Assignment 7: Interview

This weeks’ portfolio assignment is to develop an operationalization of the concept Industrial Ecology that can be used in a research for interviewing policy makers. In other words, the assignment is to set up interview questions that make Industrial Ecology measurable.

                Next to that would it also be interesting to see to what extend the policy maker is applying Industrial Ecology. For this purpose Colby’s society-nature paradigms are very useful, because these provide means to categorize environmental management. Five paradigms are distinguished, basically ranging from anthropocentrism to biocentrism: 

Frontier Economics; nature provides endless resources for society and is able to absorb all wastes, nature’s limits are not taken into account. Keywords: fossil energy, monocultures, free markets. 

Environmental Protection; the government imposes regulations to address waste and pollution. Keywords: clean-up, end-of-pipe solutions, pollution.

Resource Management; growth based on efficient resource use. Keywords: conservation, efficiency, impact assessment. 

Eco-Development; efforts are made to cycle technological and biological flows in society. Keywords: Industrial Ecology, closed loop, renewable energy. 

Deep Ecology; nature has an inherent value, people live based on sufficiency and locality. Keywords: intrinsic values, grassroots, diversity, autonomy.

The questions                                             

(1)    Could you give an example of policy you recently formulated? Which aspects were emphasized?

An introductory question to get things started. The answer may already contain indicators for paradigms, including Industrial Ecology.

(2)    To what extend do you involve different stakeholders or parties in formulating policy?

As cooperation is an important aspect in Industrial Ecology, asking the policy maker about involving stakeholders is paramount. The types and amounts of stakeholders (government, firm, NGO, locals) can be compared with different policy makers.

(3)    What are your reasons for involving stakeholders?

Also this question gives an indication to whether the policy maker involves Industrial Ecology in formulating policy. A reason such as ‘to optimally use energy flows and to cycle material flows’ would give a clear indication for Industrial Ecology practices.

(4)    What indicators do you use/do you find important to assess if a policy or strategy is socially and environmentally responsible?

The final and probably the most important question to measure Industrial Ecology and/or Colby’s paradigms. The question could also be split in two, to first ask about social aspects and later about environmental aspects, or vice versa. The different indicators can be used in research to compare the policy makers, and give valuable information about to what extend Industrial Ecology is applied. Various indicators are mentioned as keywords in describing Colby’s paradigms.