dumlao, 2009). It can be said that in the context of environment, through communication and an increase of awareness, even individuals can make a difference to protecting the environment. Additionally, social media as an open information system, with the aim of obtaining reliable data from different resources can reflect different perspectives of a subject, which in turn can be helpful to grow awareness, without needing to invest in new instruments (Kayser, Böhm and Spiller, 2010). This is a lever in improving the ability of responsible organisations (municipalities, Environmental Protection Agency, cultural heritage agency, etc.).
The power of social media is a double-edged sword. Online availability of information has made it fragile and it is probable that information could be damaged via online services. Social media is easy accessible and has dynamic nature, therefore crises may be likely to occur more easily through the production of misinformation. Crises can be in all forms of cyber-terrorism such as hacking, shadow or copy-cat websites, web security breaks or even rumours (Gonzalez-Herrero and Smith, 2008; Holmes, 2011). Zheleva and Getoor (2009) also mentioned the threat to privacy by social media.
2.3.1 Efficiency and Effectiveness of Social Media
Rowe and Frewer (2004) discussed about improve of protection of environment via public participation. They argued that access to environmental information might be increased and consequently a common awareness can be generated. When the public have access to relevant information their knowledge about the environment increases. This can have an affect on politicians’ decision making when planning for projects or industrial installation while considering different environmental or health aspects. Public access to environmental information encourages researchers to provide information and clear explanations of elements that are vague. In addition, they might be more open to publishing the information, regardless of considering any consequences. They can listen to peoples’ fears and expectations and consider these in their research.
Pfeffer et al. (2010) argued that there is potential for social knowledge to inform local action and public policy. It can be seen as efficient, effective and proper knowledge regarding the volunteer activities, public commitment and the government - citizen partnership, citizen participation and their responsibilities. They noticed that citizen partnership should not lead the government by giving them the opportunity to withdraw from their responsibilities. They make a special credit for the role of media in settle a win-win situation.
11 2.3.2 Defect Points of Social Media:
Social media, like other communication channels, has some defects. Although, regarding the domain of social media, its issues may differ from other peer social media. In social media, in the environmental domain, some of related issues are listed. Although there are several ways to mitigate those risks, the owner of this media should make a conscious decision about them (Fernandez, 2009; Schroeder, Minocha and Schneider, 2010; Kryczka et al., 2010).
Management issue: It needs to an extra focus on management and control. The workload for the owner of the system shifts to control the data and its analysis.
Otherwise it is probable that it will be chaotic.
Bad news, bad reputation: Bad news causes a bad reputation and it is difficult to revoke published comments. While it is an open system, all suggestions and criticism may be exposed, which may cause some difficulties for the owner.
False information (data verification): While the public can reflect on their comments, any immoral activities may sabotage social media.
Maintenance: In addition to the maintenance of links and collaboration, hardware and the maintenance of social media is expensive. For example, Facebook pays at least $2 million per month just for cooling and powering its servers (Kryczka et al., 2010).
Privacy: Publishing illegitimate content in social media that supports anonymity is not a far-fetched subject. An example of this is referenced in the interviewee’s information. He describes an environmental issue that was being handled in a military area that had a sign saying “no photos”.
Security and data protection: Ownership of content in a public or collaborative space should be protected. For example, since in this study the opinions of experts play a critical role their username as their identification is under threat. In addition, the losing of data is another issue in this category. For example, in October 2009 some Facebook accounts became unavailable for several days and about 150,000 users lost some of their content (Kryczka et al., 2010).
2.4 Web 2.0
The so-called family of Web 2.0 was a turning point for the Web in 2000 (O’Reilly, 2007). It enables many-to-many connections (Serrat, 2010, Weber, Loumake and Bergman, 2001) and in comparison with Web 1.0, it is more interactive and people-aware (Serrat, 2010). The Web has been transformed from a medium to platforms that support creation, sharing, reusing, remixing and the transmission of content (Downes, 2005).
