The goal of this study is to determine issues rural Appalachian residents consider most important, their perceived environmental health risk, and how community engagement can potentially improve those issues. The University of Kentucky Superfund Research Center held the Appalachian Community Health and Well-being Forum at the Letcher County Cooperative Extension Office in Eastern Kentucky. A four-member panel consisted of two local health officials, a nutrition expert, and a federal scientist; answered questions from community members. The expert panel and audience members shared concerns, success stories, and highlighted efforts to promote health in the region. Community members completed a questionnaire collecting information on perceived environmental health risk, fruit and vegetable intake, and basic demographic information. The concerns raised by community members were chronic disease, poverty, pollution, mental health, and wellness. Proposed solutions were compliance, nutrition, physical activity, education, empathy, funding, community engagement, awareness, holistic health, prevention, and insurance/policy change. The programs in place to combat these issues are FARMACY, Community Health Workers, transportation services, mobile dental vans, Kentucky River Watershed Watch, research, policy changes, and the CLIK program. The questionnaire showed that residents are aware of the types of pollution in their community and believe that illness is caused by pollution in their environment. Community residents feel that pollution is not something they should have to live with, they act to protect themselves from pollution, and likely to engage in community efforts to stop pollution in their community.

In the West African country Ghana, which has a history of poor natural resource management, discovery of offshore petroleum resources in 2007 and subsequent commercial production in 2010 (with British multinational Tullow Oil as lead operator) is a potential source of potential wealth and inequality. Using the Cultural Theory of Risk, Social Amplification of Risk Framework, and the Corporate Sustainability Framework — a proposed model—as theoretical foundations, this dissertation examines corporate sustainability practices, communication, and their implications for local residents’ risk perceptions, corporate reputation, and risk management. The study also assesses how cultural worldviews and informational networks (e.g., an environmental group, opinion leaders, and media) amplify or attenuate residents’ risks perceptions. Data were collected via interviews with key actors including a non-governmental organization (NGO), a survey of a representative sample of Half Assini residents in one of the six coastal districts that adjoin Ghana’s offshore petroleum region, and analyses of Tullow’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports and other communication texts. Extant worldview and corporate reputation measures were also developed/adapted and tested. The study finds support for the view that cultural worldview and affect are associated with public risk perceptions. Thus, individuals who (a) do not subscribe to the worldview that government ought to regulate corporate behaviors, (b) show a relatively high sense of attachment to their communities, (c) rate the images associated with Ghana’s offshore oil production favorably, and (d) rate the images associated with Tullow Oil positively are more likely to be worried that Ghana’s offshore oil production poses significant risks for the country and their local communities. Regarding corporate sustainability communication, the study observes that Tullow uses a predominantly technical, expert-driven approach, which seeks to discursively position it as an aspirational, engaged, and responsible organization. While critiquing Tullow’s corporate sustainability and communication approach, the research also argues that corporate sustainability (CSR and risk) communication has the potential to constitute desirable corporate practices and could ultimately culminate in meaningful social change. Theoretical contributions to risk perception, risk management/communication, corporate reputation, and CSR communication are discussed. Practical implications for advocacy, corporate practices, and public participation in environmental decision-making are discussed.

本研究旨在探討利己及利他價值觀如何影響大眾環境風險認知及政策支持，並進一步探討其影響是否受到風險規模、文化取向、及國家發展程度之影響。資料來源為世界價值觀調查(World Value Survey)第五波資料，以Schwartz的「人類價值觀理論」為理論基礎，測量個人利己及利他價值觀，並依風險規模將環境風險認知分為全球性及地區性。統計方法使用層級迴歸，同時檢驗國家層級變項(文化取向及發展程度)對個人層級變項之跨層級調節效果。研究結果顯示大眾對環境風險的感知及反應，受到其價值觀的影響，但針對不同規模的風險議題，在不同文化取向及發展程度的國家，其影響有顯著不同。 / Environmental issues have received much public and media attention abroad and at home. With the increased environmental awareness, there is a strong call for relevant policies and regulations aimed at sustainable development. To ensure sufficient public support, it is crucial to develop a fuller understanding of factors and processes underlying people’s willingness to help protect the environment when making decisions as consumers and citizens. This study aims to predict people’s environmental risk perception and policy support as a function of their values. Specifically, Schwartz’s self-transcendence and self-enhancement value clusters will be examined as determinants to understand why few people choose to make collectively beneficial decisions. Three extensions were made. First, instead of focusing on low-cost lifestyle changes, this study examined policy support that requires substantial personal costs. Second, global and local environmental risk perceptions are treated as two qualitatively different constructs according to their geographical scales. Finally, this study moves beyond an individualistic approach, incorporating country-level forces into the model. Information about the individuals are based on variables measured in the World Value Survey (2005), while cultural orientations and levels of development are measured by the Schwartz Value Survey (2005) and the Human Development Index (2005) respectively. Hierarchical regression are employed, with the nature of interaction being revealed by plotting techniques. The results suggested that perception and responses to environmental risks reflect their most basic value priorities and life goals. Consequently, environmental persuasive messages are most effective when intended behaviors are framed as fulfilling important life goals. However, the effects of person-level constructs greatly vary with social contexts and issue scales, suggesting that different strategies are preferred when dealing with risks associated with different geographical frame. Finally, cultural orientations and levels of development will influence the way members of a society respond to environmental threats. Practical implications for environmental risk communication are proposed and discussed.