Edward A. Morgan

Tales of science and defiance: the case for co-learning and collaboration in bridging the science/emotion divide in water recycling debates

Although science is generally assumed to be well integrated into rational decision-making models, it can be used to destabilise consultative processes, particularly when emotions are involved. Water policies are often seen as debates over technical and engineering issues, but can be highly controversial. Recycled water proposals, in particular, can create highly emotive conflicts. Through a case study regarding the rejection of recycled water proposals in the south-east Queensland, Australia, we explore the influence of science and emotions in contemporary water planning. We highlight the dangers inherent in promoting technical water planning issues at the expense of appropriate consideration of citizen concerns. Combining the science–policy interface and stakeholder engagement literatures, we advocate for collaborative decision-making processes that accommodate emotions and value judgements. A more collaborative stakeholder engagement model, founded on the principles of co-learning, has the potential to broaden the decision-making base and to promote better and more inclusive decision-making.

A Comparative Analysis of Climate-Risk and Extreme Event-Related Impacts on Well-Being and Health: Policy Implications

There are various climate risks that are caused or influenced by climate change. They are known to have a wide range of physical, economic, environmental and social impacts. Apart from damages to the physical environment, many climate risks (climate variability, extreme events and climate-related hazards) are associated with a variety of impacts on human well-being, health, and life-supporting systems. These vary from boosting the proliferation of vectors of diseases (e.g., mosquitos), to mental problems triggered by damage to properties and infrastructure. There is a great variety of literature about the strong links between climate change and health, while there is relatively less literature that specifically examines the health impacts of climate risks and extreme events. This paper is an attempt to address this knowledge gap, by compiling eight examples from a set of industrialised and developing countries, where such interactions are described. The policy implications of these phenomena and the lessons learned from the examples provided are summarised. Some suggestions as to how to avert the potential and real health impacts of climate risks are made, hence assisting efforts to adapt to a problem whose impacts affect millions of people around the world. All the examples studied show some degree of vulnerability to climate risks regardless of their socioeconomic status and need to increase resilience against extreme events.

Applying a shared understanding between Aboriginal and Western knowledge to challenge unsustainable neo-liberal planning policy and practices

ABSTRACT This article discusses the use of scientific and Aboriginal knowledge in planning, exploring how their uses are limited within the neo-liberal ideology that underpins planning institutions globally. Western knowledge, based on a scientific, enlightenment philosophy, is often seen as the objective basis for planning and policy-making. However, a more social constructivist view reveals that the use of science in planning is complex; science can be used to justify a neo-liberal agenda, limiting efforts towards sustainability. Aboriginal knowledge, underpinned by an ancestral responsibility, holds an intrinsic obligation for Aboriginal Peoples to care for Country. This knowledge is commonly excluded from planning processes and continually fails to challenge unsustainable neo-liberal planning. We investigate how the neo-liberal ideology limits the uses of these knowledges, contributing to growth and development that risk breaching ecological limits. Drawing on insights from two different research projects, the article shows how politicisation of Western scientific knowledge and the colonisation of Aboriginal knowledge limit plurality and inclusion in planning. We argue that unsustainable planning practice should be challenged through co-learning in order to improve planning. We conclude with suggestions on how a shared understanding of knowledge might be theorised to provoke a sustainable agenda for planning policy and practice.

The Challenges and Opportunities for Higher Education Institutions at the Science–Policy Interface

As one of the major ‘producers’ of climate change research, higher education institutions have had a key role to play in getting the climate change on the policy agenda. As the call for action on climate change intensifies, researchers within institutions will face new demands, with new challenges and opportunities, to inform policy to support both mitigation and adaptation. However, the uncertain, complex and interdisciplinary nature of climate change as an issue, combined with the inevitably highly politicised context of climate change action, means that involvement with policy will have a number of potential pitfalls. This paper draws lessons from recent research into the role of science within water resource management, to consider the challenges and opportunities higher institutions might face at the science–policy interface for climate change research. It notes that simply providing knowledge might be limited by uncertainty and politicisation, and suggests that collaborative, co-learning approaches might be more useful. Such approaches will require resource intensive interactions between scientists and stakeholders, as well as suitable governance arrangements. However, the paper argues that this focus on collaboration provides opportunities and could have multiple benefits.

