ABSTRACT
The participation of civil society organizations and other stakeholders as well as the role of technologies are considered in the premises of the emergence of the concept of sustainable development. Civil society rose as a global movement of actors on the international stage in parallel to the generalization of ICTs and globalization. These aspects of our contemporary world are intrinsically connected. The emergence of new forms of authority accentuates the complexity of global environmental governance, while enriching the decision-making processes with a variety of points of view and interests, scientific expertise, and local knowledge. ICTs did not only have an impact of the emergence of multiple forms of authority and CSOs on the international stage. Since digital technologies are present in people’s everyday life, they tend to influence environmental actors – among which CSOs, but also the audience of these actors, in other words people and society. Since one of the main roles of CSOs is to raise awareness, it is crucial to understand how the recipients of these advocacy strategies have evolved, thanks to their adoption of ICTs.
In this informational society, with information and data at its core, the Net generation shows unprecedented levels of digital technologies mastery since they were born in an internet age. In this context, where transparency, cooperation, and participation are the new normal for this generation, civil society organizations adapt by developing new forms of technology-intensive activism. These new forms of action on the international stage, combined with an increased access to information, better education, and an increased awareness of global issues such as the environment, represent a new opportunity for the protection of the environment.
