Anna Berti Suman – författare

This book presents a thought-provoking inquiry demonstrating how civic environmental monitoring can support law enforcement. It provides an in-depth analysis of applicable legal frameworks and conventions such as the Aarhus Convention, with an enlightening discussion on the civic right to contribute environmental information. Civic Monitoring for Environmental Law Enforcement discusses multi- and interdisciplinary research into how civil society uses monitoring techniques to gather evidence of environmental issues. The book argues that civic monitoring is a constructive approach for finding evidence of environmental wrongdoings and for leveraging this evidence in different institutional fora, including judicial proceedings and official reporting for environmental protection agencies. It also reveals the challenges and implications associated with a greater reliance on civic monitoring practices by institutions and society at large. Adopting original methodological approaches to drive inspiration for further research, this book is an invaluable resource for students and scholars of environmental governance and regulation, environmental law, politics and policy, and science and technology studies. It is also beneficial to civil society actors, civic initiatives, legal practitioners, and policymakers working in institutions engaged in the application of environmental law.

‘Citizen sensing’, the practice in which grassroots actors use sensor technology for environmental monitoring, is increasingly entering the debate around environmental risk governance. This groundbreaking book explores the potential for citizen sensing to concretely influence the governance of environmental risks to public health by shaping policy responses implemented by competent institutions. Taking a unique perspective that combines the elements of risk, technology, the grassroots-drive and distrust, Anna Berti Suman analyses which factors contribute to the policy uptake of community-led citizen sensing. She frames the study through the voices of the citizen sensing participants interviewed in her fieldwork, incorporating both theoretical reflections and ethnography into a mixed-methods approach. The book offers novel insights into the advantages and drawbacks of the reliance on citizen sensing by institutional actors and highlights the need for further research in this area. Academics working in environmental law and risk governance will find the research and findings contained in this book both interesting and timely. It will also be of practical use to policy-makers and practitioners, as well as citizen sensing communities that wish to make their monitoring practices more influential.