Abstract
Communicating with key stakeholders is an essential factor of success in all environmental projects. Literature findings confirm that laterality and in particular writing/reading habits play a crucial role in modifying perceptions. In this paper, we test the influence of reading/writing habits on the expression of the visual appreciation of an image, on two groups of 40 right-handed Lebanese students (sinistroverse vs. bilateral readers/writers) aged 16 to 19. Lebanon is a multicultural country where students study either exclusively in Arabic or are exposed to both Arabic and French, and/ or English cultures. 32 images of common flora (plants) and fauna (animals) that could be used in quarry rehabilitation projects, were displayed on a computer screen for appreciation and the results showed that, in the case of exclusively Arabic speaking target communities, using adapted tools could allow a better expression of the true perceptions of a community. When it comes to the successful implementation of environmental projects, our results open the floor, to the necessity of understanding lateral perception of target communities especially in terms of reading/writing direction, in adapting the tools during public hearings and presentations.