It's the Lungfish, Stupid: Knowledge Fights, Activism, and the Science–Policy Interface

Since the post-positivist turn in the 20th century, many scholars and philosophers have argued for the importance of Other Ways Of Knowing – including local, embodied, situated, partial, and indigenous knowledges – in developing a better understanding of the world. This argument has been further stressed by a large subset of scholars working in the fields of geography, policy, planning, natural resource management, and community development, yet in practice, positivism retains its epistemological dominance. Drawing from a case study of a dam proposal at Traveston Crossing, Queensland, Australia, this paper will explore these epistemological tensions from the perspective of those whose first/primary ways of knowing about the issue were marginalised, namely the local activists who opposed the proposal. Using data gathered from document analysis and interviews, the paper will explore how these activists implicitly understood this epistemological marginalisation, how they adopted and employed positivist knowledge and language to further the exposure and credibility of their campaign, how this credibility was mediated by their identities, how they strategically deployed different forms of knowledge at local, national, and international scales, and how their successful navigation of these epistemological tensions was critical to the ultimate success of their campaign.

Science and Evidence-Based Climate Change Policy: Collaborative Approaches to Improve the Science–Policy Interface

Science has played a key role in the development of climate change policy. Although action has been slow to materialize, climate change is firmly on the policy agenda internationally and domestically in many countries across the world. Climate scientists have helped put the issue into policy agendas, and climate change science is expected to provide the basis for policy action on mitigation and adaptation. However, science and policy sometimes have an uneasy relationship, as highlighted by fraught political debates over climate change. Issues of uncertainty, complexity and politics all influence the interactions and result in a range of different roles for scientists. At the same time, it is not simply policy-makers wanting and using science: campaigners, industry, communities and a range of other stakeholders all want to use science to influence policy. The interactions are not one-way, but multifaceted, and the line between science, policy and politics can be increasingly blurred. As a result, collaborative, co-learning approaches are needed to improve the use of science in policy. Drawing on the authors’ research, this chapter will discuss the challenges faced at the boundaries between science and policy and highlight how collaboration and collective action might be deployed to manage the interface. This can both help researchers better design their research to support decision-making and help decision-makers and other stakeholders improve their use of science for evidence-based policy-making.

Implications of the Paris Climate Change Agreement for Adaptation Research and Universities

The recent Paris climate change agreement has resulted in a consensus between 196 countries on the need for action, including a stated aim to try to limit warming to 1.5 °C. Despite its weaknesses, it will provide the policy basis for climate change action and research within signature countries. Scientific research is highlighted in the agreement as having a key role to play, and higher education institutions will be expected to lead the way in this research. Much of the focus will be on mitigation but the agreement places substantial emphasis on climate change adaptation. The purpose of this article is to discuss what the agreement might mean for climate change adaptation research, and how it might impact upon research agendas in higher education institutions. In considering how the agreement might impact upon different areas of adaptation research, the paper highlights how effective interdisciplinary collaboration and research is going to be needed to support the lofty aims of the Paris agreement. It discusses the challenges of this research approach and how universities might be able to support the Paris agreement.

The roads from Rio: lessons learned from twenty years of multilateral environmental negotiations

