Determinants of the Willingness-to-Participate in an Environmental Intervention in a Beirut Neighborhood

Participatory environmental management can empower communities and enhance the sustainability of environmental interventions. However, existing power structures and inequalities along class, gender, or ethnic lines could prevent part of the community from accessing the full benefits of the intervention. An analysis of determinants of the willingness-to-participate in an environmental intervention in a Beirut neighborhood is conducted. Socioeconomic, health-risk distribution, and perception of community efficacy are used as predictors. A randomly selected sample of residents was surveyed. Respondents were asked to specify the frequency with which they were willing to be involved in an intervention to address priority environmental problems in the neighborhood. Bivariate and multivariate ordinal regression analyses were conducted. Tests of significance were based on the 95% confidence intervals (CI) of the odds ratio (OR). Males versus females (OR = 4.89, P < 0.001), respiratory patients versus nonsufferers (OR = 5.65, P < 0.001), tenants versus house owners (OR = 2.98, P < 0.01), and the less educated versus the more educated (OR = 2.42, P < 0.05) were significantly more likely to be willing to participate. The reluctance of female community members to participate might be a major hindrance to community-based environmental protection and special strategies must be devised to overcome it. On the other hand, respondents suffering from an illness perceived to be related to environmental toxins are likely to be strong participants in environmental conservation efforts. Finally, the study yielded no evidence that belief or lack of it in the efficacy of community action is a good predictor of the willingness-to-participate in such action.