Involvement, Engagement and Agency: Rod Dobell (University of Victoria) and Ross Macmillan (CSBR...

Involvement, Engagement and

Agency:

Rod Dobell (University of Victoria)

and

Ross Macmillan (CSBR Transition Cttee)

with

Krista Iverson (University of Victoria)

and

Justin Longo (University of British Columbia)

Reference: Magnusson-Shaw Clayoquot Project (www.cous.uvic.ca/clayoquot)

Clayoquot SoundInter-jurisdictional experience in environmental governance

University of Victoria, Feb 14, 2000

The Ecological Frame

25/11/1999 Dobell/Longo/Foucher

Ecoframe: Emergence of Formal System

Formal Non-Government

Organizations

Ecosystem

Space between state, networks

and markets Margins of human impact

Formal Polity

Formal Economy

Civil Society

Interaction of large-scale social system with

‘limits’ of ecosystem

Human Subsystem

State MarketNetworks

06/02/2000 Dobell/Iverson

Intention, Interpretation, Action

Citizen Involvement– In governance (policy formation and mandate

development--“System”) Citizen Engagement

– In realization--policy implementation and delivery; assessment and evaluation of consequences--(“Lifeworld”)

Citizen Agency– In both

What do we mean, “Engage?”

Take part in or be occupied by Attract and hold a person’s attention Enter into combat with an enemy Betroth by a promise of marriage Book or secure for one’s own use Bind by legal or moral obligation

Thus, what is “engagement”?

Encounter between hostile forces A betrothal A moral commitment or obligation

The progress from first to last is the story of Clayoquot Sound in recent decades

Commitment-Compliance Cycle

Convention

Protocol/Regulations

Contracts/ Commissions

CoordinationConsequences

Process of Refinement of Commitment

(articulating intent)

Process of Delivery;

Realization;Fulfillment

Process of Assessment of

outcome, Degree of

compliance; Evaluation

Process of Policy

formation

CovenantCollective

commitment

(INTENT)

Policy Community deliberations

Compliance (ACTS)

Concerns(AGENDA)

ConsentMandate for Action

(TEXT)

ConsensusCoalition-building

Correction Enforcement,

court


An Interim Conclusion: We Must Distinguish …

Citizen involvement in policy formulation

FROM Citizen engagement in policy

delivery.

THUS Citizen agency means …

– Capacity to participate effectively in (abstract) governance, AND

– Discretion in achieving (concrete) compliance.

The Co-operator's Dilemma

Convention




Compliance (ACTS)


(TEXT)


court

“Cooperator’s Dilemma”

Individual decision reflecting incentive to pursue immediate self-interest (to defect)

CovenantCollective

commitment

(INTENT)


Concerns(AGENDA)


Collective Intention to pursue cooperative social interest


Legitimacy, Trust and Social Capital

Reconciliation of the cooperative social optimum with individual self interest rests on:

The perceived legitimacy of the process of formulating collective intentions

Trust in the willingness of others to act according to the same rules

or in other words … An adequate stock of social capital.

The Performer’s Dilemma


Convention




Compliance (ACTS)


(TEXT)


court

“Performer’s Dilemma”

CovenantCollective

commitment

(INTENT)


Concerns(AGENDA)


The meaning of “the work”

The impact on the audience

Shared Values, Community Context and Social Learning

Scrutiny of compliance must consider: The intent of the work in the context when

formulated The impact of the interpretation in the

context when realized

or in other words… Realization rests on both an adequate

foundation of shared values and a community context


Clayoquot Sound

UNESCOBiosphereReserve

Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve

Scene of long-standing conflicts over resource use

“Scientific Panel” report and “Interim Measures Agreement” provide basis for future consensus

UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Status the culmination of local consensus and community engagement

Stable and viable processes held together by strong social capital


Interim Measures Agreement (Nuu-chah-nulth and BC--1994)

created Central Region Board, 1994 Interim Measures Extension

Agreement in effect till Spring 2000 New marine resource management

body (RAMS, West Coast Society) under discussion

Integrated marine-terrestrial planning (CZM)


