Liz Gladin: Networks and Knowledge in Transitions to Integrated Water Management Planning.

Contemporary environmental problems often involve uncertain information and multiple perspectives that must be successfully assimilated by decision-makers and incorporated into policy. Traditional planning processes are increasingly viewed as fragmented and reactionary, and too inflexible to successfully manage in situations of uncertainty and change. Many regions of the world have recognized the need for better planning processes, and have begun to experiment with forms of integrated and collaborative planning efforts. These collaborative initiatives seek to engage a diversity of stakeholders, promote cooperation between jurisdictional, territorial and knowledge processes, and between vertical levels of government, as well as integrating multiple functional domains. This is the situation in California, which has initiated an integrated regional water management (IRWM) planning process such as the one being instigated via CABY.

One area of emerging interest in this context is the influence of the relationships and interactions between different stakeholders within collaborative processes. Many management initiatives have been seen to fail because they pay inadequate attention to the role of social and institutional relationships in shaping environmental outcomes. In addition there is a rich literature highlighting the role of such networks in increasing the adaptive capacity of communities in managing their natural resources in a sustainable manner.

In many ways CABY can be seen as an example of a ‘boundary organization’ - institutional contexts able to bridge different knowledge (scientific, experiential, local, practical) domains and levels of expertise. They have the capacity to enable stakeholders to act beyond their boundaries and provide a forum for sharing perspectives and exchanging information and knowledge, while maintaining individual stakeholder authority. It may be that this framework provides for the necessary ‘functionally relevant’ interactions more successfully than other approaches.

This doctoral research will be based on perspectives drawn from complex adaptive systems and dynamic network analysis, as approaches through which to explore aspects of diversity, knowledge and networks within the context of the CABY IRWMP. This will explicitly focus on how stakeholders interact and negotiate across the various knowledge domains and perspectives that each brings to the discussion table. The study will also look at vertical and horizontal relationships through the governance process, so will investigate the social and knowledge networks, and institutional linkages within and between local, regional and state interests using CABY as the main focal point. 

Research Plan

I plan to
•    Assess bioregional interactions across social, institutional, and biophysical contexts;
•    Identify uncertainties and differences in perceptions, values, knowledge;
•    Analyze collective processes (in information/knowledge processes; identifying gaps in knowledge; co-producing knowledge for decision-making e.g. through forms of participatory modeling. 

In order to do this I would like to conduct short interviews with CABY members (planning, coordinating committees and working groups), a network survey of wider stakeholders; attend local, regional and state level meetings as a participant observer; use GIS mapping techniques to map biophysical and social/institutional processes; and conduct document analysis activities.

These approaches will enable me to identify the internal and external interactions, issues and influences, knowledge bases and stakeholders within the CABY region, and analyze the complex multi-scale and multi-level social, institutional, regulatory and hydrological relationships. I hope that my analysis will shed more light on the important question of how governance institutions ‘on-the-ground’ are dealing with complex planning problems.

I anticipate making contact with you via Katie and Keri. I very much hope that you will be interested in participating in this research and would be very happy providing you with further details.

NB: I will adhere strictly to my disciplinary and university academic research ethics protocols and would be happy to discuss these with you further.

Many thanks, in anticipation
Liz


Liz Gladin
Research Associate, Stockholm Environment Institute, Oxford UK, Davis, Ca. USA
PhD Candidate, School of Anthropology and Conservation
University of Kent
Canterbury, UK
Email:  liz.gladin@gmail.com
June 10th 2010