PLAN 597

Planning for Water Resources Management

Governance Systems II: 13th October 2011

Citizen Involvement and Negotiation in Sustainability Governance

In the second part of the class we will discuss some of the key innovations in how stakeholders have been involved in the governance of water and related resources in recent years, using examples from Greater Vancouver and the experience with the World Commision on Dams (WCD). Review my CWRJ editorial of more than 20 years ago to see what I was saying about the role and capabilities needed by water managers back then. Read my chapter in Mitchell's undergraduate textbook to get an overview of how I see innovations in governance as having evolved over the intervening years. It is now 7 years since my recommendations on experimental development of governance arrangements in Greater Vancouver were written, it will be informative for us to reflect on how they have in fact unfolded in the last few years. Likewise it will be useful for us to review how the recommendations of the WCD have been taken forward during the same time frame.

Reading for Second 80 minutes

Dorcey, A.H.J., 1987. "Managers - Our Scarcest Resource," Canadian Water Resources Journal, Vol. 12. No.1. pp.1-2.

Dorcey, A.H.J., 2010. "Sustainability Governance: Surfing the Waves of Transformation," in Mitchell, B. (Ed.) Resource and Environmental Management in Canada: Addressing Conflict and Uncertainty. pp. 554-581.

Supplementary

Course Organization

Agreement on class participation grading (See below).

Exercise

Discussion

1. Why do sustainability goals generate increasing demands, increasing complexity, increasing uncertainty and consequently increasing conflict? And the need for innovations in governance?
2. What characterizes the three waves of innovation identified in Canadian governance?
3. Defining citizen involvement, negotiation, facilitation, mediation, governance.
4. Evaluating governance performance: democratic models, outcome goals, procedural goals.
5. Why do research limitations and practitioners evolving best practices suggest emphasizing experimental development?
6. Why should experimental innovations be contingent, progressive, structured, and adaptive?
7. Greater Vancouver: Sustainability and FREMP, FBC, GBEI as water related governance initiatives
8. World Commission on Dams: one approach to experimental development of governance arrangements.
9. What conclusions can we draw from subsequent experience with WCD and Greater Vancouver governance innovations?
   

PLAN 597

Class Participation Grade

In previous classes we have agreed upon the following approach for arriving at the class participation portion of the grade:

• there would be a group grade for the 10% of the total course grade allocated to class participation;
• in addition, any individual can ask to meet the instructor at any time if they would like his comments on their class participation;
• in the last class of the term the group grade will be determined through the following procedures:

• going around the table each individual, including lastly the instructor, would summarize (2 minutes max.) their assessment of the group'sperformance using the agreed on criteria;
• after this, each individual, including the instructor, writes down a percentage grade and gives this to the instructor;
• then each individual, including the instructor, would tell the group their grade; and
• the group grade would be calculated as the mean of all those given, including the instructors.

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Criteria for group mark

Process

• Cooperation
• Equal opportunity to speak
• KISS (Keep It Short and Simple)
• GTY Principles
• Attendance of class as a whole

Substance

• On topic, concise, relevant
• Original, provocative