| Worldviews, identity, perceptions and stereotypes, differences in culture, and communication factors are studied to assess how the forest industry and environmental organizations interact with each other over natural resource management issues in British Columbia. Three focus groups held with representatives from the forest industry and environmental organizations, supplemented with quantitative survey data, supports community level planning among all local interests. The forest industry and local or regional environmental organizations are often more similar in their views, as compared to environmental organizations that operate at the provincial, national or international scale. Each group has similar, but reverse stereotypes of each other that persist, despite increased interaction over the past decade. The forest industry and environmental organizations each have complex levels of culture which disables effective interaction through the need to create a positive identity for individuals and their group. |
