Identifying and explaining key drivers affecting citizens' participation in urban waste management The Case Study of Tabriz metropolis

The excessive increase in the urban population in recent years has caused an increase in consumption and, as a result, the production of all kinds of waste in urban areas. Currently, one of the most important environmental issues in the city of Tabriz is urban waste management. Knowing the opinions and participation of citizens in waste management is essential. Therefore, the current research aims to identify and explain the key drivers affecting citizens' participation in urban waste management. The current research method is an explanatory description with practical-developmental goals. The required data has been collected in two documentary and field methods. The statistical population is all citizens of the Tabriz metropolis. The results showed that the score obtained on the Likert scale is equal to 3.08. The highest averages for regions 1, 2, 9, and 5 are 3.15, 3.13, 3.12, and 3.11, respectively, and the lowest for region 4 is 3.03. Despite the obtained results, there is a possibility of instability due to the low averages obtained. The relationships between them were explained by extracting 44 factors, applying the opinions of 50 experts to determine the importance of factors, and using the interaction/structural effects analysis method in Mic Micmac Fuzzy software. The results showed that the most effective direct factors include social capacity building, active participation of stakeholders, social trust, social capital, civil society institutions and organizations (CSO), establishing interaction between the participant and the participant, and training the rights and duties of citizenship and NGOs. The obtained factors show the role of social factors, cultural infrastructure, and bottom-up planning, which have been associated with positive feedback and successful experiences worldwide in recent years
 

Extended Abstract
Introduction
Waste management is one of the most important concerns of human societies. The ever-increasing amount of waste, on the one hand and their diversity, on the other hand, add to the complexity of the conditions and methods of their collection and disposal. Extensive advances in technology and science in various fields of chemistry, physics, medicine, and others have caused the entry of hazardous wastes, even in normal household wastes. Participating in waste management through reducing production and separating waste from each other at the source is one of the most entrepreneurial and economical processing methods in most countries of the world today. In the success of this approach to waste management, residents play a very influential role. Optimal management of services can only be implemented if the residents also participate in it, both in decision-making and policy-making and in the planning and implementation of projects. In other words, the comprehensive definition of participation is individuals' mental and emotional involvement in group situations that motivates them to help each other and share responsibilities to achieve group goals. About 1200 tons of waste are produced in Tabriz city. About 52% of it comprises organic materials, about 1.13% of the city's waste is paper and cardboard, and 19% is made up of recyclable materials such as plastic, metals, glass, etc. In this research, this issue has been addressed in the form of explaining ways to improve citizens' participation in urban waste management in the metropolis of Tabriz, and the capacities of citizens' participation in waste management in each of the management decision-making dimensions have been explored.
 
Methodology
The current research is fundamentally-applicative in terms of its purpose and considering that questionnaires and semi-in-depth interviews were used in different stages to collect data. The research method is a descriptive-survey according to the method of data collection. Also, the dominant approach is descriptive-analytical, which is analyzed based on the data obtained from interviews and questionnaires. In order to measure the current situation of 10 districts, a citizenship questionnaire was distributed to 385 people according to the population share of the regions. After theoretical saturation and combining with the results of documentary studies, the results have been extracted in the form of propositions and based on the questionnaire, which has been entrusted to the judgment of elites and experts to determine the importance and degree of influence of each of the criteria.
 
Results and discussion
From the point of view of the responding citizens, the score obtained from the collected research data is equal to 3.08 in the Likert scale. The highest extracted averages for regions 1, 2, 9, and 5 are 3.15, 3.13, 3.12, and 3.11, respectively, and the lowest average for region 4 is 3.03. Due to the fact that the average obtained is higher than number three on the Likert scale and despite the fact that these areas are in the middle of the Likert scale, due to the low averages obtained, there is a possibility of instability in this sector as a result of urban mismanagement, which highlights the need for special attention to this sector for those involved in urban management. Despite the difference between the regions in the research discussion, it is important to mention that none of the ten districts of the research got a higher score on the Likert spectrum, and all of them fluctuated around the average score of 3. Therefore, in terms of participation in waste management, there is a significant difference between different areas of Tabriz city. Based on the variables' dispersion patterns, the system is unstable.
 
Conclusion
One of the important and vital areas of urban management in these years has been urban waste management, which can take a new path towards sustainable development with the participation of citizens. Participatory management in the matter of urban waste management can optimize different stages of waste management, make people aware of social obligations and urbanization, especially in matters of health and environmental protection, and correct citizens' misconceptions about waste management as It should be very helpful to remove the garbage from the home environment in an individual dimension. As one of the poles of development, Tabriz metropolis needs to review the policies based on the forward-looking forecasts of people's participation in waste management. Based on this, knowing the collaborative patterns and examining future developments to predict them is a necessary and undeniable issue. Determining and influencing variables of the diagram of direct effects in the system, in order of the intensity of the effect, including cases of basic innovations, active participation of beneficiaries or users, economic and recycling benefits of waste collection, development of citizenship skills, culture and neighborhood identity, how Distribution of resources and facilities, focusing on the field of household waste and house-to-house purchase of separated waste.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.