Scientific Panel convened in aftermath of Cabinet land-use plan

Macmillan-Bloedel Coastal Forest Project

Iisaak Forest Resources (IFR) joint venture forest products company (Nuu-chah-nulth/Weyerhaeuser)

ENGO-IFR MOU Clayoquot Biosphere Trust

Social Learning

revised perceptions of the status quo (baseline);

reassessment of alternative strategies;

revised beliefs and values; reassessment of agency

relationships


Implementation

DeliveryEvaluation

System

Lifeworld

ConcernsAGENDA

ConsentTEXT

Citizen Acts, Compliance

ACT

Citizen Beliefs, Preferences

CovenantINTENT

Citizen Agency Through Social Coordination

Citizen Agency Through Social Coordination: Action

(beliefs driving action to alter--or preserve--the world)


ACTION

INTENT

BELIEFS

Citizen Agency Through Social Coordination: Recognition

(reflection on experience of the changing world to alter beliefs)


ACTION

REASSESS-MENT

BELIEFS

In the Ecosystem

Conflict to Commitment


CBT?

CRB?

IFR, RAMS...ACTION:

Corporate practices change, household behavior changes

Noon

2 PM

1 PM

3 PM

4 PM

5 PM6 PM

7 PM

Consequences (Monitoring)

8 PMEnforcement

(Scrutiny)

9 PMConcern Agenda

10 PM

Nomination11 PM

Policy Community Deliberations

MidnightUNESCO designation

Lessons, Questions and Learning

This story begins with local players--Sulphur Passage, Meares Island…(Nuu-chah-nulth, Friends of Clayoquot Sound…).

INGOs and other global interests pick up later

Resistance from established industrial interests until the need to find alternatives is inescapable

Not yet clear that all are pursuing same ideas, goals

Optimistic signals

Clayoquot experience inspires MacBlo Coastal Forest Project, now seen as leading the industry.

Clayoquot experience and Coastal Forest Project offer model for mid-coast region (Great Bear Rainforest)

Clayoqout interests have come together around effective community-based mgt using the Central Region Board--increasing social cohesion?

Pessimistic signs--dominant institutions reasserting power?

Will Iisaak find operational and commercial realities overwhelm commitment to Scientific Panel?

Forest Stewardship Council and other certification processes co-opted (KPMG International and all)?

Province resisting power-sharing--recentralizing power in classic fashion by removing decision capacity of CRB as price of 5-yr extension of IMA?

Conclusions: Knowledge into Collective Intention Into Action

Decision support systems leading to agreement at the abstract / global level miss the co-operator’s dilemma

Deliberation and visioning to support the formulation of collective intent build legitimacy and thus promote ‘resocialization’ by confronting the co-operator’s dilemma.

Shaping common goals through community engagement builds social capital promoting compliance.

“Community Axis”: ACTION

On the ground, in a range of interpretive communities, there is the task of interpreting the text so as to shape action.

We study the translation of action into consequence, observing change in the state of the system.

Ultimately, we assess the change in the state of the system against the intentions expressed in the text.

Governing institutions

Within tiered systems, formal institutions and processes of governance lead to negotiation of agreement around expressed covenants and agreed intentions.

Processes of rule-making lead to creation of texts or mandates attempting to capture shared intentions.

Academic axis

Within processes of research and theoretical development, the evolution and negotiation of beliefs and understandings leads to a changing intellectual and social context.

Within that context, concerns giving rise to a felt need for collective action are articulated against a backdrop of preferences as to desired change in system states.

Dynamics of social action

Thus, overall, we see ongoing processes of social learning driving the negotiation of values and beliefs, with context hardening into concern.

Through formal and informal institutions, we see covenants as to collective action emerge as explicit texts, crystallizing as policies or mandates.

Within communities, texts are interpreted so as to drive individual action to realize collective intentions, and change the world. Interpretations are evaluated against consequences, or in context.

Involvement, Engagement and Agency: Rod Dobell (University of Victoria) and Ross Macmillan (CSBR...

Documents

Transcript of Involvement, Engagement and Agency: Rod Dobell (University of Victoria) and Ross Macmillan (CSBR...