Assessing Alternatives

In previous chapters, attention focused upon the nature of complex social-ecological systems, visions for the future, characteristics of an ecosystem or holistic approach, issues related to governance, the nature of adaptive environmental management, attributes of partnerships and stakeholders, and alternative ways to resolving disputes. For all of these matters, alternative approaches exist and choices must be made. This chapter focuses on three methods for identifying and assessing alternatives: benefit-cost analysis; environmental impact assessment, including strategic environmental assessment; and life-cycle assessment, including ISO 14001 and the European Union’s eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS). Case studies are provided from China, the Republic of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, and Italy. Bram Noble, in his guest statement, examines alternative ways to address uncertainty in environmental impact assessments in the context of Canada.

Visions for the Future

In this chapter, the characteristics of a vision for a region, organization, or group are discussed, and then attention turns to examining the roles of forecasting and backcasting, and scenarios to anticipate the future. Subsequently, the characteristics of both sustainable development and resilience as possible visions to guide resource and environmental management are examined. In the context of sustainable development, the distinction between weak and strong sustainability is reviewed. Next, attention turns to the implications of the Anthropocene for achieving sustainable development and resilience. The concept of the rule of hand is explored, which suggests that normally not more than three to five variables are significant when trying to understand complex social-ecological systems, followed by consideration of how both adaptation and transformation can become strategies to address complexity and uncertainty. Kathryn Bellette provides a guest statement focused on implementing a strategy for sustainable development in metropolitan Adelaide, Australia.

Stakeholders and Partnerships

Key aspects of sustainable development and resilience include empowerment of local people, self-reliance, and social justice. One way to achieve those aspects is to incorporate experience, knowledge, and understanding of various groups and people. The terms “stakeholders” and “partnerships” are often used to characterize engaging organized interest groups and the general public into resource and environmental planning. This chapter reviews characteristics of stakeholder engagement through partnerships. Attention also is given to the role of local knowledge, including gender perspectives, to inform plans and decisions. In-depth case studies include a state-wide network of partnerships in Wisconsin, stakeholder consultation to manage conflict between commercial fishers and tourism in a natural park in Mexico, the Chipko movement in India, and gender engagement regarding climate change in Nepal. Wendy Cridland, in her guest statement, examines partnership initiatives to address proliferation of an aggressive invasive non-native weed species in coastal wetlands of Lake Erie, Ontario.

Monitoring and Evaluation

To improve implementation of policies and plans for resource and environmental management, systematic monitoring and evaluation are essential. In this chapter attention is given first to characteristics, opportunities, and limitations with regard to monitoring and evaluation. Then, three kinds of monitoring and evaluation are examined: environmental auditing; state of environment reports; and geomatics, or Geographical Information Systems (GIS)-based, monitoring and assessments. Detailed case studies cover environmental audits of a mine in Alaska and a tourism resort in Greece; state of environment reports in the European Union, Saskatchewan in Canada, and North Carolina in the United States; and GIS-based monitoring and assessment of wetlands in India and hotspots in the Lake Chad basin in Africa. Tung Fung’s guest statement explains how GIS has been used to monitor and evaluate environmental conditions in Hong Kong.

Implementation

Policies and plans for resource and environmental management are needed, but if not implemented, or implemented poorly, their value is reduced. Experience suggests that we often struggle to achieve effective implementation. In this chapter, the implementation gap is examined, with the aim being to identify what are known expectations for successful implementation of policies and plans, which obstacles frequently hinder implementation, and what capacity is required for effective implementation. Subsequently, the difference between programmed and adaptive implementation is examined, followed by discussion of the role of different partnership and stakeholder arrangements to facilitate implementation. Detailed case studies of coastal management in Japan and of water policy implementation in the São Paulo state in Brazil provide further insights. Bakti Setiawan and Dwita Rahmi, in their guest statement, review the role of bureaucracy, politics, and leadership in establishing a protected agricultural area in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Conflicts often emerge during resource and environmental management, but can be positive as well as negative. Positive aspects occur when conflict helps to identify ineffective processes, highlights poorly developed ideas or inadequate information, and reveals misunderstandings. In contrast, conflict can be negative if it is ignored or consciously set aside and leads to misunderstanding and mistrust. This chapter turns first to the nature of disputes, with particular attention to the concept of intractability, as well as how to frame disputes. Four different ways of dealing with disputes are reviewed, with special attention to conditions or factors necessary or desirable for effective use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Case studies consider limits for selenium in Colorado, and experiences of women mining activists in Peru and Ecuador. The guest statement by Jeroen Warner analyzes experience with multistakeholder dispute resolution processes for water in the Netherlands.

Social Learning, Learning Organizations, and Adaptive Environmental Management

As outlined in chapter 1, complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity present challenges for resource and environmental management. In this chapter, three interrelated responses to deal with surprise, change, and wicked problems are examined: social learning, learning organizations, and adaptive environmental management. The characteristics of social learning and learning organizations are identified and reviewed. Then, basic ideas associated with adaptive environmental management are considered. Experience with applying adaptive environmental management is analyzed with regard to managing fish and wildlife, hydro-electricity production, and flood damage reduction in the Columbia River Basin in the United States. In her guest statement, Beate Ratter analyzes the collaborative approach to protecting the coastline of the EuropeanWalden Sea, shared by the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.

Challenges and Opportunities

Resource and environmental managers frequently must deal with ongoing change, complexity, uncertainty, and conflict, often meaning that there is not one obviously correct way to manage situations. In that context, this chapter introduces key concepts related to resource and environmental management: complex social and ecological systems, the Anthropocene, wicked problems, ambiguity, and tipping points. The characteristics of each are described, and their significance explained. In addition, experiences from Tanzania, the Philippines, the United States, and India are presented to illustrate the importance of these concepts in practical resource and environmental management situations. Rangarirai Taruvinga shares a guest statement in which he explores the pressures and options related to social-ecological complexity in Swaziland in Africa.

Moving Forward

Chapter 12 begins by revisiting climate change as a wicked problem, and considers strategies to deal with problems characterized by ambiguity and intractability. Attention then turns to considering ethical or moral principles that have underlined, or should underlie, resource and environmental management, with particular attention to greenwashing, greenlashing, and shame campaigns. Subsequently, leadership and followership are examined, since both are essential for effective resource and environmental management. Detailed examples include the experience with the Deepwater Horizon oil rig spill in the Gulf of Mexico, shame campaigns focused on Home Depot regarding its selling of old-growth forest products and on jewelers related to No Dirty Gold, and the American West regarding a major community-based collaborative conservation initiative. Cecilia Tortajada’s guest statement focuses on the role of governance. She argues that we need to understand change, drivers, impacts, and directions, as well as the role of disruptive technologies.

Governance

For decades, natural resources and environmental management was approached as needing scientific and technical expertise, as well as the ability to identify different societal needs and aspirations. Government often was viewed as the dominant decision-maker. Today, it is increasingly recognized that governance is another key element. Here, attention is given to differentiating between governance and government, and to opportunities for different types of governance. With growing recognition of the value of learning from experience, consideration turns to adaptive environmental management. Consideration next is directed to co-management, as an approach to allocate more responsibility and authority to local stakeholders. Two case studies, national parks in England and a mangrove preserve in Tanzania, provide insight into experience with adaptive management and co-management. In his guest statement, Nigel Watson reviews governance arrangements regarding water quality for Loweswater in the Lake District of England.