Social perspectives on natural resources management have become an increasingly valuable part of natural resources management decision making, especially at the policy or governance level. However, due to the range of social contexts that can exist around management questions, not every technique for incorporating stakeholders into management is suited for every management problem. My research examines the social landscape around chronic wasting disease (CWD) management on the Canadian prairies in order to identify a way forward for stakeholder involvement in CWD management. CWD is a prion disease that results in neurodegeneration and death in cervids. CWD has the potential for broad social impact because it infects elk and deer, species which are both hunted and ranched. Furthermore, management and monitoring efforts in free-ranging cervids frequently incorporate hunting activity. Q methodology was used to survey stakeholders in Saskatchewan and Manitoba and synthesize perspectives about stakeholder understanding of CWD as a problem and preferences for potential solutions. The perspectives that emerged emphasized the importance of increasing knowledge about CWD and a generalized trust in government management, coupled with a desire for stakeholder consultation under the auspices of government leadership. I found that CWD management may not be ready for stakeholder spearheaded management activity due to ambivalence and uncertainty among stakeholders, but stakeholder involvement in CWD management can still offer valuable insight for managers. This is especially notable in light of the recent loss of Saskatchewan’s CWD monitoring program.

Adaptive Governance approaches are being implemented by officials in Swedish municipalities. A close dialogue and cooperation between municipalities, and the acceptance of the uncertainty and unpredictability of climate change are included in the strategic work, and facilitate the introduction of Adaptive Governance approaches. However, Adaptive Governance approaches are at the same time hindered by the municipal systems, which does not allow for the introduction of new and innovative information. In particular, this study demonstrates that the systems are not structured to include such information from informal sources, such as citizens and farmers. This comparative study investigates water quality management at the local level, applying the concept of Adaptive Governance in three Swedish municipalities: Kalmar, Västerås and Upplands Väsby.The analysis is based on the theoretical framework of Adaptive Governance that expands on the understanding of adaptive management. The 17 semi-structured interviews conclude that the facilitators for Adaptive Governance are most evident within the areas of collaboration and shared responsibility between municipalities. Barriers to the development of Adaptive Governance are identified as a failure in the systems to include ecological knowledge. Expanding Adaptive Governance research to a larger number of municipalities within the European Union would shed some more light on what facilitates and what hinders the inclusion of Adaptive Governance approaches at the local level. Such research would have a dual effect: as a contribution to science and as a promotion for the practical implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive according to the Adaptive Governance approaches of the European water quality management.

This paper examines the implementation of biodiversity in local policy in the cities of Melbourne and Stockholm. Using process tracing as methodology, the study examines the process from the time the process to develop a policy on climate adaptation is initiated, to the time it is adopted. The process is examined in order to determine if and how biodiversity is included in local climate adaptation policies. Particular attention is paid to citizen participation in local governance in the process examined in the light of the research and theories developed by Elinor Ostrom. The paper finds biodiversity to be included in the policy outlined in the policy document in Melbourne, and citizen participation in local governance may have been conducive to this result. In contrast, biodiversity is included but in a less pronounced manner in the climate adaptation policy in Stockholm, and there seems to be no citizen participation in the policy process examined. These results indicate that citizen participation in local governance could be a contributing factor to biodiversity being included in local climate adaptation policy. It is however not unequivocally determined that it is in fact a causal mechanism.

