Post on 19-Jan-2016
description
New Approaches, New Institutions?
A National Symposium
Federalism & Regionalism in Australia
Federalism & Regionalism in Australia
The New Regional Focus• A ‘regional’ focus in policy across urban, rural and remote areas of
Australia relating to three core areas: environment (e.g. environmental protection and natural resource
management policy) economic (e.g. industry and employment policy) social (e.g. integrated service delivery)
• The long-term sustainability of regions depends on the functionality and health of the overall system of regional governance across these core areas
• To achieve sustainable development, policy responses in these core areas cannot be considered in isolation
• Emerging regional governance approaches are experiencing considerable challenges in practice
• Our knowledge of what works, what doesn’t, and if it works why, and how could it work better is limited
Federalism & Regionalism in Australia
Focus of presentation• On priorities and prospects for regional governance research and
evaluation (with particular emphasis on sustainability)
• Decision making on regional governance for sustainability made by individuals, civil society, and the state involve questions of, e.g.: – efficiency– effectiveness– equity– political legitimacy
• These key questions are also integrative elements across a breadth of disciplines relevant to research on regional governance
• Decision making occurs within and is clearly influenced by the social, ‘cultural’, economic, environmental and political context in which the system of regional governance operates in practice
• Research on, &/or evaluation of, regional governance needs to be sensitive to this multi-dimensional context and to the multiple scales of relevance
Federalism & Regionalism in Australia
Multiple levels of policy implementation (national, state, regional, local)
Involves a multiplicity of actors/agents Multiple perceptions of the problem(s) and the objectives of
policy implementation exist Multiple strategies and policy instruments A multi-resourced and multi-organisational basis for
implementation Incomplete scientific/technical knowledge to support
decision-making Varying levels of actor/agent understanding of options and
solutions Variable support from community and political leaders
Regional Governance: A complex system
Federalism & Regionalism in Australia
System of Regional Governance
• Conceptually, system comprises a complex set of (often poorly) linked institutions and arrangements (formal and informal):
1. ‘horizontal’ between:– different actors (e.g. industry, community and
government)– different sectors (e.g. social, economic, environmental)
2. ‘vertical’ between:– functional levels (e.g. spheres of government)
• In practice, these arrangements may have competing objectives and interests and can evolve independently of each other over different timeframes
• A simple example of the complexity involved in practice – institutional arrangements for wetlands management in a wet tropics regional environment
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Regional CoastalManagement PlanCMPA
Wet Tropics World Heritage Area
Freehold Land
Local Gov’t Boundary: IPA
Grazing Land, leasehold: LA
Environmentally Relevant Activity: EPA
Major Rock Wall:WRA, RITA
Voluntary Conservation Agreement: NCA
Wetland: Code of Practice for sustainable Cane Growing, Land Use Practices for Wet Tropical Floodplains, ICM & Landcare
Declared Fish Habitat Area: FA
Fish Habitat Code of Practice
Works in tidally affected areas: BPA
Bed/banks River: RITA, WRA
Marine Plants: FA
Recreation AreaManagement Act
Coastal Control District
Wetland: ICM
Voluntary Conservation Agreement: NCA
Sugar Cane: Sugar Industry Act, Sugar Industry Code of PracticeLand Use Practices for Wet Tropical Floodplains
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New Governance Frameworks
• New generation of governance institutions emerging for resolving collective action problems in response to the need to address issues, e.g.:– Multidimensional and inequitable impacts– Technical uncertainty and ignorance– Evolving and conflicting values and priorities– Urgency– Mistrust
• Commonly based on public/private partnership models that reflect a global trend in devolving decision-making closer to its source or context
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Emerging Partnership Approaches
• Participatory and discursive approaches designed to:– Promote deliberation about the problems that regional
communities and not only ‘technical experts’ see as important– Give greater status and respect to ‘grass roots’ or societal
knowledge– Foster deliberation about values, priorities and actions– Embrace new forms of knowledge and multiple sources of
information– Stimulate local innovation and emphasise principles and
processes rather than recipes and technological prescriptions– Support collaborative learning and adaptive institutions
• Challenge conventional thinking on success, failure and effectiveness of governance arrangements – and require a new approach to research and evaluation
