Top Paper Panel for Organizational & Professional Communication Division... Also, please cite as: 2. Mitra, R. (In press). Environmental nonprofit organizations’ communicative negotiation of local/global spaces. In J.A. Drzewiecka, & T. Nakayama (Eds.), Global perspectives on culture and communication. New York: Peter Lang.

1. ENVIRONMENTAL NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATIONS AND NETWORKED PUBLICS:
CASE STUDIES OF WATER SUSTAINABILITY
RAHUL MITRA, PH.D.
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY

2. RATIONALE
• ENVIRONMENTAL NONPROFITS NEED TO CONSIDER BOTH LOCAL AND
GLOBAL PUBLICS, NOTING HOW THEY ARE CLOSELY INTERCONNECTED
(BRUMMANS ET AL., 2008; COOREN, 2001; GANESH & ZOLLER, 2014; MITRA, 2013; MUNSHII
& KURIAN, 2015)
• WATER, ESPECIALLY, IS A KEY ISSUE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL NONPROFITS
• RESEARCH QUESTION: HOW DO ENVIRONMENTAL NONPROFITS ENGAGE
THEIR NETWORKED LOCAL/GLOBAL PUBLICS AROUND WATER STEWARDSHIP?
• METHOD: COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY APPROACH (“AQUA” AND “WATERNET”)

3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS
• NETWORKED PUBLICS ARE SIMULTANEOUSLY THE SPACE CONSTRUCTED
THROUGH NETWORKED TECHNOLOGIES, AND THE IMAGINED COLLECTIVE
THAT EMERGES AS A RESULT OF INTERSECTING PEOPLE, TECHNOLOGIES, AND
PRACTICE (BAYM ET AL., 2012; BOYD, 2011; BOYD & ELLISON, 2007; CASTELLS, 2010; DIANI,
1992; FRASER, 1990; MITRA & GAJJALA, 2010; PARKS, 2011; WARNER, 2002)
• NETWORK PERSPECTIVE TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZING (COOPER & SHUMATE,
2012; GANESH ET AL., 2005; O’CONNOR & SHUMATE, 2014; SHUMATE & O’CONNOR, 2010;
STOHL & STOHL, 2005; VAAST, 2004)
• COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICES OF ENGAGEMENT FOR WATER SUSTAINABILITY
(DRUSCHKE, 2013; HOPKE, 2016; MITRA, 2017; MITRA & BUZZANELL, 2015; SPRAIN ET AL.,
2014; SUN ET AL., 2015)

4. METHOD
• MULTI-CASE STUDY APPROACH TO COMPARE AND CONTRAST
ORGANIZATIONAL PRACTICES IN REAL LIFE (STAKE, 2000; 2006)
• PRAGMATIC ITERATIVE METHOD TO COLLECT AND ANALYZE DATA (AMIS & SILK,
2008; LINDLOF & TAYLOR, 2011; TRACY, 2013)
• CASE 1: “AQUA” BASED ON PARTICIPANT OBSERVATIONS OF STAKEHOLDER
MEETINGS, AND ANALYSIS OF RELEVANT TEXTS (~120 PAGES)
• CASE 2: “WATERNET” BASED ON IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS (10), TEXTUAL
ANALYSIS, PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION AT MAJOR EVENTS (~150 PAGES)

5. FINDINGS: CASE STUDY 1 “AQUA”
• GLOBALLY NETWORKED DELIBERATION
• GRASSROOTS OUTREACH AND COLLABORATION
• DIALOGIC COMMUNICATION – CENTERING LOCAL PLACE
• CONTESTING SPATIAL CONCEPTS

6. ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES FROM “AQUA”
• “WATER IS A SHARED RESOURCE” THAT REQUIRES “DIALOGUE WITH LOCAL
NEIGHBORS”
• INSTEAD OF “PROMOTERS… TRYING TO ENCOURAGE UPTAKE OF THE
STANDARD,” ALTERNATIVE TERMS LIKE “CHAMPIONS” TO FOREGROUND NON-
FINANCIAL STAKE
• RE-NAME “AREAS OF INFLUENCE” (U.N. GLOBAL COMPACT) TO “SPHERES OF
INFLUENCE” THAT RECOGNIZED BOTH HYDROLOGICAL AND SOCIOCULTURAL
IMPACTS

7. FINDINGS: CASE STUDY 2 “WATERNET”
• GRASSROOTS ENTREPRENEURSHIP
• GLOCAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
• PLACE-BASED BRANDING
• CONNECTOR ACROSS NETWORKS

8. ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES FROM “WATERNET”
“WE SAT DOWN FOR HALF-AN-HOUR, 45 MINUTES, AND AARON TOLD HER THE STORY
OF THE INCEPTION OF WATERNET AND HOW WE KIND OF UNCOVERED THIS WATER
CLUSTER THAT’S ALWAYS SORT OF EXISTED HERE, BUT NOBODY REALLY KNEW ABOUT
IT – THEN DISCOVERED THAT, YES, IT COULD BE A BIG ECONOMIC DRIVER, AND THERE’S
LOTS OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTNERSHIPS AND USING THAT SORT OF POOL OF
KNOWLEDGE TO HELP EVERYONE SUCCEED. AND AS I WAS WATCHING THE SITUATION
UNFOLD, I COULD SEE THIS GAL JUST STARTING TO GET REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IT, AND
HER WHOLE FACE KIND OF CHANGED, AND SHE’S NODDING ALONG WITH WHAT
AARON IS SAYING AND REALLY KIND OF – TAKING THE BAIT ISN’T REALLY WHAT I
WANT TO SAY [LAUGHTER] BUT –”
- COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR

9. ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES FROM “WATERNET”
WE WILL CONTINUE WITH GREAT PRIDE TO TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT WE
ARE FROM [HOME CITY], AND EVEN WHEN WE START PUTTING OUR THINGS
OUT THERE – OUR LOGO, AS AN EXAMPLE – IF YOU LOOK AT IT, IT LOOKS LIKE A
WAVE, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT LOOKS LIKE AN [X], AND WE THOUGHT
EARLY ON WHAT HAPPENS IF WE EXPAND AND GROW BEYOND THE SEVEN
COUNTIES… DO WE SIMPLY FLIP THAT AROUND AND TAKE ON A [X] FOR
SOMETHING [ELSE] LIKE THAT?... NO WE NEED TO KEEP THAT JUST AS IT IS, AND
IT REALLY IS THAT TIE BACK TO OUR HEADQUARTERS AND OUR BASE BEING
HERE IN [HOME CITY], AND THAT’S IMPORTANT TO US.
- PRESIDENT

10. DISCUSSION
• NECESSARY TO IDENTIFY AS BOTH LOCAL AND GLOBAL FOR DIVERSE
STAKEHOLDERS, AND ARTICULATE THEIR CONCERNS DESPITE POTENTIAL
CONTRADICTIONS
• RECOGNIZE MULTIPLEX TIES AMONG STAKEHOLDERS; FILL STRUCTURAL HOLES
TO MOBILIZE ACTION
• DESPITE PARTICIPATORY DISCOURSES AND BUILDING GRASSROOTS
CONNECTIONS, THEY PLAY UP NEOLIBERAL AGENDAS OF BUSINESS GROWTH
AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP, REVEALING A TENSIONAL INTERPLAY AMONG
NETWORKED PUBLICS