As society becomes increasingly digitalised, pressure is put on public organisations to keep up with technological developments. Thus, digital transformations, which is a strategic relocation of the business, have become essential for organisations. Digital transformations are associated with complexity and a high failure rate, partly due to organisational barriers and the necessity of structural changes and possessing several dynamic capabilities. Private organisations have led the way in the era of integrating technology with business, and public organisations have attempted to follow. As a result, governing inspired by private organisations have been developed for public organisations, namely new public management. However, this governing does not cover values essential for public organisations, e.g., public value, nor facilitating digital transformations. Governance that enables adaptation and responsiveness as well as creating public value is necessary, e.g., adaptive and agile governance. This thesis aims to investigate digital transformation in public organisations and the effect governing principles have on it. The study also explores the potential of adaptive governance and if digitalisation can enable municipalities to work with sustainability. To answer this, an exploratory study is conducted, which includes a case study, and a framework is constructed based on a literature review together with four in-depth interviews with scientists. The framework is then applied to the case study, consisting of 11 semi-structured interviews. The findings indicate that digital transformations of public organisations can be conducted without considering governing principles. However, governance can affect how successful the transformation is and what value creation it can bring. Using governance that does not facilitate the transformation could impact its success. Adaptive governance can solve many issues in municipal digital transformations, but may not solely be the solution. It emphasises learning and trial and-error and observes the transformation through an ecosystem perspective. However, the practical implications of it are limited as no methods exist. Thus, combinations with other governing principles may be required. Additionally, digitalisation cannot enable municipalities to achieve sustainability aims on its own. Instead, digital technologies are tools that the municipality can use to achieve sustainability. The study contributes to research by investigating the effect governing principles has on digital transformations of public organisations in a Swedish context, which previously was lacking. The framework can provide a guide and analysis tool for public organisation’s digital transformation, and shows potential to be applied in practice. / När samhället blir alltmer digitaliserat pressas offentliga organisationer att hålla jämna steg med den tekniska utvecklingen. Således har digitala transformationer, som är en strategisk förflyttning av verksamheten, blivit väsentligt för organisationer. Digitala transformationer är förknippade med komplexitet och hög andel misslyckanden, delvis på grund av nödvändiga strukturella förändringar och innehav av flertalet dynamiska kapaciteter, såväl som organisatoriska hinder. Privata organisationer har lett vägen i att integrera teknik med verksamheten och offentliga organisationer har försökt följa med. Detta har resulterat i att styrningen av offentliga organisationer inspirerats av näringslivet, nämligen new public management. Denna styrning täcker dock inte värden som är viktiga för offentliga organisationer, t.ex. offentligt värde, eller underlättar digitala transformationer. Styrning som möjliggör anpassning och lyhördhet samt skapar offentligt värde är nödvändigt, exempelvis adaptiv och agil styrning. Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka digitala transformationer i offentlig sektor och vilken effekt styrande principer har på det. Studien undersöker också potentialen för adaptiv styrning och om digitalisering kan göra det möjligt för kommuner att arbeta med hållbarhet. För att svara på detta genomförs en undersökande studie, som inkluderar en fallstudie, och ett ramverk skapas baserat på en litteraturgenomgång tillsammans med fyra djupintervjuer med forskare. Ramverket tillämpas sedan på fallstudien, bestående av elvasemistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultaten tyder på att digitala transformationer av offentliga organisationerkan genomföras utan att ta hänsyn till styrande principer, men styrningen kan påverka hur optimal transformationen är och vilket värdeskapande den kan ge. Att använda styrning som inte underlättar transformationen kan påverka hur framgångsrik den är. Adaptiv styrning har förmågan att lösa många problem som finns i kommunala digitala transformationer, men är inte enskilt lösningen. Den betonar lärande och experimenterande samt observerar transformationen ur ett ekosystemsperspektiv. De praktiska implikationerna av den är dock begränsade, då den inte innehar specifika metoder. Således kan kombinationer med andra styrande principer krävas. Därtill medför inte digitalisering att kommuner uppnår hållbarhetsmål på egen hand. Istället bör digital teknik ses som verktyg som kommuner kan använda för att uppnå hållbarhet. Studien bidrar till forskning genom att undersöka vilken effekt styrande principer har på digital transformation inom offentliga organisationer ur ett svenskt perspektiv, vilket saknas i tidigare forskning. Ramverket kan tillhandahålla ett guide- och analysverktyg för offentliga organisationers digitala transformation och visar potential att kunna användas i praktiken.