impetus for a problem-solving approach from the authors one which succinctly delineates tried-andtested strategies for practitioners in the field. Apart from the initial two chapters, which offer some generalised background, the hierarchy of environmental impact assessment avoid, reduce, offset is used to structure the presentation of topics within the book. It is a very robust and logical structure, which not only engenders coherence, but will facilitate future updates. The avoidance of impacts by directing development away from habitats through zoning and other planning instruments is well understood by planners, and this topic is effectively covered in the early chapters. However, the mechanisms for the reduction of impacts are less well understood by planners, and this is where the emphasis of the book is focused. In a planning course, this book would be useful after students have completed an introduction to ecology. A vast amount of literature has been discerned, in order to provide guidance on measures that will successfully reduce impacts on wildlife. The authors have done environmental planning a great service by extracting the relevant parts and presenting these in an easily accessible framework. A planner faced with a specific wildlife impact issue can easily find very helpful information. An adaptive management approach is advocated, and this is often promulgated through a series of quick reference tables used to summarise topics in a clear and standardised format. Information is aligned with practical divisions of pros, cons, companion measures, adaptive measures and costs. The layout is attractive and conducive to easy comprehension, while the text is augmented throughout by the generous inclusion of relevant colour photography and graphics all of which are of a high standard. The book is not a substitute for specialist advice, but it is very helpful in making planners and the community aware of the issues and often unseen implications of human activity. For example, roadkill is an obvious and highly visible reminder of the impacts of development on wildlife, but there are many more subtle impacts that may pass unnoticed. Habitat degradation can lead to a depleted gene pool and, ultimately, the local disappearance of a species. Although aquatic species are outside the parameters of this book, the range of examples, in terms of terrestrial species, development issues and reduction measures, which are covered by Gleeson and Gleeson provide the reader with an enriched understanding of both the scope of development impacts on wildlife and the measures that have been implemented to reduce them. Topics are introduced in an abstract way, but these are illustrated with abundant specific examples, and the text is enlivened by the use of boxes, which showcase particular sites and the methods applied there. The construction of the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway across the Barron Gorge National Park is one such case in point. Although the examples are drawn from the Australian experience, the ideas and methods are relevant elsewhere. There are circumstances, too, in which wildlife habitat destruction is unavoidable, once certain types of development are approved. The location of mines and supporting infrastructure, for instance, may mean that offsets are the only option in the construction and production phase, and mining companies do have the means of restoring habitat on agricultural land in the buffer zone. Gleeson and Gleeson cover the hierarchy of impact assessment avoidance, reduction and offset in a logical and comprehensive way, which offers practical insights, not only to professionals across multidisciplinary fields, but also to the interested layman. Planning involves significantly more than simply the management of land-use change through zoning. It has long been recognised that wildlife moves around the environment with scant regard for human structures, and ecosystems offer better paradigms than patchworks of zones. Planning is for people and other animals. The latter are sometimes forgotten, but they will assert their presence, whether they are wildlife, companion animals or feral animals. Animals need advocates in the planning system, and people need contact with animals and plants in their living environments. This book deserves a place on the bookshelves of Australian planners everywhere.

The zeronauts: breaking the sustainability barrier

Chapter 2 takes the work of Hollands (2008) as a starting point and provides a critical review of this research. Building upon this review, a clearer definition of smart cities is provided, before an exploration of how to transition from intelligent to smart cities is fleshed out. A number of case studies are presented, such as the development of smart cards and information and communication technologies. Chapter 3 critically reviews emerging smart city trends in Europe. There is a focus on open innovation and the role that this plays in the transition to smart cities. The chapter highlights similarities and differences across a number of programmes and projects and determines that there are five key elements/levers for facilitating future transitions. Chapter 4 discusses intelligent cities from the perspective of spatial intelligence. This chapter provides both historical and current case studies of Bletchley Park in the United Kingdom (UK), Cyberport Hong Kong and Smart Amsterdam to explore how community-driven innovation and the integrated application of smart technologies can improve the efficiency, operation and governance of cities. Chapter 5 provides a highly critical review of Mitchell’s (1995, 2000, 2003) research. The authors begin to address a number of criticisms of Mitchell’s research, which, they argue, will enhance the development of smart cities. Chapter 6 concludes the book by exploring the concept of ‘splintering urbanism’ and examining how technology is making us more isolated, but equally how, as a culture, we continue to gather. The author argues that there is a requirement for planning to include areas that bring together physical and virtual realms, which can enhance communities. A case study is presented from a town in the United States (US), and implications for smart city developments elsewhere are also discussed. In general, From Intelligent to Smart Cities is well written and is a comprehensive book that successfully addresses a number of key criticisms of earlier smart cities literature. The exploration of a number of significant case studies means that there is a balance of theoretical development and practical analysis of real outcomes. However, it is clear that this is still an emerging research area, with the reader able to detect gaps throughout the book (such as the requirement for a deeper understanding regarding precisely what makes cities smart and further integration of the social with the technical). The book will be of interest to urban planners and those in the fields of architecture and engineering, as well as those interested in broader urban sustainability issues. References Geels, F. W. 2002. “Technological Transitions as Evolutionary Reconfiguration Processes: A Multi-level Perspective and a Case-study.” Research policy 31 (8–9): 1257–1274. doi:10.1016/S0048-7333(02)00062-8. Graham, S., and S. Marvin. 1996. Telecommunications and the City: Electronic Spaces. Urban Places: Psychology Press. Graham, S., and S. Marvin. 2001. Splintering Urbanism, Networked Infrastructures, Technological Mobilities and the Urban Condition. London and New York: Taylor & Francis. Hollands, R. G. 2008. “Will the Real Smart City Please Stand up? Intelligent, Progressive or Entrepreneurial?” City 12 (3): 303–320. doi:10.1080/13604810802479126. Mitchell, W. J. 1995. City of Bits. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. Mitchell, W. J. 2000. E-topia:“Urban Life, Jim–but Not as We Know It”. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Mitchell, W. J. 2003. Me ++: The Cyborg Self and the Networked City. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Rip, A., and R. Kemp. 1998. “Technological Change.” InHuman Choice and Climate Change, edited by S. Rayner and E. Malone, Vol. 2, 327–399. Columbus, OH: Battelle Press.

