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Presentation by Dr. Michael Quinn and Dr. Mary Ellen Tyler about the importance of research at the 2012 Calgary Regional Partnership General Assembly.
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Why the future Why the future is important: is important: The value of The value of research research partnershipspartnerships
Mary-Ellen Tyler & Mike Mary-Ellen Tyler & Mike QuinnQuinn
CRP General Assembly - November 22, 2012
… as shown by the future of fashion video
… The Future is Uncertain!
The CMP is about ‘preferred’ outcomes in the Future
Understanding how regional social-ecological system functions are spatially organized and interconnected can help guide the spatial configuration for sustainable growth patterns.
- “bounding” is difficult- problem definition unclear- cause/effect relationships are non-linear- social values are critical- engaging the problem changes it
Sustainability Problems are “Wicked problems”
The CMP is about managingWicked Problems
Research is about finding new ideas and information to inform decision-making and enable innovative actions
“over the last 20 years a slowing of investment in research and innovation has held Canada back”
- Calgary Herald p. E1,Oct. 31, 2012
“The Conference Board of Canada gave Canada a ‘D’ for innovation”
“business intelligence is not just for business anymore …”
Calgary Herald November ‘12
There is a reason why business intelligence sounds like an astute approach to decision making
… it is!
“Having some pretty graphs and columns of numbers won’t necessarily provide actionable insight into decision making”
- Financial Post p.E8, Oct. 31, 2012
What do Strategic decision-makersNeed to know?
“Facts, trends and predictive ‘what if’ scenarios need to factor into critical decision-making”
- Financial Post p.E8, Oct. 31, 2012
Research involves Innovation
Innovation involves Re-Framing
Innovation related to Climate Change?
The Sustainability Transformation (Atkisson)
▪ Indicators – tell us what’s happening
▪ Systems – non-linear cause-and-effect linkages
▪ Innovation – changes that are new to the system of interest
▪ Strategy – a plan for getting from here to there
Efficiency is not enough
▪ Good science is necessary - but not sufficient
▪ Coupled human and natural systems
▪ Inter-connections and feedbacks
Resilience
Resilience is the capacity of a systemto deal with change and continue to develop.
Resilience thinking embraces learning, diversity and above all the belief that humans and nature are strongly coupled to the point that they should be conceived of as one social-ecological system (Resilience Alliance 2012).
A few examples of current research
“Ecological infrastructure, resilience and governance in the Calgary region: a partnership for regional sustainability”
▪ Researchers - Drs. Quinn and Tyler, Post-Doctoral, PhD and Masters Students in Environmental Design & the Miistakis Institute for the Rockies at U of C.
▪ Value Added – close to $400,000 from SSHRC Partnership Development Grant and Private Foundations brought to CRP research over the last 5 years
Research Relationship with CRP ongoing over the last 6 years
1. Re-framing & the Co-creation of Knowledge
▪ shift from specific tasks and projects to “orchestrating processes of co-creation, creating new solutions with people, not for them” (Bason, 2010)
▪ shift from silos of expertise (climate modeling, in-channel flow modeling) to transdisciplinary integrative networks
▪ shift from ‘assuming’ there are social and ecological systems to identifying the regional footprint of a social-ecological network
Green Flow’ > 70%Blue Flow < 30%
2. Re-framing Water
Managing the Hydrologic Cycle
A Regional Moisture Gradient in thirds…
WEST EAST
Protect the Source
- Primary recharge
Careful land cover management in the transition zone
- Critical for mid-late summer low flow periods
Maintain wetland dynamics
- Compatible with ecological design interventions
3. Re-framing Landscape Connectivity
Process map of Analysis of Landscape Connectivity using a permeability approach
Process map of Analysis of Landscape Connectivity using a permeability approach
Human footprint (H)
4. Re-framing Government to ‘Governance’
• Network governance emerging concept for better manage complex social ecological systems
• ‘Bridging organizations’ such as the CRP are an example of network governance.
• Looking for patterns of effective governance configurations
Re-framing the Future?
Thank You! Season’s Greetings!
This Holiday Season Don’t Drink
and Reframe!