Mediation. Kooperatives Konfliktmanagement in der Umweltpolitik

Author Horst Zilleßen

Region

In the territorial limits of the Alpine Convention.

Publication type

book

Abstract: The environmental sector is the field of activity within policy and public administration where most conflicts with citizens arise. Policy and public administration as well as the environmental policy in general depend on the co-operation of the citizens, groups and organizations involved. During the last years the method of mediation has been chosen in many cases. In a mediation a professional third-party conflict manager is appointed to reach a problem solving through co-operation of the involved. This publication describes the scope of duties of mediation as well as the political importance. The potentials but also the limits of the method are commented (chapter II). Chapter III gives a comprehensive survey over the development of mediation in the USA which is an example for Federal Germany. Many German mediators refer to American sources and also the political institutionalisation of environmental mediation follows American standards. Chapter IV and V describe the political, social and legal environment for co-operative conflict resolution in Germany and they show how to analyse and classify these projects against the background of political science. In addition the publication includes a documentation and analysis of numerous co-operative conflict resolution projects which have been implemented in Germany since 1996.

Most relevant parts of the publication: II) Mediation as cooperative dealing with conflicts, V) Political legitimacy and mediation, VII) Alternative resolution of environmental conflicts – a documentation of german projects.

Journal / Publisher / Institution: Westdeutscher Verlag GmbH, Opladen/Wiesbaden