Adaptive Governance and Policy-making Using the ADAPTool

Time Training Programme

20 minSession 1: Context

Presentation: Principles at the Nexus of Sustainability, Accountability and AdaptabilityDiscussion: Practices and Tools at the Nexus

30 minSession 2: Introduction

Presentation: What Are Adaptive Policies?Discussion: Stressors impacting your national development plan

25 minSession 3: ADAPTool for Existing Policies

Presentation: Overview of the ADAPTool for Existing PoliciesDiscussion: Q &A

15 min Break

75 min Session 4: ADAPTool for New PoliciesPresentation and Individual Exercise: ADAPTool for New Policies

15 minSession 5: Wrap-up

Presentation: Recap of training sessionDiscussion: Participant Experience with Adaptive Tools, Barriers and Barrier Busters.

Session 1:The Nexus of

Sustainability, Accountability and Adaptability

sustainAbility

accountAbility adaptAbility

governAbilities

Core Abilities of Government

sustainAbilityMulti-generational

Multi-dimensional

Critical thresholds

Multi-stakeholder

accountAbilityForward-looking

Outcome and evidence-based

Responsibility for performance

Transparency

adaptAbilityAnticipatory

Self-organizing

Iterative Improvement

governAbilities



Multi-dimensional

Critical Thresholds

Multistakeholder




Transparency



Self-organizing

governAbilities

Common Principles. Each of the three abilities requires an evidence base to describe key socioeconomic and ecological outcomes and their progress over time.


Multi-dimensional

Critical Thresholds

Multistakeholder




Transparency



Self-organizing

governAbilities

Common Principles. Success in all three abilities necessitates that stakeholders have access to information and are part of decision-making processes.


Multi-dimensional

Critical thresholds

Multistakeholder




Transparency



Self-organizing

governAbilities

Common Principles. A forward-looking aspect is inherent in all three abilities.

sustainAbility

accountAbility adaptAbility

Tools at the Nexus

governAbilities

Discussion

• From your experience, what types of practices or tools help governments achieve sustainability, accountability and adaptability?

http://www.clipsahoy.com/webgraphics2/as3598.htm

Session 2:What are

adaptive policies?

Complex Adaptive Systems

• “many individual, self-organizing elements capable of responding to others and to their environment.

• network of relationships and interactions, in which the whole is very much more that the sum of the parts.

• A change in any part of the system, even in a single element, produces reactions and changes in associated elements and the environment”


• “system cannot be predicted with complete accuracy• system is always responding and adapting to changes

and the actions of individuals. • At the same time, the tendency of elements within

the system to organize themselves offers opportunities to bring out changes that benefit the system (Glouberman et al. 2003).”

University


Policies that cannot perform effectively under complex, dynamic and uncertain conditions run the risk of not achieving their intended purpose, and becoming a hindrance to the ability of individuals, communities and businesses to cope with—and adapt to—change.

…Studied high profile policies

and talked to policymakers in

Canada and India

…talked to those impacted by policy …compiled adaptive features from effective policies

Adaptive Policy

Ability of policy toadapt to anticipated

conditions

(based on a good understanding of cause

and effect)

(based on a good understanding of system

dynamics and complexity)

Ability of policy toadapt to unanticipated

conditions

• Integrated and forward-looking analysis• Built-in policy adjustment• Formal policy review • Multi-stakeholder deliberation• Promoting variation • Enabling self-organization• Decentralization of decision-making

Planned Adaptabil

ity (for anticipating)

Autonomous

Adaptability(for

unanticipated issues)

Seven Tools for Creating Adaptive Policies

Discussion

• What stressors are making it difficult to achieve your country’s development plan?

• Are the stressors getting worse?


Session 3:The

ADAPTool Version 2.0 for Existing Policies

1. Ability of existing policies to support sector adaptations to specific stressors

2. Ability of policies to be adapt themselves to changing conditions brought on by the stressors

http://www.iisd.org/foresightgroup/adapt.aspx

MS Excel WorkbookFour Worksheets1.Scope2.Vulnerability and Adaptation Analysis3.Adaptive Capacity Analysis4.Policy Synthesis

The ADAPTool(Adaptive Design and Assessment

Policy Tool)

Policy Synthesis and Recommendations

Planned Adaptability (Ability of policy to support anticipated necessary adaptation actions)•Are anticipated adaptation actions supported by the policy?•Is the policy itself vulnerable to an increase range of the stressor? •Can the policy enhance the capacity of actors within the sector to undertake anticipated adaptation actions?•Was multi-stakeholder deliberation used in the policy design?Autonomous Adaptability (Ability of policy to enable sector stakeholders to respond to unanticipated issues)•Is multi-stakeholder deliberation used in implementation?•Does the policy enable self-organization and social networking?•Is decision-making adequately decentralized?•Is there adequate variety in the suite of policies?•Does the policy have a regular formal policy review?

Session 4:The

ADAPTool for New Policies Policies (Beta Version)

1. Ability of new policies to support sector adaptations to specific stressors

2. Ability of the policies to be adaptive themselves to changing conditions brought on by the stressors

1. Policy Objectives Worksheet

Geographic Scope of the Policy Location

Name of the Policy Policy Name

What is the main objective of the Policy/Program?

