ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the nature of these structures, with specific reference to how discourses of participatory mechanisms for sustainable development have emerged since 1992. It also examines how policy has begun to shift from a 'top-down' approach to a bottom-up' approach. This problematises the relationship between the environment, the state and citizens, enabling voices that have previously been regarded as 'lay' and 'silent' to have efficacy in both framing and tackling environmental problems. The chapter begins with an examination of the policy-making process and structures for delivering sustainable development. It then examines the nature of four major policy structures for sustainability: European, national, regional and local. Through the use of this approach, dominant themes in the citizen engagement debate will be introduced, culminating in an evaluation of policies for behaviour change.