Protected areas, sustainable land?

instances of ‘Culture and counter-culture’ (Chapter 7) include street art and graffiti. Still, reference to ‘an almost indistinguishable line between culture and counter-culture, especially when the sophisticated urban elite is open to new experiences and eager to commodify everything’ and the observation that ‘wider sections of society now have the luxury of consuming culture’ (p. 126) suggests how quickly any political edge is blunted. On ‘Activism and community use’ (Chapter 8), a role is afforded to participation in local community initiatives that can use private investment to deliver social goods. Chapter 9’s ‘Creative cities and the gentrification problem’ then identifies a dilemma in leveraging a creative milieu to facilitate regeneration, which subsequently sees its original cultural agents forced out. The Temporary City’s concerns are creativity and culture, which thrive more without than with formal planning. The rigidity of zoning and master plans is, therefore, critiqued, and more flexible, collaborative tactics are favoured in ‘Re-imagining the city’ (Chapter 10). Looser planning is what can encourage transient uses that might or might not then lead to enduring, substantial activities. In capitulation, the book’s final chapter ‘The fourth dimensional city’ (Chapter 11) advocates ‘open source planning’, which is consonant with an emphasis on freedom and tolerance. It concludes that ‘if we want the innovation, fluidity and flexibility that temporary activities can give us, then we will need to relinquish our twentieth-century notions of control’ (p. 220). Perhaps so, but let us not forget that danger can lurk within the delight of seeing vacant land and buildings taken up for temporary and interim purposes, such as ‘pop-up’ malls, shops, theatres and restaurants, and for ‘meanwhile’ uses, including the international art installations and performances that loom large in this book. It will likely be the other activities identified here that prove most valuable, with the hard but honest projects of urban agriculture, squatting, radical arts and community activism presenting real ways to change our contemporary landscapes for the better. This book will be of interest to Australian planners and urbanists. It also notes additional relevant work, including that on terrain vague by Sydney-based landscape architect Helen Armstrong (2006, see also 2009, 2011). As students at my own university host a PARK[ing] day (https://www.facebook.com/media /set/?set a.434904763212230.87297.34808533856084 0&type 3) as part of the worldwide event (http:// parkingday.org/), temporary urbanism’s topicality announces itself. Indeed, the need for an ongoing examination of such practices, in relation to politics, policy and planning, will, no doubt, intensify as our rapidly urbanising world continues adjusting to global capital (not to forget climate change and peak oil). Therefore, I believe that The Temporary City will have a presence and impact that endures well beyond some of the activities that it describes.