CHAPTER 4

COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND PARTICIPATION

Evolving environmental planning and management methodology as resulted in creative partnerships with citizen groups, environmental organizations, landowners and developers and government agencies

… what text terms “civic environmentalism” or “community-based environmental protection”

… positive because of diverse potential applications

… positive because it formalizes the participation of interested individuals in the planning process

Among the impetus for this methodology (1) growth of deregulation(2) growth of property rights movement(3) limits of command-and-control

(coercive regulation)[expensive monitoring; “punishment” regulations;

bureaucracy; etc] Key to this methodology is the stakeholder [those

effecting change as well as those affected by it]

Interesting

“Achieving the next level of environmental improvement will depend not as much on the mandates of government as on the actions of people, communities, industries, nonprofit organizations, landowners, and others, working together, often voluntarily, to protect the environment while achieving other economic and social objectives.” (p. 53)

There is no single formula / methodology for developing a collaborative management partnership

--- by way of illustration – I offer one possible sequence of steps – adapted from

Kelleher and Phillips, (eds) Guidelines for Marine Protected Areas. The World Conservation Union, 1999.

- A typical beginning situation would be:

--- many different “players” involved; govt-NGO-business-advocates-private citizens

--- these represent many different perspective and value systems on the management /

planning question under investigation

--- some form of “management” currently exists though it might not be discernible

- Step(s) involved at this point:(1) assess the feasibility of a co-management partnership(2) identify the human and financial resources necessary to support the partnership (3) create the start-up team

… initiation committee; launch committee… a good team will be active; efficient; multi-

disciplinary; determined to launch the process but not to lead or dominate it

Phase I: Preparing for the Partnership- In the preparatory phase the start-up team:

1. gathers information on and makes a preliminary analysis of the main issues at stake and the main problems to be faced

2. identifies the units to be managed3. draws up the initial list of potential stakeholders

who should participate in management, and develops criteria to differentiate the

importance and relative weight of their entitlements

Phase I: Preparing for the Partnership, cont(3) cont.

--- “stakeholder analysis”--- stakeholders include organizations, social

groups, and individuals with a direct, significant and specific stake in a

given territory, area or resources(4) launches and maintains an active process of social communication on the objectives, means and methods of co-management

Phase I: Preparing for the Partnership,cont

(5) if necessary, helps the stakeholders to organize themselves

(6) identifies and suggests a set of procedures for the negotiation process and, in particular, for the meeting at which the process is

launched

Phase II: Negotiating Agreements- Heart of the collaborative process

--- management agreements and institutions are only as good as the procedure creating them

- Goal is to develop a partnership through which benefits and responsibilities of management are shared in the most efficient and equitable manner

Phase II: Negotiating Agreements, cont- At the same time, negotiation must recognize that:

… stakeholder conflicts will exist… that there are many management options

(good / bad / no opinion): “learning by doing”- Steps on the negotiation phase:

1. a first meeting on procedures2. one or more meetings to review the situation and

trends, and agree on a long-term common vision “charter of principles”

Phase II: Negotiating Agreements, cont- Steps on the negotiation phase:

(3) a ceremony to legitimize the agreed common vision(4) one of more meetings to agree on a strategy towards the long-term vision

… SWOL - analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and limitations

… key performance areas (“transform the desirable into the possible”)

Phase II: Negotiating Agreements, cont- Steps on the negotiation phase:

(5) meetings to define specific agreements (contracts) for each key performance area of the strategy

(6) meetings set up the institutions needed

(7) meetings to legitimize the agreements and organizations

Phase III: Implementing the Agreement and “Learning by Doing”

(1) agreements, organizations and rules are implemented and enforced

(2) as necessary, entitlements and responsibilities of stakeholders are clarified

(3) while agreements are implemented, data are collected as outlines in the follow-up protocols

Phase III: Implementing the Agreement and “Learning by Doing”, cont(4) as agreements and plans are pursued, some innovation is experimented with, technical solutions are refined and / or activities are undertaken on a wider scale(5) review meeting at regular intervals evaluate the

results obtained and lessons learnt (sic). If necessary, activities are modified and / or new management plans and agreements developed