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Peter J. Balint

Peter J. Balint is associate professor in the Department of Public and International Affairs at George Mason University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy. He teaches courses on environmental policy and politics and on research methods and data analysis. Hisresearch addresses various aspects of environmental policy, including community-based conservation, the management of so-called wicked environmental problems, and the bureaucratic lifecycles of environmental agencies.

Wicked Environmental Problems

Managing Uncertainty and Conflict

"Wicked" problems are large-scale, long-term policy dilemmas in which multiple and compounding risks and uncertainties combine with sharply divergent public values to generate contentious political stalemates; wicked problems in the environmental arena typically emerge from entrenched conflicts over natural resource management and over the prioritization of economic and conservation goals more generally.

This new book examines past experience and future directions in the management of wicked environmental problems and describes new strategies for mitigating the conflicts i