Transcript Shaping Australia’s Resilience: Policy development for

Shaping Australia’s Resilience:
Policy development for
uncertain futures.
A21 Workshop, 19 Feb 2010
Steve Dovers, Fenner School of
Environment and Society, ANU
Central point:
• If “resilience thinking” is to inform policy
development and implementation, then its
users and promoters must:
-- draw on existing knowledge from public policy,
public administration, institutional theory and
design, law, history, etc, and…
-- avoid “ortism” (ie. someone oughta…), and start
to explore the detail of and recommend structures
and processes.
• Not that they don’t at all, but not enough.
• Three ideas from three sources….
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1. Resilience & institutions:
• Resilience – and socio-ecological systems,
vulnerability-adaptation studies, adaptive
management (a bit better), etc do not
characterise what resilience means in
institutional terms.
• For example, further developing (i) Resistance
and maintenance, (ii) Change at the margins,
(iii) Openness and adaptability.
•
Handmer & Dovers (2009) (orig 1996) A typology of resilience:
rethinking institutions for sustainable development. In: Schipper
& Burton, The Earthscan reader on adaptation to climate change.
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2. Resilience and other ideas
• Avoiding group think, self-referencing, and
borrowing only of friendly/cognate ideas.
• Eg. “resilience thinking” and “optimisation for
conservation” have largely evolved separately,
and are often seen as conflictual, but we argue
may be complementary – one strategic, one
operational.
•
Fischer et al (2009) Integrating resilience thinking and
optimisation for conservation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution.
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3. Entering foreign territory implementation
Too much resilience, adaptation, socio-ecological
systems, etc literature and policy discussion:
-- states ends and aspirations, but not the
means of getting there (policy, institutional and
administrative structures and processes).
-- does not draw on relevant research and
practice in NRM, disasters, public policy,
sustainable development, etc.
•
Dovers & Hezri (in press 2010) Institutions and policy processes:
the means to the ends of adaptation. WIRES Climate Change.
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