Social capital and collaborative environmental governance : the case of the Cape West Coast Biosphere

To cope with the increasing complexities of environmental challenges, innovative models of governance that are capable of greater flexibility, speed and adaptability have emerged. Following international trends, new collaborative partnerships varying greatly in form and purpose have developed over the last 15 years. The Western Cape Province, world renowned for the Cape Floristic Region and one of the world’s 25 most threatened biodiversity hotspots, has also experienced a proliferation of ‘collaboratives’. In an effort to contribute to the knowledge and understanding of building social capital and institutional capacity in these types of governance settings, this article focuses on the evolution of one of the more successful of these new forms – the Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve – from an organisational learning perspective before reflecting on the question of whether the concepts of social capital and organisational learning are useful to explain its apparent success. Although the findings are inconclusive, a sufficient number of pointers have emerged from the exploration of the case study to warrant further research on the role of social learning and social capital as explanations of why particular collaboratives seem to be more successful in achieving desirable outcomes than others

Operationalising performance management in local government: The use of the balanced scorecard

Orientation: Local government forms that part of the public sector closest to citizens and therefore indispensable in its role of providing essential goods and services and developing the local area. Local government has the authority and functions necessary to provide services for the maintenance and promotion of the well-being of all people within their area and should provide access to basic services such as water, electricity and health care. Research purpose: This study examines performance management as a tool in local government effective provision service delivery. The critical question addressed in this paper was how the balanced scorecard (BSC) can be used to improve performance in the context of local government and assist in eradicating the current challenges of lack of quality services, poverty and infrastructure development. Motivation for the study: The need for continuous improvement in service delivery at local government compounded by high levels of service delivery protest requires regular review of performance management system. Research approach: To understand the current context and challenges facing local government, the applicable legislative framework including the Constitution, white paper and the National Development Plans were perused to better understand the legal environment in which local government operates. A literature review was undertaken to evaluate theory on organisational effectiveness. Semi-structured interviews were used to solicit expert opinions. Main findings/managerial implications: The BSC approach emerged as the preferred tool because the method offered the authors the opportunity to review non-financial and financial factors to arrive at a balanced conclusion. A BSC tool was developed and applied to the Joe Gqabi District Municipality as a case study. Practical implications: The BSC as a performance management tool enables organisations to clarify their vision and strategy and translate them into goal or actions. Contribution/value-add: The research findings conclude that there was acknowledgement of the importance of performance measurement instruments in the municipality, yet the municipality still experienced challenges caused by the performance review process not being transparent and not communicated to all stakeholders

A Comparative Analysis of Collaborative Natural Resource Governance in Two Protected Areas in Zambia

In Zambia, early models of natural resource governance were based on state-centric approaches to conservation and later, to some degree, based on Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) models. Both of the models delivered poorly in terms of improved biodiversity management, enhanced rural livelihoods, and rights-based benefits. A lack of productive dialogue, involvement, and participation of local communities in natural resource governance resulted in considerable conflicts between protected area managers and local communities, with substantial local political and socio-economic costs. Through a mixed-methods approach using a questionnaire, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews, the Environmental Governance Systems (EGS) framework was applied to compare how interactions among political, economic, and civil society actors influence resource use and the state of resources in the state-led Kaingu chiefdom and the community-managed Kaindu Community Conservancy. Results show limited communication, cooperation, and coordination among the actors in both cases. Conflicting interests over the use of land, wildlife, forests, and fisheries among actors have led to strained relationships, limited interactions, and many negative outcomes in both cases. Both protected areas exhibit a top-down structure of natural resources governance with limited community participation, conflictual relationships among actors, corruption, lack of transparency, and low accountability. The CBNRM structures and processes need to be changed legislatively to improve local ownership and a sense of responsibility and legitimacy by restructuring the constitutions of CBNRM organizations and developing their human resource, financial, and logistical capacities. The study proposes a proactive transformative model for mitigating negative impacts on the state of resources and resource use

Community Engagement newsletter, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Winter, August 2015

Launch of the Gauteng IDC Nguni Cattle Development Trust / Sipho Mosegedi -- Hearts of hope in Hluvukani / Tarryn Ferguson, Carlien Muller, Selma Schmidt and Rebecca Erdelen -- The 2015 Faculty Open Day / Lesego Teffu -- Visit to Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital / Prof George E Otiang’a-Owiti -- Community talks / Kobus Rabe, Rhynardt de Ridder, Ilse Jenkinson & Maike Ottermann.News articles with colour photos about the various community engagement projects of the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria.ab201

A new era for science-industry research collaboration – a view towards the future

