Jennifer Bellamy

Policy Review Evaluating Integrated Resource Management

Approaches to natural resource management based on the integration of community involvement , technical knowledge , and organizational structure and policy objectives are endorsed throughout Australia . The emerging paradigm of resource manage ment supports a more flexible and adaptive approach to address the uncertainty , complexity , and interconnectedness associated with natural resource and human management systems . The translation of this concept into practice , however , is proving difficult , and proactive evaluation should help . But the evaluation of the effectiveness of integrated resource management ( IRM ) approaches both in Aus tralia and internationally is relatively more neglected . This article discusses issues of IRM evaluation and proposes a conceptual evaluation framework that identifies a range of technical , institutional , economic , and social criteria that may influence the success of IRM in practice . This framework should facilitate the proper formu lation of the natural resourc...

Modelling change in state of complex ecological systems in space and time: An application to sustainable grazing management

Abstract Meeting the challenge of sustainable development requires substantial advances in understanding of the interaction of natural and human systems. The emerging ecosystem management paradigm of multiple stable states, non-linear systems behaviour, discontinuous change, self-organisation and multiple development pathways has major implications for when and how change in complex systems occurs and how it can be managed. It also poses considerable challenges for modelling the structure and function of natural and human management systems, including fundamental constraints relating to: scaling mismatches, synthesis of non-homogeneous information, multiscaled system interactions, complex management systems, uncertainty in causal relationships, assessment of trade-offs, and validation. This paper examines how a decision support system (DSS) for sustainable grazing management, called Landassess DSS, attempts to deal with some of these issues through an integrated systems approach to DSS development. This approach utilises object-oriented techniques, knowledge-based systems, geographical information systems (GIS), and a state-and-transition model framework to model the critical change processes. It provides for the identification of the major driving factors and constraints to change in complex resource management systems, as well as the assessment of the likely trade-offs between resource sustainability and economic production at a scale relevant to management decision-making (i.e., paddock or property).

Enabling and Enacting 'Practical Action' in Catchments: Responding to the 'Wicked Problem' of Nonpoint Source Pollution in Coastal Subtropical Australia

Enabling and enacting ‘practical action’ (i.e., purposeful and concerted collective action) in catchments is a key challenge in responding to a wide range of pressing catchment and natural resource management (NRM) issues. It is particularly a challenge in responding to ‘wicked problems,’ where generating action is not straightforward and cannot be brought about solely by any single actor, policy or intervention. This paper responds to the critical need to better understand how practical action can be generated in catchments, by conducting an in-depth empirical case study of efforts to manage nonpoint source (NPS) pollution in South East Queensland (SEQ), Australia. SEQ has seen substantial concerted efforts to manage waterway and catchment issues over two decades, yet NPS pollution remains a major problem for waterway health. A novel framework was applied to empirically analyze practical action in three local catchment cases embedded within the broader SEQ region. The analysis focuses on ‘enabling capacities’ underpinning practical action in catchments. Findings reveal that capacities manifested in different ways in different cases, yet many commonalities also occurred across cases. Interplay between capacities was critical to the emergence of adaptive and contextual forms of practical action in all cases. These findings imply that in order to enable and enact practical action in catchments, it is vital to recognize and support a diversity of enabling capacities across both local and regional levels of decision making and action. This is likely to have relevance for other ‘wicked’ catchment and NRM problems requiring local responses within broader multiscalar regional problem situations.

Crises and institutional change: emergence of cross-border water governance in Lake Eyre Basin, Australia

ABSTRACT Managing large river basins for sustainability is a contentious social–ecological arena challenging traditional scientific and rational planning approaches to water and related natural resources governance. “Crises” are inevitable but double-edged: creating threats and uncertainties, but also new opportunities to shape trajectories of change and avoid adverse consequences. A case study of the large remote cross-border Lake Eyre Basin (LEB), in arid central Australia, shows how over two decades a series of social–ecological and political–administrative “crises” emerged, posing significant environmental and social dilemmas for water governance, while also opening up opportunities for institutional change. This article examines the role of crises in the emergence and evolution of water governance in the LEB, how they were perceived, the challenges and opportunities posed, social and institutional responses, and governance capacity outcomes. Finally, it reflects on emergent crises as opportunities for more systemic and adaptive change in large river basins.

Tackling the ‘How’ Question: Enabling and Enacting Practical Action for Managing the Wicked Problem of Nonpoint Source Pollution in Catchments

Managing nonpoint source (NPS) pollution in catchments is a ‘wicked problem’ and a persistent challenge in protecting the health of freshwater and marine ecosystems, and the human systems that depend on them. NPS pollution arises through complex interactions between human activities and dynamic natural systems, both spatially and across multiple levels of organisation. A key challenge is enabling and enacting purposeful and concerted collective action (‘practical action’) within multi-level catchment management systems. This challenge has been explored through theory-informed empirical research, involving an in-depth case study in South-East Queensland (SEQ), Australia, which is a large, complex and rapidly growing coastal region facing significant ongoing waterway health challenges. Three embedded catchment cases within the SEQ region were studied using multiple qualitative methods (semi-structured interviews, field observation, document review, feedback workshops). A conceptual framework was used to analyse ‘enabling capacities’ that are important for practical action, which were: prior experience and contingency; institutional arrangements; collaboration; engagement; vision and strategy; knowledge building and brokerage; resourcing; entrepreneurship and leadership; and reflection and adaptation. Practical action was found to be emergent from the combined interplay of these enabling capacities, at and across multiple levels. These findings imply that management efforts need to focus on building enabling capacities that underpin the emergence of practical action within complex, dynamic and changing situations, rather than solely on prescribing actions and targets to be achieved.