Worsening climate change impacts, particularly in coastal areas, are forcing urban planners and designers to find new approaches to govern cities. Traditional government approaches are failing to equip cities with effective strategies on how to implement sustainable interventions such as green and blue infrastructure. Adaptive governance has emerged as a way of dealing with the inherent uncertainty and unpredictability of complex social-ecological systems. It is neither top-down nor bottom-up but involves innovative ways of solving problems with emphasis on collaborative decision-making. This research focuses specifically on how collaboration is undertaken in adaptive governance processes by examining The Soul of Nørrebro case study—an integrated urban design and climate adaptation project for Hans Tavsens Park and Korsgade in Copenhagen, Denmark. Through desk study and interviews, the study identifies which stakeholders are involved in collaborative decision-making processes and how stakeholders envision, implement, and contest collaborative decision-making in The Soul of Nørrebro green and blue infrastructure project. This research found that participation from a wide range of local stakeholders and citizens is an integral part of redesigning public space, as it helps create cohesive, just, and ecologically productive environments. However, trade-offs that result in political decisions that are desirable to some and not to others cannot be avoided in the end. While certain setbacks were unavoidable, others that were encountered could have perhaps been prevented through increased transdisciplinary and representative collaboration.

Paris has been recurrently affected by floods in the recent years. Such events of heavy precipitations are expected to grow in intensity while being concentrated on shorter periods of time. Subsequently, the risk of floods will increase. The municipality must act accordingly and achieve resilience. Paris is part of the biosphere as an social-ecological system, human activities and the environment are complexely interrelated. The system must become resilient to surprise events to ensure its sustainability. Adaptive governance has been recognized in the field of flood risk management as the means to achieve such resilience. An adaptive governance presents five characteristics: a multilevel feature, public participation, tailor-made solutions, appropriate scale and learning capacity. This thesis aims to analyse how the municipality of Paris incorporates the adaptive approach in its flood risk governance. It also aims to identify the elements it lacks to develop a successful adaptive flood risk governance. Based on the analysis of interviews held with officials of several departments of the municipality and of a selection of official text-based documents several conclusions were drawn. When analysing the multilevel feature of the flood risk governance it appeared that institutional fragmentation was the result of a lack of leadership at the scale of Paris. Regarding public participation, I observed a lack of measures in the governance, both at the basin scale and at the municipality’s scale. However, the municipality does possess the tools to involve citizens in the decision-making process. Tailor-made solutions are duely recommended and implemented, however, multiple constraints hinder their implementation. The governance showed particular interest in the role of the appropriate scale to adress flood risk. The learning capacity is clearly displayed in plans and honed by the municipality. It appears that the adaptive flood risk governance of Paris is in need of a leader that will coordinate the actors, make the strategies coherent and address the constraints to the implementation of tailor-made solutions.

No description available.

This thesis provides an analysis of the Georgia statewide regional water planning process; a system deemed to be operating in the adaptive management framework. The principal focus of this analysis is to detail a novel paradigm capable of dynamic response to changing resource demands which stems from adaptive management principles and ensures representativeness. The paradigm extends directly from application of the theories of bounded rationality and adaptive management. Development of the framework is accomplished through application of theory and correlated empirical analysis. Extreme drought conditions signal a punctuated-equilibrium effecting statewide water resource management which in turn drives the issuance of an executive-level directive to prioritize and effectively manage critical state water resources. This study evolves directly from analysis of the current effort to establish unified regional water plans which address rapid population growth, and escalating water resource conflicts with Alabama and Florida while satisfying priorities established within the executive directive. Fundamental to this analysis is the survey of currently seated regional water planning council members. The essential function of the survey is to provide a qualitative assessment of the perceptions of appointed council members. These perceptions influence water management techniques prescribed by the final policy. While this is a fuzzy correlation, a primary function of this analysis is to quantify the strength of correlation between perceptions and developed policy. This survey details appointed council member attitudes and attributes and affords analysis of future decision making outcomes. The method prescribed herein unifies multi-level decision making processes under a dynamic adaptive management paradigm, and is intended to link the regional water planning processes with continuous annual assessment in order to achieve the pluralistic benefits of adaptive management decision making.