Originally published in 1988, reissued now with a new series introduction, New Directions in Environmental Participation was the third in a trilogy of books to open the series Ethnoscapes: Current Challenges in the Environmental Social Sciences. These three titles brought together specially commissioned contributions that cover much of the range of topics that the series as a whole would cover. Although the following volumes would not have the same format, the opening trilogy gave an overview of what was to come, while also providing a broad base for the future authors to build upon.

For this volume the editors chose to deal directly with current developments in environmental participation. This brings together contributions that range from studies of hands-on user participation to explorations on a much broader scale of the role we all play in shaping our environment. The role of communication, education and research in the participation process is a motif that is apparent throughout the contributions.