Arwin van Buuren

Why is joint knowledge production such a problem

Analysing knowledge use in policy processes around contested topics requires a new research approach. Traditional research on knowledge for policy assumes a one-to-one relationship (which is often imperfect) between science and policy as two separate worlds. Science, technology and society studies teach us that knowledge for policy is a joint construct of the research and the policy community and is not produced in isolated worlds. This article argues that the main problem for knowledge use lies in the subdivision between different competing ‘knowledge coalitions’ of researchers and policy-makers. Conflicting knowledge is the result. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

The regional governance of climate adaptation: A framework for developing legitimate, effective, and resilient governance arrangements

Adaptation to climate change raises important governance issues. Notwithstanding the increasing attention on climate adaptation at the global and European level, the variety of local conditions and climate impacts points towards a prime role for regional actors in climate change adaptation. They face the challenge of developing and implementing adaptation options and increasing the adaptive capacity of regions so that expected or unexpected impacts of future climate change can be addressed. This paper presents a conceptual framework to analyse the regional governance of climate adaptation. It addresses the following key questions: (1) What are the distinct challenges for the regional governance of climate adaptation? (2) Which concepts can guide the design of new governance arrangements and strategies? (3) What challenges to legal principles are posed by the climate? (4) What research methods are suitable for developing and testing governance arrangements and strategies? We present a framework designed to address each of these questions; it has analytical, design, normative, and methodological components. In the paper, examples from the Dutch regional governance of climate adaptation serve as illustrations of the conceptual argumentation.

Policy innovation in isolation

Abstract Innovations in public policy are difficult to realize if decision-making arrangements are not scrutinized at the same time. Rigid institutional arrangements often hinder the realization of policy breakthroughs. Consequently, in the day-to-day practice of public administration, more and more experiments with innovative arrangements towards realizing groundbreaking policy decisions are being seen. Two rather different examples of such arrangements in the Dutch context are transition arenas and pilot projects (proeftuinen). In this article we describe these arrangements from an innovation management perspective and evaluate their functioning by focusing on their approaches to two dilemmas: the dilemma between diversity and closedness within the innovation plans and the dilemma between openness and closedness of the plan in relation to its context, the outside world. From their comparison we can learn about the context-specific application of different innovation plans and the results of different ways of handling these innovation dilemmas.

Evaluating strategic environmental assessment in The Netherlands: content, process and procedure as indissoluble criteria for effectiveness

To assess the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) we distinguish between its contribution to the quality of the ultimate policy choice (usefulness, applicability), the procedural quality of the planning process (transparency, timeliness) and the quality of stakeholder participation in the planning process (openness, equity, dialogue). In the context of two case studies involving Dutch planning practice, we argue that when and how an SEA is applied is crucial to understanding its effectiveness, and show that effectiveness depends upon its alignment with, and embedding in, the planning process.

Toward legitimate governance strategies for climate adaptation in the Netherlands: combining insights from a legal, planning, and network perspective

In general, the issue of climate change is characterized by uncertainty, complexity, and multifacetedness. In the Netherlands, climate change is in above highly controversial. These characteristics make it difficult to realize adaptation measures that are perceived as legitimate. In this article, we analyze the main difficulties and dilemmas with regard to the issue of legitimacy in the context of climate adaptation. We conceptualize legitimacy from a legal, a planning, and a network perspective and show how the concept of legitimacy evolves within these three perspectives. From a legal perspective, the focus is on the issues of good governance. From a planning perspective, the focus is on the flexibility, learning, and governance capacity. From a network perspective, issues of dialogue, involvement, and support are important. These perspectives bring in different criteria, which are not easy compatible. We describe and illustrate these legitimacy challenges using an in-depth study of the Dutch IJsseldelta Zuid case. From our case study, we conclude that, from a legitimacy perspective, the often acclaimed necessity to be adaptive and flexible is quite problematic. The same holds true for the plea to mainstream adaptation into other policy domains. In our case study, these strategies give rise to serious challenges in relation to good governance and consensus—two indispensable cornerstones of legitimacy.

Democratic Legitimacy of New Forms of Water Management in the Netherlands

Due to changes in the Dutch flood management paradigm, governance practices have been shifting from technocratic and state-oriented towards more collaborative governance approaches in which many governmental actors, together with private and societal actors, search out integral solutions. This shift has had an impact on how water management is legitimized. This paper evaluates two water governance processes that reflect the new management paradigm in different ways, and analyzes how these changing paradigms influence the democratic legitimacy of water governance. It is concluded that the extent to which the new paradigm is implemented influences the way in which democratic legitimacy is organized. It is also shown that new forms of democratic legitimacy do not replace existing ones but rather contribute to hybrid and contextualized forms of legitimacy.

Connective Capacities of Network Managers

Abstract This article investigates the relationship between the connective style of network management and outcomes of governance processes and explains differences and developments in managerial styles in complex governance networks in relation to outcomes. We found that a strong connective style of network management is related to good outcomes. We also found that discontinuity in management has a negative impact on outcomes. Moreover, we found that the background of managers and their connective management style are related: Network managers with a governmental background proved to have a less connective orientation than professional external managers.

Making space for the river : governance experiences with multifunctional river flood management in the US and Europe

Making Space for the River presents not only opportunities and synergies but also risks as it crosses established institutional boundaries and touches on multiple stakeholder interests, which can easily clash. Making Space for the River helps the reader to understand the policy and governance dynamics that lead to these tensions and pays attention to a variety of attempts to organize effective and legitimate governance approaches. The book helps to realize connections between policy domains, problem frames, and goals of different actors at different levels that contribute to decisive and legitimate action. Making Space for the River has an international comparative character that sheds light upon both the country-specific governance dilemmas which relate to specific state traditions and institutional characteristics of national water management, but also uncovers interesting similarities which provide us with building blocks to formulate more generic lessons about the governance of Making Space for the River in different institutional and social contexts. The authors of this book come from a variety of disciplines including public administration, town and country planning, geography and anthropology, and these different disciplines bring multiple ways of knowing and understanding of Making Space for the River programs. The book combines interdisciplinary scientific analyses of Space for the River projects and programs with practical knowing and lessons-drawing. Making Space for the River is written for both practitioners and scholars and students of environmental policy, spatial planning, land use and water management. ISBN: 9781780401133 (eBook) ISBN: 9781780401126 (Print)

The learning evaluation : a theoretical and empirical exploration

In this article, the authors theoretically and empirically explore the concept of learning evaluation. They shed light on the positioning of the learning evaluation amid scholarly work one valuations. Moreover, they describe the learning evaluation in practice in the Netherlands by going into a specific project called the Stimulation Program on Citizen and Environment. The theoretical and empirical quest gives insights into the problems with and possibilities of the learning evaluation. They think that their experiences can help the further development of theory about learning evaluation as well as aid in the practice of such evaluations.

Decisions as Dynamic Equilibriums in Erratic Policy Processes

Abstract Policy processes are anything but static. In this paper an evolutionary framework derived from complexity theory is explored to explain how policy processes evolve in a non-linear way and how they result in a chain of subsequent policy decisions. Policy change is explained by tracing the way in which the various substituting elements of policy processes influence each other and cause, and are subject to, positive and negative feedback. Policy decisions form internally a temporal stable equilibrium between practical ambitions, normative points of view and factual claims, and externally a temporal equilibrium between policy processes that compete with each other for attention and legitimacy. This theoretical framework is illustrated by an in-depth case study on policy-making on the long-term development of the Westerschelde estuary running between Flanders and the Netherlands. The article concludes with a reflection on the added value of complexity theory for policy analysis.