A Call for Abstracts for papers for a special issue on Informational Governance, to be published in Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability in 2015, has been issued by an international editorial team, led by researchers at Wageningen University & Research Centre.
The rapid developments of different types of new information technologies, information networks, and social media are increasingly affecting societies around the world. In different societal domains information plays an increasingly important role in governance processes. Whereas hyper-connectivity across the globe opens up enormous possibilities for information exchange, knowledge creation, feedback, debate, learning and innovation, social networking, marketing and advertising, such emerging opportunities also constitute a threat to privacy and erode the power of classic public and private institutions, as nobody is in control of information.
A special issue on Informational governance is planned for publication in the journal Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability (http://www.journals.elsevier.com/current-opinion-in-environmental-sustainability). This journal particularly publishes review articles of some 5-7 pages.
Interested researchers are invited to submit an abstract for this special issue, which should be about 250 words. The abstracts should be submitted by 15 May 2014 as a Word file attached to an email addressed to: katrine.soma@wur.nl
The special issue will be structured by the following topics, and authors are invited to write on any of the suggested, but not exhaustive, list:
- Contested processes of information use and provision
- The practice of informational governance across scales
- How information enhances the capacity of local communities to govern their common pool resources
- Role and potential of new (uncontrolled) information systems in science and governance
The editors will select a total of 10-12 abstracts from an international audience to be part of this special issue, which will complement about seven abstracts that already have been selected at the Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), the Netherlands, related to a research programme called Informational Governance and Sustainability.
Authors will be invited to a workshop in the Netherlands in October 2014 to discuss the articles with the intent to improve the coherency of the special issue of the journal. In advance of the workshop, authors will draft their papers to be presented and discussed at the meeting in October.
Timeline for preparation of the special issue:
- 15 May 2014: Abstracts due
- 15 May – 31 May 2014: Selection of 10-12 external abstracts
- October 2014: Workshop in the Netherlands with all authors invited
- Beginning of 2015: All articles will be ready for submission for internal and external reviews, which will conclude in April 2015.
Special Issue Editorial Team
Katrien Termeer, Public Administration and Policy, Wageningen UR, Wageningen, Netherlands (katrien.termeer@wur.nl)
Paul Opdam, Alterra – Nature and Society, Wageningen UR, Wageningen, Netherlands (paul.opdam@wur.nl)
Katrine Soma, Public Administration and Policy, Wageningen UR, Wageningen, Netherlands (Katrine.soma@wur.nl)
Bertrum MacDonald, School of Information Management, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada (bertrum.macdonald@dal.ca)
