Any industrial project, urban development or service provision leads to changes in its setting - an environmental impact that can extend well beyond the immediate site. These changes can be managed positively, in an attempt to mitigate this impact, or they can be ignored allowing the transformed environment (in its physical and social aspects) to continue along its path of change, often in an increasingly rapid process of degradation. Environmental management is today understood to include preventive and palliative actions aimed at minimizing the environmental impact of human activity. Environmental management is above all concerned with management of human behavior both within and outside organizations. The question that should be posed therefore is whether Environmental Psychology has sufficient experience - or whether is willing to develop it - to face the challenge and take on the responsibilities of being present within environmental management. This paper examines some new propositions in the field.
environmental management; environmental impact assessment; nimby effect; participation; environmental psychology
