A sociological study of the causes of participation in environmental non governmental organizations in Tehran: presentation grounded theories

Adapting to climate change and changing energy-related behaviors to reduce global warming is a necessity in today's societies that would not be possible without full participation of people and groups, including environmental NGOs . Numerous environmental problems and the difficulty of urban management in this area in major cities such as Tehran make the need for expanding these organizations more apparent, as the development of NGOs will lead to increased participation and increased decision-making in the field of environment. In this regard, understanding the reasons and motivations of individuals for membership in environmental NGOs as the main objective of the present study can expand these types of organizations to achieve sustainable development. Previous research in this area has been very few and often with a quantitative approach.This study applies qualitative methd.

The approach of this study is interpretation and is conducted by using grounded theory. Participants were selected based on purposive sampling from 20 members of the NGOs of Tehran's Climatic and Energy Organization in the year 2018_19. Data were collected using semi-structured interview technique and analyzed using open, axial and selective coding steps. The concepts derived from coding fell into the following categories and the paradigm model is extracted in five parts: causal conditions, confounding conditions, contexts, strategies, and consequences that revolve around the main phenomenon.

Data analysis showed that causal conditions affecting members' motivations for participation in environmental studies were based on: social status, transcendental attitude, specialized knowledge, concern and personal reasons (interest, naturalism, field of study, sensory experiences, systematic view, discovering special interests). Furthermore, the intervening conditions affecting the phenomenon include: structural constraints (fragility of the environment, lack of context for civic activities, etc.), intrinsic value of the environment, neighborhood and occupational conditions. In addition, the results of the study show that the strategies adopted by the actors in the short and long term are: symbolic activities, criticism, member empowerment, recruitment of experts, scientific approach to the programs and consultation with the planners and interaction and collective wisdom. Finally, the results of the present study indicated that the consequences of adopting these strategies are modeling, effectiveness, drawing planners' attention to specific environmental issues, producing educational and scientific content, trust, authority, scientific exchange and demanding.

The main motivation of members to participate in NGOS is to establish and develop “Environmental Communications”(EC). In pursuit of this goal, members are interested in establishing or joining NGOS to develop intergroup and interagroup relationships that can provide a propoer framework for changing behaviors and resolving environmental and energy-related environmental problems.