Direct engagement of the fishing industry in the provision and co-creation of knowledge and data for research and management is increasingly prevalent. In both the North Atlantic and North Pacific, enhanced and targeted engagement is evident. More is needed. Science-Industry collaborative approaches to developing questions, collecting data, interpreting data, and sharing knowledge create opportunities for information transfer and improved understanding of ecosystem interactions, stock dynamics, economic incentives, and response to management. These collaborations require clear communication and awareness of objectives and outcomes. These initiatives also require careful attention to conditions and interactions that foster respect, trust, and communication. Respect is critical and entails acknowledging the respective skills and expertise of both scientists and fishers. Trust is needed to build confidence in the information developed and its use. Communication is essential to maintain relationships and leverage shared insights. To assess current trends and future opportunities related to this type of engagement, we convened a networking session of research scientists, industry scientists, industry leaders, and fishers at the Annual Science Meeting of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) to address the following questions: (1) What are scientific needs that could be addressed with industry-collected data or knowledge? And (2) How can science-industry collaboration be made sustainable? Here we identify opportunities and acknowledge challenges, outline necessary conditions for respectful and sustainable collaborative research, and highlight ways to promote stakeholder involvement in developing science. We address industry concerns and solicit industry advice. We also address challenges to scientists in ensuring standards for scientific data, conflict of interest, and applying information to advise management. The discussions in this session and subsequent correspondence have led to a set of guidelines and best practices that provide a framework to advance further collaboration between industry and research science. We identify opportunities for directed engagement. We also detail potential approaches to clarify expectations and develop avenues for iterative communication and engagement to sustain collaborative efforts over time. The intent is to improve and expand data streams and contextual understanding of ecosystem processes, stock assessment, and socio-economic dynamics to the benefits of science and industry alike

Creating public value through collaborative environmental governance

That collaborative management has become the central reality of public problem solving is nowhere better illustrated than in the field of environmental governance. Institutional innovations like collaborative environmental management or co-management have flourished and have the leading paradigm for addressing complex environmental issues throughout the world. South Africa has followed international trends with new collaboratives emerging at regional or local level over the last decade. These innovations are necessitated by the need for governments to find alternative ways to add to public value and adopt new roles to cope with ‘the limits to governance’ which threaten to overwhelm public action. It is in this context that the trend towards decentralised units that are selfregulated and diverse, which can act locally and are freed from many of the standardising constraints characteristic of hierarchical government, must be viewed and in which public leaders act as brokers leveraging resources held by third parties instead of controlling in-house resources. It is generally accepted that co-management entails a process and ultimately consensus building among all stakeholders as partners to develop relationships and knowledge which will enable them to generate sustainable solutions to new challenges. This article reflects on the question of whether the involvement of new actors in public decision-making improves the outcomes by creating shared responsibility, improving transparency, better targeting collaborative resource management to community needs and ultimately adding to the creation of public value. The challenges of public leadership in these processes will be highlighted as one of the critical key success factors in achieving these desired outcomes.Publishers' Versio

Beyond the limits : organisational innovation in collaborative environmental governance - the South African experience

Inaugural lecture delivered on 3 November 2008, Prof JJ Müller, School of Public Management and Planning, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Stellenbosch University.The fragmented, incoherent and complex nature of modern society necessitated governments to find alternative ways and adopt new roles to cope with ‘the limits to governance’ which threaten to overwhelm public action. It is in this context that the trend towards decentralised units that are self-regulated and diverse, which can act locally and freed from much of the standardising constraints characteristic of hierarchical government, must be viewed and where managers act as brokers leveraging resources held by third parties in stead of controlling in-house resources. In the environmental field organisational innovation flourished and collaborative environmental management has become the leading paradigm for addressing complex environmental issues throughout the world. South Africa has followed international trends with new collaboratives emerging at regional or local level over the last decade. Based on differences in process and form, five examples have been selected to illustrate some of the South African experiences in organisational innovation and experimentation with new governance forms. The growing interest in collaboration has led to the development of assessment tools that could be applied to study the evolving models. An overview is given of what has been learned so far as well as the prospects and challenges for the future. These evolving models offer an exciting window of opportunity for social and organisational learning and can make an important contribution to innovation in management in South Africa

Assessing cooperative environmental governance systems : the cases of the Kogelberg Biosphere reserve and the Olifants-Doorn catchment Management Agency

