The emergence of community strategic planning in New South Wales, Australia: influences, challenges and opportunities

This paper investigates the emergence of community strategic planning in the New South Wales (NSW) local government sector, against the backdrop of a series of broad influences ranging from increased interest in participatory democracy through to sustainable infrastructure provision. It provides an understanding of how community strategic planning has evolved over the past few decades to embody these influences. The paper concludes with reflections on some common challenges and opportunities experienced by local councils in NSW that have undertaken voluntary community strategic planning or are in the process of developing community strategic plans. Given underlying similarities in the emergence of participatory long-term strategic planning in local government around the world, many of the experiences associated with the preparation of community strategic plans in the NSW context are likely to be of relevance to those undertaking similar processes in other jurisdiction

Deliberative Mini-publics and the Global Deliberative System: Insights from an Evaluation of World Wide Views on Global Warming in Australia

On 26 September 2009, approximately 4,000 citizens in 38 countries participated in World Wide Views on Global Warming (WWViews). WWViews was an ambitious first attempt to convene a deliberative mini-public at a global scale, giving people from around the world an opportunity to deliberate on international climate policy and to make recommendations to the decision-makers meeting at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP-15) in December 2009. In this paper, we examine the role that deliberative mini-publics can play in facilitating the emergence of a global deliberative system for climate change response. We pursue this intent through a reflective evaluation of the Australian component of the World Wide Views on Global Warming project (WWViews). Our evaluation of WWViews is mixed. The Australian event was delivered with integrity and feedback from Australian participants was almost universally positive. Globally, WWViews demonstrated that it is feasible to convene a global mini-public to deliberate on issues of global relevance, such as climate change. On the other hand, the contribution of WWViews towards the emergence of a global deliberative system for climate change response was limited and it achieved little influence on global climate change policy. We identify lessons for future global mini-publics, including the need to prioritise the quality of deliberation and provide flexibility to respond to cultural and political contexts in different parts of the world. Future global mini-publics may be more influential if they seek to represent discourse diversity in addition to demographic profiles, use designs that maximise the potential for transmission from public to empowered space, run over longer time periods to build momentum for change and experiment with ways of bringing global citizens together in a single process instead of discrete national events

Directions Report

The Natural Resources Advisory Council of NSW (NRAC) has commissioned the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) to prepare a discussion paper to synthesise the key learnings and conclusions of previous work, and identify emerging opportunities for increased urban water conservation and recycling in coastal NSW. The objective of the project is to create a Discussion Paper which explores the issues, opportunities and constraints for increased urban water conservation and recycling in coastal NSW. This will focus discussion on the steps various stakeholders can take to deliver or encourage water conservation outcomes and ensure a more sustainable water future in the urban context; and will be suitable for use in stakeholder dialogue on this significant and increasingly urgent question. The objective is to inform current discussions about urban water provision in the coastal communities of NSW and increase awareness of the options available to Government and communities up and down the coast. In order to capture the range of situations and the variety opportunities that exist, the discussion paper will specifically explore three regional case studies. This Directions Report describes progress on the project to date, and is submitted in week 3 of the project schedule. It contains an overview of the method being used to create the Discussion Paper, a draft analysis of the dimensions of the issue, a draft list of actors and influencers, and an outline of the regional focus to be taken. It also contains information about the communications objectives for the Discussion Paper and how these will be met, as well as a list of resources - key sources of information that will be used in this research. This Report also aims to inform a Workshop with the project team and NRAC staff and members planned for the 20th of July 2006. To this end various points for discussion are highlighted below

The Australian experience of World Wide Views on global warming: The first global deliberation process

World Wide Views on Global Warming was the first ever global-scale citizen deliberation process, held on 25-26 September 2009 and involving approximately 4,000 citizens in 38 countries. WWViews sought to provide citizens with a voice in the 2009 UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen (COP15) by engaging them in a deliberative process about global political positions on climate change. The process produced clear, comparable results across all participating countries that were given to COP15 negotiators. The Danish Government agencies, the Danish Board of Technology and the Danish Cultural Institute, initiated the global process. Organisers in each participating country ran events using the same standardised process. The University of Technology Sydney, the organisers of the Australian WWViews event, paid special attention to several elements of the process to maximise participation and impact within the local context. This paper outlines the standardised global process used for this deliberative event and describes and reflects upon the tailored approaches developed for Australia. It examines in detail the objectives, processes and outcomes of recruiting and supporting participants and recruiting, training and coordinating facilitators, communications and dissemination of results and specific features of the Australian event. It includes the organisers' reflections on success factors, challenges and surprises, as well as feedback from facilitators and participants. This paper concludes with a number of critical questions arising from the Australian experience of World Wide Views on Global Warming that are pertinent for practitioners designing other deliberative forums and particularly anyone concerned about future prospects for global deliberative democracy. Copyright © 2011 The Berkeley Electronic Press. All rights reserved

Working relationships for sustainability: Improving work-based relationships in local government to bring about sustainability goals

Theres no escape: we are always in relationship. Being aware of this matters. Doing something to build constructive relationships for sustainability, matters even more. This paper considers the connection between good relationships and effective sustainability work in local government. It draws on the collective experiences of four practitioners who have worked over many years in, with or for local government and argues that a good deal of project success is contingent upon the development of positive relationships with stakeholders, contractors, communities, businesses, colleagues, partners and other agencies and agency officers

Mariner Mars 1969 final project report. Volume 3: Scientific investigations

Postflight analysis of Mariner l and 7 scientific data - Vol.

Overcoming cross-scale challenges to climate change adaptation for local government: A focus on Australia

This paper aims to identify key cross-scale challenges to planned adaptation within the context of local government in Australia, and suggest enabling actions to overcome such challenges. Many of the impacts of climate change and variability have or will be experienced at the local level. Local governments are embedded in a larger governance context that has the potential to limit the effectiveness of planned adaptation initiatives on the ground. This study argues that research on constraints and barriers to adaptation must place greater attention to understanding the broader multi-governance system and cross-scale constraints that shape adaptation at the local government scale. The study identified seven key enabling actions for overcoming cross-scale challenges faced by local governments in Australia when undertaking climate change adaptation planning and implementation. A central conclusion of this study is that a cooperative and collaborative approach is needed where joint recognition of the scale of the issue and its inherent cross-scale complexities are realised. Many of the barriers or constraints to adaptation planning are interlinked, requiring a whole government approach to adaptation planning. The research suggests a stronger role at the state and national level is required for adaptation to be facilitated and supported at the local level. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht