Water Governance in the Lerma-Chapala Basin of Mexico: A Shift from State-centred to a Multi-stakeholder Approach?

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a framework for assessing water governance by consolidating and refining disparate principles of water governance in the existing research literature. The developed framework is then applied in a case study of the Lerma Chapala basin in Mexico to assess the state of water governance, and identify accomplishments and constraints in the implementation of an effective water governance system. The study conducts a content analysis of primary data collected through semi-structured interviews with multiple stakeholders in the basin (N=51) and secondary data from national water policy documents (N=18). Overall, the study identified one major achievement and five major constraints in the implementation of water governance in the Lerma-Chapala basin. The achievement pertains to successful stakeholder negotiations that resulted in a treaty for the allocation of scarce surface water resources in the basin; hence, mitigating allocation conflicts. Constraints include (1) the failure of water user representatives to advance issues that pertain to their stakeholder group in the Basin Council, (2) a fragmented approach to water management that hinders the success of programs and activities at the basin level, (3) the persistence of a centralized decision making protocol that neglects local context, among other issues. Overall, the application of the developed framework in a content analysis of policy documents and stakeholder interviews reveals a major disconnect between policy and practice in the Lerma-Chapala’s water governance experience. The dissertation contributes to the existing literature by providing a conceptual framework for assessing water governance systems. The refined set of five meta-principles allows for better conceptualization, and makes it easier to identify policy-practice disconnects and tease out achievements and constraints to water governance. In this sense, the framework could assist in guiding water sector reforms where changes are needed, and improve the water governance system

Implementing Sustainability Strategies in Networks and Clusters – Principles, Tools and New Research Outcomes

This book investigates the dynamics of the management of sustainability in networks and clusters – an area of increasing importance that is neglected by the many studies addressing sustainability at the single-enterprise level. The focus is in particular on projects involving groups of enterprises with a high level of productive interdependence and steady relations that allow sharing of resources and activities. The book is organized into two parts, the first of which discusses the value of the territory for firm competitiveness, examines the importance of social capital in creating sustainable business behaviors and “unique” networks, and describes principles and tools for the implementation and management of sustainability strategies in networks or clusters. The second part then presents the methodology and outcomes of empirical research conducted on industrial districts and productive centres in Campania, southern Italy, which are representative of Italian productive chains. The book will be of value to all management scholars with an interest in this field, as well as to readers wishing to learn more of the role of local institutions

Input and output legitimacy of multi-stakeholder initiatives

In a globalizing world, governments are not always able or willing to regulate the social and environmental externalities of global business activities. Multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSI), defined as global institutions involving mainly corporations and civil society organizations, are one type of regulatory mechanism that tries to fill this gap by issuing soft law regulation. This conceptual paper examines the conditions of a legitimate transfer of regulatory power from traditional democratic nation-state processes to private regulatory schemes, such as MSIs. Democratic legitimacy is typically concerned with input legitimacy (rule credibility, or the extent to which the regulations are perceived as justified) and output legitimacy (rule effectiveness, or the extent to which the rules effectively solve the issues). In this study, we identify MSI input legitimacy criteria (inclusion, procedural fairness, consensual orientation, and transparency) and those of MSI output legitimacy (rule coverage, efficacy, and enforcement), and discuss their implications for MSI democratic legitimacy

Beyond NETmundial: The Roadmap for Institutional Improvements to the Global Internet Governance Ecosystem

Beyond NETmundial: The Roadmap for Institutional Improvements to the Global Internet Governance Ecosystem explores options for the implementation of a key section of the “NETmundial Multistakeholder Statement” that was adopted at the Global Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance (NETmundial) held on April 23rd and 24th 2014 in São Paulo, Brazil. The Roadmap section of the statement concisely sets out a series of proposed enhancements to existing mechanisms for global internet governance, as well as suggestions of possible new initiatives that the global community may wish to consider. The sixteen chapters by leading practitioners and scholars are grouped into six sections: The NETmundial Meeting; Strengthening the Internet Governance Forum; Filling the Gaps; Improving ICANN; Broader Analytical Perspectives; and Moving Forward

Collaborative Governance: Emerging Practices and the Incomplete Legal Framework for Public and Stakeholder Voice

This article describes the broad range of processes through which citizens and stakeholders collaborate to make, implement, and enforce public policy. First, it briefly reviews collaborative and new governance. Second, it describes deliberative democracy; collaborative public or network management; and appropriate dispute resolution in the policy process. These three separate fields are part of a single phenomenon, namely the changing nature of citizen and stakeholder voice in governance. Third, it describes how these new forms of participation operate across the policy continuum. Fourth, it briefly reviews existing legal infrastructure for collaborative governance primarily from the perspective of federal administrative law. I conclude that we need to revise our legal infrastructure to facilitate collaboration in a way that will strengthen our democracy

Decentralised energy governance in the global south: the case of Kenya since the implementation of devolution

Drawing on nine months’ field research in Kenya and using a predominantly qualitative methodology, this thesis investigates the role of decentralised governance in addressing Global South energy access issues. The study explores the concepts of decentralisation, governance, and energy access, engaging with overlooked debates concerning how these concepts interrelate and under what circumstances decentralised energy governance might help address Global South energy access issues. Concepts of scale and power are also explored, enabling new insights into the understudied area of how cross-scalar power relations play out in decentralised energy governance, while extending debates over whether the state should be viewed relationally. Critically, a spatial lens is applied to the aforementioned concepts and debates, developing new knowledge on how and the extent to which decentralised energy governance is spatially contingent.Framed within debates on multilevel governance, the thesis shows cross-scalar power imbalances have led to a more hierarchical form of energy governance emerging in Kenya relative to that intended by legislation – this has led to excessive emphasis on grid electricity which has been detrimental to addressing energy access inequities. The emergent decentralised energy governance is also found to have marked geographical variations, underpinned by a range of spatially contingent historical, socio-economic, and political factors. The overarching conclusion is that Kenyan decentralised energy governance needs to develop robust networks of local actors to provide effective checks and balances to ‘top-down’ governance: without which, energy access inequities are likely to persist.These findings have broader conceptual and theoretical implications for decentralised energy governance in the Global South. Decentralisation is shown to have distinct relevance to energy as grid electricity remains one of the few remaining de facto state monopolies in the Global South: the implication being central governments will see this control as too lucrative and politically important to cede to decentralisation reforms. The findings also highlight marked geographical variations, revealing that decentralised energy governance needs to be understood not only relationally, as typically seen in political economy analyses, but also spatially. This understanding has important methodological implications as it signals that geographical empirical approaches are required if on the ground practices of decentralised energy governance are to be better understood and more effectively developed.</div

Systems in management 7th annual ANZSYS conference 2001: The relevance of systems thinking in the contemporary world

Welcome to Perth, Western Australia, and to the Systems in Management 7th Annual ANZSYS Conference 2001 the relevance of systems thinking in the contemporary world hosted by the We-B Centre, School of Management Information Systems at Edith Cowan University. The conference provides an opportunity for sharing and networking among academics and industry specialists in systems and related fields. The conference has drawn participants from national and international organizations. All submitted papers were subjected to an anonymous peer review process managed by the Conference Committee. Stringent review criteria resulted in an unprecedented number of papers declined this year. Based on these reviews, the final programme was determined. A total of 54 papers were submitted for consideration and 39 were accepted for presentation. The Conference Committee would like to recognise the efforts of many people who have contributed to the success and support in the organising of this conference and without their efforts the conference could not have occurred. The authors are thanked for their continued support to the Systems in Management 7th Annual ANZSYS Conference 2001 and we hope that the conference will receive similar support into the future. The reviewers deserve a special vote of thanks for their commitment and dedication in having their reviews conducted professionally. This year saw the launch of our Best Paper and Paper of Distinction award program. Papers nominated for this honour received particularly rigorous reviews. The winners will be announced at the conference. Thank you and enjoy the conference

Governing Integrated Water Resources Management: Mutual Learning and Policy Transfer

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has become a global paradigm for the governance of surface, coastal and groundwaters. This Special Issue contains twelve articles related to the transfer of IWRM policy principles. The articles explore three dimensions of transfer—causes, processes, outcomes—and offer a theoretically inspiring, methodologically rich and geographically diverse engagement with IWRM policy transfer around the globe. As such, they can also productively inform a future research agenda on the ‘dimensional’ aspects of IWRM governance. Regarding the causes, the contributions apply, criticise, extend or revise existing approaches to policy transfer in a water governance context, asking why countries adopt IWRM principles and what mechanisms are in place to understand the adoption of these principles in regional or national contexts. When it comes to processes, articles in this Special Issue unpack the process of policy transfer and implementation and explore how IWRM principles travel across borders, levels and scales. Finally, this set of papers looks into the outcomes of IWRM policy transfer and asks what impact IWRM principles, once implemented, gave on domestic water governance, water quality and water supply, and how effective IWRM is at addressing critical water issues in specific countries

Civil Society and Social Movements in Food System Governance

This book offers insights into the governance of contemporary food systems and their ongoing transformation by social movements. As global food systems face multiple threats and challenges there is an opportunity for social movements and civil society to play a more active role in building social justice and ecological sustainability. Drawing on case studies from Canada, the United States, Europe, and New Zealand, this edited collection showcases promising ways forward for civil society actors to engage in governance. The authors address topics including: the variety of forms that governance engagement takes from multi-stakeholderism to co-governance to polycentrism/self-governance; the values and power dynamics that underpin these different types of governance processes; effective approaches for achieving desired values and goals; and, the broader relationships and networks that may be activated to support change. By examining and comparing a variety of governance innovations, at a range of scales, the book offers insights for those considering contemporary food systems and their ongoing transformation. It is suitable for food studies students and researchers within geography, environmental studies, anthropology, policy studies, planning, health sciences and sociology, and will also be of interest to policy makers and civil society organizations with a focus on food systems

Standardising the city: A material-discursive genealogy of CPA-I_001, ISO 37120 and BSI PAS 181

City standards are a rapidly growing and highly innovative new area of international standards development. They propose tools, techniques and guidelines for the governance of smart and sustainable cities. In this thesis, I survey the standards literature, develop a methodology for their study, and analyse three city standards, the institutions that support them and the material-discursive apparatuses that allow them to take shape. CPA-I_001 is a diagram for seeing, measuring and managing the city as a system of systems. ISO 37120 defines 100 performance indicators for assessing and benchmarking city services and quality of life. And BSI PAS 181 recommends practices for smart city leadership in the integration and management of government services. My decision to focus on the development, circulation and implementation of these standards prompted the use of semi-structured interviews and document analysis; methods capable of following their specific global movements. Drawing on data thus generated, I argue that city standards act as an effective political technology in three capacities: by propagating ideas, materials and techniques; by steering outcomes towards desirable goals; and by assuring city leaders and decision-makers. The case study analysis is augmented by an exploration of the broader intellectual traditions on which the three standards draw. This allows me to reveal their political assumptions and logics, and intervene upon their role in the production of future cities. My research contributes to: empirical work on standards in cities; research methodologies in human geography, and science and technology studies; and conceptual and theoretical debates within Foucault studies, the new materialism, nonrepresentational theory and urban theory