Sit down, look back:reflections on adaptive management in

south eastern Australia

ResearcherCatherine AllanBAgSc, Melb; MNat Res, UNE

Principal SupervisorDr Allan Curtis

overview

• context

• adaptive management

• how can we better use adaptive management?

• research method

• findings

• policy and management implications

• natural resource management (nrm)

• regional scale

• command and control

• “Silent Spring”

• Rio Earth Summit

• change from harvest to sustainabilty

context

• complexity

• uncertainty

• management gridlock

adaptive management

Learning from implementing policies and strategies

“Strategic planning for environmental management is increasingly common at the local and regional scale in Australia…

Most of these strategic planning processes make use of the adaptive managementapproach.”

State of the Environment Report 1998

passive adaptive management

• implementation focused

• review

• conventional management

active adaptive management

• learning focused

• implementation designed to test hypotheses

• ecosystem experiments

• multi-player / participatory

• paradigm shift from conventional

promises of active adaptive management

• manage despite uncertainty

• manage despite complexity

• efficient learning

• flexibility

• democratic

But…

practice theory

How can the outcomes of adaptive management

be improved at the regional scale?

• Is adaptive management achieving its potential?

• Is adaptive management possible / feasible withcurrent social norms and institutional frameworks?

• What can be done in a social / institutionalcontext to use adaptive management moreeffectively?

• qualitative approach

• case studies

• Adaptive Management Areas

in the Pacific North West, USA

• North East Salinity Strategy

• Heartlands (Billabong)

the research

data creation

• document review

• semi-structured interviews

• focus group

• participant observation

• transcriptions

• data handled using NVivo

categorical content analysis

metaphor analysis

sporting metaphors

• a team player

• lift our game

• win-win situation

• competing

• on-side

• playing the game

• scoring points

Metaphorical concepts

• nrm is like a game

• projects are like games

• politics is like a game

Is adaptive management achieving its potential?

No

passive adaptive management (NESS)

• review / evaluation

• tacked on

• poorly resourced

• audits take precedence

• separate implementation and research

• poor mechanisms for using learnings

active adaptive management (Billabong)

• Simmons Creek constrained by

• funding type

• short term project

• rest of project good implementation

• reports equal audits

• evaluation tacked on, but

• developing mechanisms for sharing learning

Is adaptive management possible / feasible

within current social norms and institutional frameworks?

Got to keep moving

nrm is like a journey

projects are like journeys

activities are like journeys

Got to sell

communication is like selling

Got to have control

nrm is like a building with doors

communities are like ladders

money is like a stream

information is like a stream

“The Government wants to keep an eye on what’s being spent. The pressure is on you guys.”

Got to see well

nrm is a picture

projects are pictures

Got to maintain institutions

politics is like war

projects are like military campaigns

projects are like boats

projects are like living things

NESWG vs Implementation Committees

Got to be comfortable

• self deception

• defensive routines

• comfort of spurious certitude

implications

• learning is cessation of movement

• selling needs confidence, not questioning

• control requires demarcation and narrow focus

• complexity requires reduction to promote clarity

• institutional management has top priority

• ways will be found to avoid learning

What can be done in a social / institutional context to use adaptive management

more effectively?

informed decisions

adaptive management?

yes no

active? passive?

• foster reflection

• improve evaluation

• plan for it

• evaluate as well as audit

• information systems

• value different ways of knowing

• use learning in planning

improve passive adaptive management

informed decisions

adaptive management?

yes no

active? passive?

improve active adaptive management

• commit

• increase understanding

• information, networks

• broaden metaphorical basis of nrm

• examine assumptions

• share learning and knowledge

• foster learning institutions

• encourage social learning

• let go

• more flexibility in activities

• place targets in a broader context

• reward learning and sharing

• accept that things may not be known

• manage systems, not parts

Policy is an experiment:learn from it