belated introduction & goals

[John Delicath <delicajw@email.uc.edu>]

Hello everyone.  Greetings from Cincinnati.  I must apologize for 
getting to the conversation so late in the day.  Appropriately 
enough, my delay was caused by the fact that I have been working 
on a conference we are hosting at the University of Cincinnati 
concerning public participation in environmental decision making.

The conference is taking place July 27-31.  FYI, more info is 
available at www.esf.edu/ecn/conf01.htm

I teach in the Department of Communication at the University of 
Cincinnati and work in the Center for Environmental Communication 
Studies.  One of my areas of emphasis over the past 5 years has 
been public involvement in environmental policy (specifically in 
the area of brownfields and on issues of environmental justice).
 
While I am gaining increased experience in "the field", like most 
academics, much of my work has been theoretical and philosophical 
with regards to issues of citizen involvement and principles of 
democratic participation.

I was very impressed with the 1996 NEJAC report on Brownfields 
and the concern for "early and on-going" public involvement and 
efforts to promote "informed and empowered" public participation.
A particular issue of interest to me is the role(s) that academic 
institutions can play in creating opportunities for citizen 
involvement and helping citizens to participate more effectively.

I apologize for not touching on the issues raised so far.  I 
wanted to get this introduction in before 8pm.

I am going back to read the thread now.

I look forward to the