Environmental Communication Instruments for Environmental Policy Integration

Two public policy concepts - modernization of governance and environmental policy integration - serve as the basis for this work. The author links them up with environmental communication (EC) as an integration instrument approach, and tests application at the local level in Latvia. Totally 30 case studies were analysed and survey methods used to interview over 70 people. The article verifies driving forces affecting the internal and external integration of environmental policy, explicates EC instrumentality for integration by assessing policy instruments and stakeholders. The final conclusions affirm that, in order to integrate environmental management into municipal development, it is necessary to establish a complementary set of policy instruments, what might be enabled by wise use of all EC components in their interactivity. The complementarity of EC instruments and stakeholder group efforts forms synergy and enhances better environmental policy integration.