Kaplan and Haenlein (2010, p.61) define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, which allows the creation and exchange of user-generated content.” Serrat (2010) referred to several domains for Web 2.0 such as reviews and opinions, networks of contacts, business intelligence, and connectivity among other things. Schmitz et al. (2009) stated that most focusing domains among the different domains of Web 2.0 are in social resource sharing systems like Flickr, YouTube, Slideshare or MySpace and user-centric publishing and knowledge management platforms like Wikis and blogs. In addition, Maisonneuve et al.
(2009, p.96) stated that “people’s roles have been transformed from passive consumers of information into active participants” with Web 2.0 practices, participation, openness and network effect. Moreover, Nakki et al. (2011) describe Wikipedia as a newspaper with more
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than 2,000 writers, researchers and copy editors, without any supervisors or managers. There are no deadlines or meetings to plan how it is managed but it works properly. They believe that this technology can be applied to global projects like environmental projects with a high diversity of actors and that its coordinator might be an individual, a formal local civil servant, a national authority or an independent organization that catalyses and facilitates the self- organization-based network. Balatrain, an Iranian social media website which presents best voted Farsi links, and Digg.com, a popular general link ranking website, are examples of using social media to broadcast news.
One of the benefits of Web 2.0 is its potential for learning. In Web 2.0 the meanings are formed and defined through complex negotiations. Learning is according to interactions between a series of users’ conceptualizations and content and also it is a process between individual cognition and socially negotiated meanings (Pachler, 2009).
Web 2.0 is very flexible and it can be seen as key for several web projects (O’Reilly, 2007) for social networking (Downes, 2005). The term Web 2.0 is involved in a wide range of technologically developed trends from software key components to grid computing and virtual reality (Ostergaard and Hvass, 2008) and in almost any conceivable domains of interest and practice. Also, it is used to facilitate interaction for information sharing, exchange and use (Serrat, 2010). Learning through social networking media such as weblogs, wiki, Flickr and other self-publishing media is said to be a neo-millennial learning style which is becoming more widely accepted (Baird and Fisher, 2005).
The connectivity factor in the Web 2.0 field should be considered carefully.
Waverman and Kalyan (2010) studied connectivity in different countries. Iran, which is the target area in this study, ranked 14 in the category of the capacity of resources and efficiency out of 25 countries. There is also a comparatively high computer rate (Chinn and Fairlie, 2006) which is the main facility for driving the idea of Web 2.0.
Sharing information is one of the main principals of Web 2.0 (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). This new generation of web applications involves a high interactivity of information so that data can be accumulated through plenty of citizens’ sensor. Its content can be created by sharing the information of active users with selected groups or the public using the World Wide Web. In addition to facilitating monitoring programmes it is relatively cheap to set it up and there is more potential for generating large VGI (Introduction) (Wiersma, 2010). Web 2.0 is of interest in this context because of its characteristics. Hirsch et al. (2009) count other key characteristics of Web 2.0 as participation and mass collaboration, rich user experience, scalability and remix-ability. All these arguments about Web 2.0 are for use in the monitoring and protection of the environment.
2.5 Comparison of Web 2.0 and Other Sharing of Information Technologies The fast flow of information that is provided by connectivity through copper wires, fibre-optic cables and networked computers, and more recently, mobile phones is cheaper than physical travel. Moreover, the cost of this connectivity gradually decreases, while its penetration rate increases (Waverman and Kalyan, 2010; Chinn and Fairlie, 2006).The sharing of information by the use of Web 2.0 in comparison with using phones and newspaper, is cheaper, faster and also information is more organised (Shklovski, Palen and Sutton, 2008; Palen et al., 2007).
Organizations spend a lot of money on communications and information processing (Kaye, 1995). By reducing the costs of coordination social media can compensate for the weaknesses
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and number of unmanageable issues (Shirky, 2011). Regarding what I have understood from different articles and reports (e.g. Nakki et al., 2011, Karatzas, 2009) when news enters the system, it cannot be missed or ignored because information in a Web 2.0 platform is transparent for everybody, thus the control and policing of it is easier. Data providers for all of these types of media (phone, newspaper and social media) are people but in social media data is open, people can observe the data and participate by commenting on each report.
