In recent years, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have played an increasingly significant role in poverty alleviation, disaster relief, and education assistance. By the end of 2021, there were 902,000 social organizations in China, nearly double the number in 2011.
Among them, the number of NGOs dedicated to environmental protection has increased significantly, and they have played an important role in watershed management, marine pollution control, and air pollution control.
In March 2020, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the “Guiding Opinions on Building a Modern Environmental Governance System”, emphasizing the need to establish a robust national action system for environmental governance and the role of various social groups.
However, compared to nonprofit actions in poverty alleviation, disaster relief, and education assistance, environmental protection faces many challenges. Some programs conflict with the economic goals of local governments, making implementation difficult.
From the perspective of existing environmental protection organizations participating in environmental governance, official NGOs with government backgrounds, large V-type NGOs with strong social capital, and foreign aid NGOs supported by international organizations are the mainstream. In contrast, grassroots NGOs face challenges regarding survival, development, and participation in environmental protection. Despite these challenges, grassroots NGOs in China have continuously explored and formed unique models for environmental protection. Summarizing their strategies provides valuable insights for addressing the practical difficulties of diversified environmental governance and promoting the healthy development of environmental protection NGOs.
The fundamental dilemma for grassroots NGOs in participating in environmental protection stems from the mismatch between their grassroots identity and their role as external supervisors of public management, leading to external relationship challenges. Analyzing this dilemma and action strategy of grassroots NGOs from the perspective of “identity-role-relationship” brings the organizational behavior analysis back to the triangular model framework of “self-goal-others”. This approach helps explore the fundamental dilemma and provides a long-term solution.
First, it is essential to objectively recognize the fundamental dilemma of grassroots NGOs in participating in environmental protection. This includes facing the resource dilemma of grassroots identity, the role dilemma of external supervision, and the relationship dilemma arising from the mismatch between identity and role. The key question of organizational identity is, “Who are we as an organization?” and the question of organizational role is, “What is our goal as an organizational value?” The mismatch between pursuing a strong role and goal with a weak identity and status fundamentally determines the dilemma of grassroots NGOs, making it almost impossible for them to act as external supervisors of public management effectively.
Second, the interactive relationship with the government is crucial for all external relationships of grassroots NGOs. Managing this relationship is vital for achieving interest transmission and relationship reconstruction. Unlike the typically oppositional and confrontational relationship model between Western NGOs and the governments, the relationship in China is generally based on mutual promotion, cooperation and coordination. Emphasizing interest transmission and relationship reconstruction does not mean advocating for the use of private relationships and transferring private interests. Instead, it encourages grassroots NGOs to adopt legitimate methods and effectively use these strategies to form a stable connection with key stakeholders. Understanding the role of interest transmission and relationship reconstruction is essential for the survival and development of grassroots NGOs.
Third, the analysis the relationship dilemmas caused by identity and role mismatch provides an opportunity to further enrich the triangular model. The triangular model framework involves the organization’s self-identity, its goals, and its relationships with stakeholders. This model emphasizes the interconnected influence of these three elements on organizational characteristics and behavior. The grassroots identity of NGOs inherently leads to significant resource difficulties in achieving their goals. Additionally, the role of “external supervisor of public management” exacerbates their survival and development challenges. The mismatch between identity and goal creates awkward relationships with other entities. Therefore, attention should be paid to how the relationships between the elements in the triangular model impact each other, continuously deepening the theoretical understanding of this model.
