Introduction: new frontiers of environmental governance - Environmental Reform in the Information Age - page 23

following political reasons. Third, information-poor environments can
relate to poor organisational-institutional conditions and environmen-
tal capacities. Lack of monitoring infrastructure and capacity, a poorly
structured information processing institution, lack of standardisation
in information collection and publication and poor information dis-
semination structures can all contribute to an information-poor envi-
ronment, whereas the economic conditions and political structures
are favourable for informational processes. Fourth, information-poor
environments also can relate to problems in the cultural or interpreta-
tion frames of information, or to conflicting cultural or interpretation
frames, limiting the meaning attached to and impact of information
flows in specific practices and institutional arrangements. Environ-
mental awareness and sensitivity, cultural values or dominant inter-
pretation frames can make high levels of information flows become
irrelevant for actors. This is especially so in those situations in which the
information producers and/or disseminators are detached from those
who (need to) have access to and consume/use information in social
practices.
These four modes of information-poor environments can be distin-
guished analytically, but often will be mixed in reality. In develop-
ing countries, we will often find mixtures of economic, political, cul-
tural and/or institutional causes of information-poor environments.
Some of these causes behind information-poor environments also can
be found in the geographies and spaces that are closely linked to the
global informational networks and flows, but often the consequences
will be less severe and extreme. Although information-poor environ-
ments cannot be equalised with developing countries, 11 it is most likely
that (locations and practices in) such countries will face informational
deficits and show characteristics of informational peripheries. In inves-
tigating informational governance with respect to the environment in

11

Information-poor environments are not equal to developing countries for two
reasons: (i) such environments also can be found in developed countries, and
(ii) the country category is a too-specific and not always adequate unit of
analysis. With respect to the latter, Beck ( 2004 ) would accuse us of
methodological nationalism if we would take the nation-state automatically as
the only unit of analysis of processes that are principally crossing the
nation-state. As much as space-based territories, flow-based networks can be
relevant categories of information poor-environments for identifying and
analysing limitations of informational governance.