1) What is the policy Objective? What are its specific purposes?

2) What sectors and stakeholders are meant to be impacted and to benefit from this policy?

3) Policy Instruments Envisaged (regulatory, expenditure, economic, institutional)

Sector/Stakeholder 1




4) Important Stressors

5) How might this stressor evolve in the years and decades ahead?

Stressor 1

Stressor 2

What two stressors or drivers might affect the performance of the policy in the years and decades ahead?

2. Key Stressors Worksheet

3. Vulnerability Analysis WorksheetHow are the sectors or stakeholders who are served by the policy objective vulnerable to the stressor and how can the policy help build resilience?

6) What are the main sectors affected by this policy[you can input up to four subsectors in needed]

7) In what ways is the sector vulnerable to the stressor?[you can input up to four vulnerabilities per subsector]

8) What adaptation actions might be necessary if this stressor becomes more severe in the future?[you can input up to three different adaptations per vulnerability]

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

9) Could the policy objective potentially support this adaptation action? [score 1 if action could be directly supported by the policy; 0 if not supported or unknown; -1 if potentially hinders ability to implement the adaptation action; NA if the row is blank; If a score of 1 given, comment on how the policy could support the action and why it might be important to take this into account in policy design]

Stressor 1

Sector/ Stakeholder 1

Subsector 1

subsector 2

Integrated and Forward-looking Analysis

By identifying key factors that affect policy performance and identifying scenarios for how these factors might evolve in the future, policies can be made robust to a range of anticipated conditions, and indicators developed to help trigger important policy adjustments when needed.

Policy Wind Tunnels

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Windkanal.jpg

4. Policy Adaptive Capacity Worksheet

Integrated and Forward-looking Analysis

Stressor

Stressor 1

Stressor 2

Policy Adaptability Analysis

10. How can the policy be designed to be resilient to the stressor?

How are the objectives and specific purposes of the policy vulnerable to the

selected stressor?

Integrated and forward-looking analysis (i.e., foresight) is crucial for effective policy design. By identifying key factors that affect policy performance and identifying scenarios for how these factors might evolve in the future, policies can be made robust to a range of anticipated conditions, and indicators can be developed to help trigger important policy adjustments when needed.For more information see: http://web.idrc.ca/openebooks/467-3/#page_25

Based on these vulnerabilities, what actions might be necessary to improve resilience?

Multi-stakeholder Deliberation

Strengthens ability of policy to address a range of anticipated conditions.

By providing access to different perspectives, different sources of knowledge, and different ways of knowing in order to consider new information and new views of the problem.

Rapid adjustment and response to unanticipated conditions.

By building the social cohesion, shared vision and capacity for collective action

Why is it important?


Multi-stakeholder Deliberation

Policy Design Categories Potential Design Features to Incorporate(for each applicable design category, eleborate on how the policy could

be designed to achieve the intent)

12. How could multi-stakeholder engagement be used in the scoping, design and implementation of the policy?

Multi-stakeholder deliberation is a collective and collaborative public effort to examine an issue from different points of view prior to taking a decision. Deliberative processes strengthen policy design by building recognition of common values, shared commitment and emerging issues, and by providing a comprehensive understanding of causal relationships.For more information see: http://web.idrc.ca/openebooks/467-3/#page_41

How could multi-stakeholder deliberation be used in the policy scoping and design stage?

How might multi-stakeholder deliberation be used in the implementation stage of the policy?

Enabling Self-organization and Social Networking

Ensuring that policies do not undermine existing social capital; creating forums that enable social networking; facilitating the sharing of good practices; and removing barriers to self-organization, all strengthen the ability of stakeholders to respond to unanticipated events in a variety of innovative ways.

Why is it important?

Increase program sensitivity to existing social capital

Establish favourable conditions for desired network formation / maintenance

Tap into existing networks to deliver services

Build and support networks

Making use of social capital in public policy: from direct to indirect influence (PRI, 2005)


Enabling Self-Organization

What forms of social capital and best practice sharing already exist within and among the stakeholder groups?

Ensuring that policies do not undermine existing social capital; creating forums that enable social networking; facilitating the sharing of good practices; and removing barriers to self-organization, all strengthen the ability of stakeholders to respond to unanticipated events in a variety of innovative ways.For more information see: http://web.idrc.ca/openebooks/467-3/#page_66

How could the policy create and promote opportunities for adaptive cooperation by providing space based opportunities, issue-based opportunities or by identifying gaps or crises?

How could the policy be designed to support the sharing of best practices within and among stakeholder groups?

How could the policy be designed to remove resource barriers to self organization?

13. How could the policy enable self-organization and social networking?

Policy Design Categories

How could the policy be designed to ensure that existing social capital within and among stakeholder groups remains intact?

