Distributional and ideological barriers can create disparities in the ability of the public to advocate for their interests in particular environmental decisions. This research focuses on the roles interactions between organizations play in shaping public understanding of water resource issues, with a particular emphasis on water education provided to citizens of metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. The objectives of this study are to use an environmental justice framework to understand: (1) the geographic distribution of water education effort in metropolitan Phoenix; (2) how public receptiveness and knowledge differ across areas of high and low water education effort; (3) the distribution and qualities of water education gaps (Are they merely spatial or are there mismatches between water education effort and public receptiveness? How systemic are these gaps?); (4) the roles of organizational networks in public perceptions of each organization's usefulness; and (5) potential ways to take advantage of ties or making changes to the network structure of organizations that could influence the equity and efficiency of the educational landscape. To address these objectives, this research will use participatory geographic information systems (GIS) methods, which use local expertise to create and evaluate maps, to delineate the spatial overlap of programs provided by all 43 organizations providing information about water conservation and water quality. Maps designate census tracts as receiving "high" or "low" amounts of information. This research also uses social network analysis to analyze the structure of informational ties between organizations to determine how much they might influence each other. Finally, a multi-modal survey of residents in three "high" educator effort and three "low" educator effort neighborhoods will measure water knowledge, information perceptions, information preferences, and demographic characteristics. The findings will demonstrate ways in which relationships between organizations influence public awareness about water. The investigators expect that there are spatial differences in issue awareness, but that ideological differences between water education providers and sub-populations may categorically exclude subgroups traditionally vulnerable to environmental ills. Researchers predict that social networks between organizations may illuminate why educators may conform on sub-optimal campaigns designed to inform the public about local water issues.
The proposed research is a consideration of spatial and ideological elements of public information as an environmental justice issue. However, GIS-based environmental justice studies rarely address the concept of recognition justice which suggests that people must have a voice in the development of policy. By examining patterns in the level of accessible information about water conservation, this study is able to address the issue of recognition justice. Methodologically, this research presents a new combination of decision making tools. For example, combining participatory GIS with visualizations and statistical analyses of the relationships between organizations enhances the salience of the information for water educators and represents new interdisciplinary research methods that can be useful in the future. This type of social network analysis is rarely used in environmental justice and provides context for the choices made by education organizations and insight into how particular messages or methods of information sharing become popular. This research also has potential use within the water management field. Upon completion, the investigators will host a meeting for water educators and water managers to report the results of the study and provide a forum for discussion about potential ways to shift resources to better serve the water literacy needs and environmental goals of the metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona population.
