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