Potential Design Features to Incorporate(for each applicable design category, eleborate on how the policy could


#5Decentralization of

Decision-making

Decentralizing the authority and responsibility for decision-making to the lowest effective and accountable unit of governance, whether existing or newly created, can increase the capacity of a policy to perform successfully when confronted with unforeseen events.


Decentralization of Decision-making

How would decentralizing key implementation decisions benefit this policy?

Decentralizing the authority and responsibility for decision-making to the lowest effective and accountable unit of governance, whether existing or newly created, can increase the capacity of a policy to perform successfully when confronted with unforeseen events.For more information see: http://web.idrc.ca/openebooks/467-3/#page_80



Can an existing decentralized body be used to implement the policy, or does a new body need to be created?

What decision-making bodies currently exist that are relevant to this policy? What are the levels of autonomy, resources and capacity that exist in these bodies?

14. How could the policy be decentralized to ensure responsiveness to the adaptive needs of stakeholder groups?

What approaches could be used to boost the entrepreneurial capacity at the decentralized level? (autonomy to make own decisions around the policy)

How could the policy ensure accountability and responsibility at the level most directly affected by policy decisions?

If a new decentralized body is necessary, what governance system should be used and what is its geographic scope and scope of decision-making authority?

#6Promoting Variation

Given the complexity of most policy settings, implementing a variety of policies to address the same issue increases the likelihood of achieving desired outcomes. Diversity of responses also forms a common risk-management approach, facilitating the ability to perform efficiently in the face of unanticipated conditions.

the Architect, the facilitator, the learner• The policy-maker as an architect:

– Providing a range of policy options– Designing and using a mix of policy instruments to achieve

a single policy objective– Seeing and making linkages with other policies that have

similar intent

• The policy-maker as a facilitator: – Creating an enabling environment for variation to occur

• The policy-maker as a learner:– Observing which policies work well and strengthening

those policies


Promoting Variation

Possible Policy Instrument Types

Economic (e.g., taxes, subsidies, tradable permits)

Regulatory(e.g., laws, regulations, Acts)

Institutional(e.g., plans, strategies)

Expenditure(e.g., R&D, Education & Awareness, Infrastructure)

15. What should be the mix of policy instruments directed at the policy objective and purposes?

Given the complexity of most policy settings, implementing a variety of policies to address the same issue increases the likelihood of achieving desired outcomes. Diversity of responses also forms a common risk-management approach, facilitating the ability to perform efficiently in the face of unanticipated conditions.For more information see: http://web.idrc.ca/openebooks/467-3/#page_95

Possible Policy Instruments that could be designed to achieve the objectives and purposes of the proposed policy (it is desirable to use a mix of at least two different policy types to achieve policy intent for complex horizontal policy issues)

#7Formal Review and Continuous

Learning

Regular review, even when the policy is performing well, and the use of well-designed pilots throughout the life of the policy to test assumptions related to performance, can help address emerging issues and trigger important policy adjustments.


Formal Policy Review and Improvement16. What type of formal policy review process could be put in place to help ensure the long-term adaptability of the policy (including performance indicators and outcome frameworks)?



What persons should be involved in the review?

What should be the triggers for policy review?

What accountability and transparency mechanisms can be put in place to ensure follow-up on recommendations for improvement?

What assessment approach should be used in the review (e.g., SWOT, Scenario Planning; Environmental Scan, etc.)

Regular review, even when the policy is performing well, and the use of well-designed pilots throughout the life of the policy to test assumptions related to performance, can help address emerging issues and trigger important policy adjustmentsFor more information see: http://web.idrc.ca/openebooks/467-3/#page_106

What indicators should be tracked?

4. Synthesis Worksheet

Formal review mechanisms (refer to Question #16)

Adaptive Policy Brief

Decentralization of policy design and implementation (refer to Question #14)

Variation in policy instruments (refer to Question #15)

Adaptive capacity of relevant stakeholders (refer to Question #11)

Multi-stakeholder engagement (refer to Question #12)

Enabling self-organization and social networking (refer to Question #13)

Background Information (Objective, geographic scope, relevant sectors)

Synthesis of Key Adaptation Actions and Ways the Policy Can Support Adaptation (refer to Question #6 through 9)

Adaptive Policy Recommendations

Integrated and forward-looking asessment (refer to Question #10)

Policy Name

[Date]

Session 5:Wrap Up

• Integrated and forward-looking analysis• Built-in policy adjustment• Formal policy review • Multi-stakeholder deliberation• Promoting variation • Enabling self-organization• Decentralization of decision-making

Planned Adaptabil

ity (for anticipating)

Autonomous

Adaptability(for

unanticipated issues)

Seven Tools for Creating Adaptive Policies

Sustainability

Accountability Adaptability

governAbilities


Discussion

• Q1: Have you seen any of these tools applied in your experience, and how did they help the policy or programme be more adaptive?

• Q2: What do you perceive as the main barriers to using these tools?

• Q3: What are the barrier busters?


For more information contact:

Darren [email protected]

www.iisd.org/foresightgroup/gov.aspx

Adaptive Governance and Policy-making Using the ADAPTool

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Transcript of Adaptive Governance and Policy-making Using the ADAPTool