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The Research Challenge
• System of regional governance comprises numerous 'nested' discrete components/activities carried out concurrently across :
– a range of functional levels (e.g. national, state, regional, local)– a number of different dimensions (e.g. social, economic and environmental)
• Phenomenon at any one level are affected by:– other mechanisms at the same level– the level above– the level below
• At each ‘functional’ level:– Different problems exist– Different questions need to be asked– Different theories can be formulated
• Understanding the essential properties of this complex system comes from an understanding of how the components work collectively together – not from an examination of the parts themselves in isolation
Federalism & Regionalism in Australia
Regional
body
Weeds / pests
Vegetation
Coastal
Water
Biodiversity
Local government
EconomicSocial Resource and environment
State agencies, local government, industry, NGOs, business managers and other individual decision makers
EconomicSocial Resource and environment
EconomicSocial Resource and environment
Functional level/scale
National
State
Regional
Regional NRM Planning (statutory and non-statutory
Local implementation
Constitutional and legal process
Statutory compliance
Policy matters (e.g.. public interest)
Program $s
Accountabilityetc
Devolution Feedback
Local program / policy decisions
Aggregate impact results
Engagement and involvement
Politicsetc
Regional Governance System – multiple lenses
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Shift in research culture
• From academic ‘silos’ to complex systems thinking and adaptive management
• Traditional/collegial research may recognise the regional governance system as a set of 3 ‘domains of action’ but research based on:
– a single disciplinary or academic ‘silo’ approach
– quality control dominantly through peer review
• New inter- or trans-disciplinary research agendas emphasise:
– the dynamic interaction and interconnectedness of these domains
– emergent properties associated with these intersections
– quality control through social accountability and reflexivity and peer review
social
economic environment
Social
economic environment
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Regional ‘knowledge production’ system Government &/or
government agencies
ResearchIndustry and community
Adapted from Leydesdorff et al. 1996
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‘Triple helix model’ – knowledge production Government &/or
government agencies
ResearchIndustry and community
An emerging ‘network’ layer of relations
Adapted from Leydesdorff et al. 1996; 2006
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The Triple Helix Thesis
• In contrast to a double helix (or co-evolution between two dynamics) a triple helix system is not expected to be stable– Environment is dynamic and evolving– Actors/players take on multiple roles– Possibility of rapid change in the configuration of relations and
unintended consequences
• Model developed mainly for studying the knowledge infrastructure in networks of relations (e.g. Leydesdorff 1997)
• Through the overlay of relations it is expected that networks and hybrid organisations among the helices emerge – which in turn will be in a state of transition
• Conceptually, the overlay that emerges from the interaction of the helices has the potential to integrate the complex system
Federalism & Regionalism in Australia
Regional
body
Weeds / pests
Vegetation
Coastal
Water
Biodiversity
Local government
EconomicSocial Resource and environment
State agencies, local government, industry, NGOs, business managers and other individual decision makers
EconomicSocial Resource and environment
EconomicSocial Resource and environment
Functional level/scale
Federal
State
RegionalImplementation
Regional NRM Planning (statutory and non-statutory
Local implementation
Constitutional and legal process
Statutory compliance
Policy matters (e.g.. public interest)
Program $s
Accountabilityetc
Devolution Feedback
Local program / policy decisions
Aggregate impact results
Engagement and involvement
Politicsetc
Regional Governance System – multiple lenses
Federalism & Regionalism in Australia
Framework for research and evaluation of regional governance?
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An emerging ‘network’ layer of relations
Adapted from Leydesdorff et al. 1996; 2006
Federalism & Regionalism in Australia
The future for regional governance research and evaluation?
• Decision making on the evolution of systems of regional governance involve multidimensional outcomes relating to: – efficiency (e.g. economic)– effectiveness (e.g. environmental & social outcomes)– equity (e.g. distributive justice, distributional consequences)– legitimacy (e.g. political – procedural justice and acceptability)
• Require new frameworks for research and evaluation that address concurrently and interactively:– institutions (structure and process)– context– scale– outcomes
as they are interdependent in reality