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Environmental management within an institutionalized planning process—Avoiding a paradox in the belgian environmental movement

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Summary

The position and weaknesses of the Belgian environmental movement are assessed within their historical context. Recent intentions pronounced by prominent members of the movement are put into the context of the on-going constitutional and administrative reformation in Belgium.

An analysis is made of the organizational and operational problems that exist within any planning process, including environmental planning processes. The problems in the latter type of process are severe due to the derived or indirect nature of the subject matter of environmental management and planning.

It is argued that an appropriate response to the unique opportunities furnished by the administrative reorganization consists of demanding the establishment of a central planning and strategic control authority. This authority would be the initiator of the general planning processes within the Flemish Community. It would act on the indication of the Executive Cabinet and it would be charged with planning, programming, budgeting, and strategic control of goals and policy guidelines adopted by the Flemish Community Council.

The role of environmental managers and planners will be twofold. They would be members of the planning teams within the central planning and strategic control authority, thus they would ensure the environmental soundness of planning. Secondly, they will be the implementators of specific planning actions, undertaken solely to enhance the quality of Flanders' battered environment. To execute the latter function, they will constitute the personnel of peripheral, implementation-geared, environmental agencies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gemeentestraat 47, B-3200, Kessel-Lo, Belgium

    Walter E. J. Tips

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  1. Walter E. J. Tips
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Walter E. J. Tips holds degrees in general biology, ecology and town and regional planning from the State University of Ghent (Belgium). He has published in fields as varied as conservation, animal ecology, environmental planning and environmental impact assessment, and rural development planning. He has been a lecturer in planning in Malaysia and an advisor to Belgian landscape planning authorities. At present his main interest is in research on the possibilities of organizational reform of government administration to include environmental planning procedures in decision making and planning.

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Tips, W.E.J. Environmental management within an institutionalized planning process—Avoiding a paradox in the belgian environmental movement. Environmentalist 2, 143–158 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02600325

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