Engaging the public in protecting water resources is a critical yet challenging task. A wealth of social science studies has identified psychological predictors for individual pro-environmental behaviors. These predictors can guide communication in public engagement and inform the allocation of engagement efforts. However, a thorny challenge is to select influential factors among many candidates. This paper addresses this challenge by using social science research to guide the development of strategies to motivate the public to protect the North American Great Lakes. We considered a variable selection technique, the LASSO regression, in the post-hoc analysis of the International Joint Commission’s 2018 Binational Great Lakes Binational Poll data. The poll surveyed 4250 Canadian and U.S. residents of the Great Lakes basin. We fit LASSO logistic models to predict respondents’ intentions to take three public actions to protect the Great Lakes, including contacting public officials, attending public meetings, and engaging in online forums and groups. The models included 41 predictors encompassing demographic characteristics as well as respondents’ awareness, beliefs, and values that are pertinent to Great Lakes policy development and management. Results revealed eight variables that consistently predicted the three public actions, including indigenous status, political ideology, impacts of the specific policy issues of nuclear wastes, policy awareness and interests, and the Great Lakes values for personal benefits and wildlife. Based on these findings, we recommend strategies to motivate the public to take public actions to protect the Great Lakes.

中文翻译：

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告知公众参与策略以激励公众保护五大湖：从 2018 年五大湖流域两国民意调查中吸取的教训

让公众参与保护水资源是一项关键但具有挑战性的任务。大量的社会科学研究已经确定了个体亲环境行为的心理预测因素。这些预测因素可以指导公众参与中的交流，并为参与工作的分配提供信息。然而，一个棘手的挑战是在众多候选人中选择影响因素。本文通过使用社会科学研究来指导制定策略以激励公众保护北美五大湖来应对这一挑战。我们在国际联合委员会 2018 年双边大湖区双边民意调查数据的事后分析中考虑了一种变量选择技术，即 LASSO 回归。该民意调查调查了五大湖盆地的 4250 名加拿大和美国居民。我们拟合 LASSO 逻辑模型来预测受访者采取三种公共行动来保护五大湖的意图，包括联系公职人员、参加公开会议以及参与在线论坛和团体。这些模型包括 41 个预测因素，包括人口特征以及与五大湖政策制定和管理相关的受访者的意识、信念和价值观。结果揭示了八个变量一致地预测了三种公共行为，包括土著地位、政治意识形态、核废料特定政策问题的影响、政策意识和利益，以及五大湖对个人利益和野生动物的价值观。基于这些发现，我们提出了一些策略来激励公众采取公共行动来保护五大湖。