Consequently, in social media pure and corrupt data is exposed. A popular example of such a system of policy has been implemented in the Digg social network (Nakki et al., 2011). Hence news can be spread and criticised by experts, journalists, lay people and activists. On the other hand, responsible organizations can clarify whether they are responsible for an issue or if it is nothing to do with them (Gillmor, 2004; Corbett and Keller, 2004).
2.6 Internet Penetration in Iran
The main participants in my study are located in Iran. Accordingly for providing a more valid result, I need to review the internet penetration in this country. Even though Iran is a developing country the Internet penetration is increasing. Lerner (2010) stated that the Internet has been penetrating Iranian culture. The number of Internet users between 2001 and 2003 grew from 420,000 to 1.2 million, which is roughly triple. In June 2007, with 38.6% of its population online, which is around 25 million users, it was said to be the country with the highest percentage of Internet users in the Middle East. Regarding the latest survey which was conducted on 30th June 2010 by Miniwatts marketing group, Internet usage in Iran was reported as 33,200,000 which is 43.2% of the population.
According to EarthTrends (2003), in Iran, the Youth Literacy Rate for ages 15-24 (both genders) has increased from 73% in 1980 to 95% in 2002. This shows that while technology is growing, people expect it to be easier to connect and communicate. The development of applications like YouTube, Wikipedia and Skype which are products of Web 2.0, are evidence of this trend (Ostergaard and Hvass, 2008; Serrat, 2010).
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3 Methodology, Methods and Ethical Considerations
In this chapter the research philosophy, research methodology, research process and strategy that have been utilized in this study are presented. In addition, the reason for their selection is explained. The worldview of this study is in accordance with social constructivism stance (Creswell, 2009). This is followed by a review of soft systems methodology – my inspiration source of methodology in the study. Checkland (2000) developed the methodology using the four basic activities of finding out, modelling, using the models to structure debate and defining/taking action. Consequently, the way the research is conducted regarding the chosen methodology is described. In the final subsection I describe the data collection method.
3.1 Social Constructivist– a Worldview
Creswell (2009) argued that an intersection of research philosophy, strategies of inquiry and a specific method are used to develop a framework. Accordingly, if a researcher applies the aforementioned objects then the approach can turn into practice. Thinking about a chosen philosophical worldview assumption, a preferred strategy of inquiry which reflects the chosen worldview and the specific methods or procedures of research can direct the researcher towards practice. However, philosophical background is almost invisible in a research study but it can have an influence on all parts of a research study, including the selection of the research strategy and method (Creswell, 2009). Guba (1990 cited in Creswell, 2009) stated the world view is a general orientation of a researcher in a special field and Creswell chose the word worldview which means “a basic set of beliefs that guide action” (Guba, 1990, p.17).
However, Mingers and Willcocks (2004) use the word perspective instead of worldview. In accordance with Creswell (2009) I use worldview to locate my use of social constructivism.
In the social constructivist worldview the key point is individuals’ experiences. The variety and complexity of people’s views raises questions and makes them more generalized (Creswell, 2009). Regarding the variety of perceptions, a social constructivist or interpretive* approach can be an effective option in studies of information systems. The focus of interpretive studies is on people and their values, interests and perceptions. Interpretivism is subjective. This type of research is conducted by entering “inside people’s heads” (Jackson, 2002, p.211). Afterwards, its ability to produce deep insights into IS phenomena (Klein and Myers, 1999) can help IS researchers to realize what people are thinking. This is very common in studies of cultural and political domains (Jackson, 2002).
In the presented study, with the social constructivist perspective, I have tried to explore the relationship between an information system (IS) and environmental issues and the role of people in the process of protection environment via the use of IS. Both technology and society are important in this perspective. Hence, I assume the social constructivist approach might be the correct approach for this. The attitude of individuals for using technology is highly remarked in this study. It is important to consider how they think and whether different societies support them both socially and technically.
Different stakeholders with different cultural and political backgrounds including responsible civil servants (environmental and recycling coordinators in two municipalities), experts (environmental web-loggers) and citizens were interviewed. I filled open-ended questionnaires with the participants ’answers. They shared their opinions by answering the questions and I tried to concentrate on whether a participant worked or lived there to gain a
* I use social constructivism and interpretivism as synonyms.
