Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
• The professionals involved in design and other technical issues, need to be aware of
regulatory re-quirements, by-laws and technical criteria.
The objectives of such types of programs should be well formulated to match the specific
information and awareness needs of the different groups involved. Correspondingly, the
program should include an appropriate form of public awareness activity in order to
achieve the objectives.
There are numerous techniques to educate and inform the public, and to achieve the
successful implementation of such programs. Debo & Reese (1995) provide a detailed
list, but some examples, appropriate for the conditions in the region, are:
• Media releases and news information;
• Feature stories on specific cases of pollution and possible consequences;
• Pamphlets and brochures;
• Community and neighborhood meetings;
• One-on-one meetings with important stakeholders or decision makers;
• Phone survey research;
• Information workshops;
• Up-dated school programs to include issues on water pollution, including diffuse
pollution and solid waste management;
• Extra curriculum school activities to promote positive behavior with respect to littering
and clean environment.
One important aspect of public educational programs could envisage the training of
community members and their involvement in the process of identification and reporting
of illicit discharges. An educational program with such an objective could include the
following:
• Provide the training of volunteers;
• Develop educational and informative brochures and guidance;
• Provide methods for public reporting of illegal discharges;
• Coordinate the efforts of individual volunteers for the visual inspection of outfalls and
other possibledischarge spots;
• Provide the necessary conditions for the collection of commonly dumped waste
materials.
5.2.2
Community participation and public involvement
The need to implement preventive and source control measures with respect to diffuse
pollution control is imperative and it could not be achieved effectively by structural
measures only. Point source pollution abatement also requires source control and
preventive measures, but in most cases it is achieved by technical means in treatment
facilities. Diffuse pollution from urban storm water discharged by man-made drainage
channels, and diffuse pollution from highways could be subject to partial treatment as
specified in Chapter 2. However, diffuse pollution of surface water from low-income
areas, informal settlements, and different agricultural practices is extremely scattered,
thus it is difficult to apply technical solutions, such as treatment facilities, for its control
and reduction. For this reason, the best possible practice is to limit the emission of
