This article assesses the use of the environmental competency group (ECG) method as a tactic for bringing residents and scientists in coastal Louisiana into collaboration on designing coastal restoration projects. Based on qualitative research on the competency group during a period of ten months, this article describes the achievements and limitations of the ECG as a technique for democratizing the production of scientific knowledge. Particular attention is paid to distinctions between expert and lay or traditional environmental knowledge in literature on ECGs and how the aspirations of the ECG unfold in the context of coastal restoration planning in Louisiana. Against this backdrop, the article first presents a theoretical overview of the ECG method. Next, it describes the methods and outcomes of an ECG in Louisiana and the efforts of members of the ECG to collaboratively design numeric predictive models and restoration projects. From here, the article analyzes the ideological barriers faced by ECG in their attempts to overcome a one-directional, input-based framework for resident–scientist collaboration. The article ends with a series of critical questions about the possibilities of ECG to achieve the democratization of environmental knowledge in practice.

中文翻译：

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模型争议：利用环境能力小组为路易斯安那州的沿海恢复规划提供信息

本文评估了使用环境能力组 (ECG) 方法作为一种策略，使路易斯安那州沿海的居民和科学家参与设计沿海恢复项目的合作。本文基于对能力组为期十个月的定性研究，描述了心电图作为一种科学知识生产民主化技术的成就和局限性。特别关注专家和非专业或传统环境知识在 ECG 文献中的区别，以及 ECG 的愿望如何在路易斯安那州沿海恢复规划的背景下展开。在此背景下，本文首先对 ECG 方法进行了理论概述。下一个，它描述了路易斯安那州 ECG 的方法和结果，以及 ECG 成员协作设计数字预测模型和恢复项目的努力。从这里开始，本文分析了 ECG 在试图克服单向、基于输入的驻地科学家合作框架时面临的意识形态障碍。文章最后提出了一系列关于 ECG 在实践中实现环境知识民主化的可能性的关键问题。