The original version is available from http://www.unisa.ac.za/default.asp?Cmd=ViewContent&ContentID=1625Against a background of institutional fragmentation and lack of coordination among the respective role players, the notion of co-management of natural resources has emerged in many countries around the world as the most promising institutional prospect for resolving resource conflicts and building partnerships in conservation and management between local actors and government authorities. In South Africa, like elsewhere, the fragmentation and lack of coordination among the various executing agencies represent a significant hurdle and a barrier to successfully integrated environmental governance. Following international trends, and supported by the constitutional vision of cooperative governance and the transformation agenda of the government – which created an openness to new and alternative service-delivery mechanisms – innovative new networked regional and community-based natural resource governance systems emerged in the late 1990s. These new forms of cooperative management of natural resources, and in particular the role of networks and partnerships, have led to a new and growing general interest in evaluating cooperative environmental governance systems. Following a broadly institutionalist approach, which is useful for studying situations of governance where policy formulation and implementation involve a wide range of actors, a diagnostic tool was developed to facilitate opportunities for organisational and social learning. The perceived usefulness of having such a tool was put to the test by applying it to two case studies in the Western Cape, namely the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve and the Olifants-Doorn Catchment Management Agency. In this article the characteristics of two evolving environmental governance systems are mapped, using the framework to assess and refine its usefulness in contributing to our knowledge and understanding of building social capital and institutional capacity in decentralised and networked governance settings.Publishers' versio

Think globally, act locally : policy implications of the climate change regime

Climate change with its potential to disrupt all facets of life on earth is arguably the greatest environmental threat that humankind has faced to date. The debates on the best methods and means of dealing with the threat are occupying the agendas of diverse actors in the international, national and local arenas. In an effort to address the effects of climate change, governments and policy-makers attempt to translate the results of this vibrant debate into meaningful policy at home. This article attempts to describe this journey from debate through policy into action, taking the complexities of policy environment into account. At the outset the largely divided international climate change regime endorses the contradictory stance of energy-intensive developing nations such as South Africa and inhibits the fostering of a meaningful climate change policy environment at a national level. The policy context with regard to climate change in South Africa is analysed and the salient causes of the troubled policy environment, aside from those commonly associated with developing nations, are identified as largely administrative. Finally, the policy environment in South Africa is examined at local level and, while local governments enjoy more autonomy under the new dispensation, the administrative fragmentation experienced at a national level permeates down to the local sphere, with the EThekwini Municipality serving as a case in point.Publishers' Versio

Multi-stakeholder processes towards establishing water management agencies in South Africa

The multi-stakeholder approach reflects some of the most frequently and fervently debated issues in discussions on governance, democracy, equity and justice in recent years. The term multi-stakeholder is used to include all role-players, government institutions, stakeholders, clients, non-governmental organisations and community based organisations. It is generally accepted that sustainable development requires a process and ultimately consensus-building among all stakeholders as partners to build relationships and knowledge that will enable them to develop sustainable solutions to new challenges. It is against this background that the processes leading up to the establishment of new decentralised regional water management institutions in South Africa is described and analysed. The process in the Olifants-Doorn Water Management Area to draft the required proposal for the establishment of a catchment management agency is used as a case study (hereafter referred to as the Olifants-Doorn process). The authors argue that the Olifants-Doorn process up to the formal establishment of the Olifants-Doorn Catchment Management Agency (CMA) is a considerable success story evaluated against the principles of good governance. This is evaluated especially in terms of improving stakeholder equality through capacity building, Administratio Publica | Vol 17 No 1 January 2009 113 INTRODUCTION It is generally accepted that sustainable development requires a process and ultimately consensus-building among all stakeholders inclusive of all roleplayers, government institutions, stakeholders, clients, non-governmental organisations and community based organisations as partners who together define the problems, design possible solutions, collaborate to implement them, obtain specific products, and monitor and evaluate the outcome. Through such activities stakeholders can build relationships and knowledge that will enable them to develop sustainable solutions to new challenges (Hemmati 2002:40). In fact, the multi-stakeholder approach reflects some of the most frequently and fervently debated issues in discussions on governance, democracy, equity and justice in recent years. The aim of the research was to analyse the multi-stakeholder processes leading up to the emergence of new decentralised environmental governance systems for water resources management in South Africa utilising a ‘good governance’ perspective. For this purpose ‘public governance’ is defined as the way in which stakeholders interact with each other in order to influence the outcome of policies and ‘good governance’ as the implementation by multiple stakeholders of quality of life improvements through agreed principles and processes of working together (Governance International 2006). In this article the focus firstly fall on the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of the emergence of new collaborative models for environmental governance through multi-stakeholder processes; secondly, the scene is set for discussing the particular case study of the Olifants-Doorn process which forms the focus of this article by contextualising the historical background, policy framework and institutional landscape for water resource management in South Africa; thirdly, the multi-stakeholder process leading towards the establishment of the Olifants-Doorn Catchment Management Agency will be described; and achieving representation, the exchange of information, time, human and financial resources committed to the process, and building consensus, while allowing the process to progress at its own pace. Although the enabling constitutional and sectoral policy frameworks facilitate good governance practices and behaviour, the key success factor was largely the professional commitment of the public administration technocrats who are responsible for activating, orchestrating and modulating the process.Publishers' Versio