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- Baker, Susan, 1954-, et al.
(författare)
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A policy analysis perspective on ecological restoration
- 2013
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Ingår i: Ecology and Society. - 1708-3087. ; 18:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Using a simple stages model of the policy process, we explore the politics of ecological restoration using an array of examples drawn across sector, different size and scale, and from different countries. A policy analysis perspective reveals how, at both the program and project levels, ecological restoration operates within a complex and dynamic interplay between technical decision making, ideologies, and interest politics. Viewed through the stages model, restoration policy involves negotiating nature across stages in the policy making process, including agenda setting, policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation. The stages model is a useful heuristic devise; however, this linear model assumes that policy makers approach the issue rationally. In practice, ecological restoration policy takes place in the context of different distributions of power between the various public and private actors involved at the different stages of restoration policy making. This allows us to reiterate the point that ecological restoration is best seen not only as a technical task but as a social and political project.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Baker, Susan, 1954-, et al.
(författare)
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Ecological restoration success : a policy analysis understanding
- 2016
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Ingår i: Restoration Ecology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1061-2971 .- 1526-100X. ; 24:3, s. 284-290
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article discusses how ecological restoration success can be understood and evaluated using a policy analysis lens. First, this article details a conceptual tool that helps to develop a more encompassing set of criteria to assess restoration activities that provide socioeconomic benefits. Second, by broadening the understanding of restoration success and how it can be evaluated, it allows a more critical view of evaluation itself and its uses as a policy tool. A table is presented that can help practitioners reveal preferences and clarify the aims and objectives of particular initiatives. The table also sensitizes practitioners to the complexity of the links between restoration rationales and evaluation criteria, which in turn may open up much needed discussion and dialogue between restoration participants about the underlying values an actor may wish to promote. It heightens awareness of the fact that evaluation methods need to recognize that restoration is driven by multiple rationales often in the same project, both process driven and output oriented, which in turn can change over time. Adding process and output criteria together may also raise issues of priority. Evaluation criteria thus need to be assigned in ways that reflect these multiplicities, while at the same time recognizing that some restoration values might be conflictual and that there may be winners and losers. Furthermore, judgement about "failure" of a project can change as new goals emerge in delivery and implementation. Ecological restoration evaluation should therefore be ongoing, contextual, and not a one-off event.
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| 4. |
- Baker, Susan, et al.
(författare)
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Governance for sustainable development in Sweden : the experience of the local investment programme
- 2007
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Ingår i: Local Environment. - : Routledge. - 1354-9839 .- 1469-6711. ; 12:4, s. 325-342
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article examines the role of central government in enhancing local capacity for promoting sustainable development. Building upon a series of evaluation studies, it examines a major central government funding initiative in Sweden, called the Local Investment Programme for Ecological Sustainability (LIP). The Programme formed part of a new governance approach towards the promotion of sustainable development. It was designed to promote both ecological sustainable development and create new 'green jobs', while at the same time stimulating innovative ways of thinking among local actors about the relationship between economy, ecology and society. Substantial material environmental effects were achieved and 'green jobs' created by LIP. However, allocation was skewed towards environmental leader municipalities and LIP was never fully integrated into other sustainable development initiatives. Further, few public/private partnerships were developed. Hence, despite the magnitude of the Programme, we question whether it produced lasting capacity-building effects at the local level.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Baker, Susan, 1954-, et al.
(författare)
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Political science and ecological restoration
- 2014
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Ingår i: Environmental Politics. - London : Taylor & Francis Group. - 0964-4016 .- 1743-8934. ; 23:3, s. 509-524
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ecological restoration has taken on a new significance in the face of climate change and biodiversity loss. Despite its growing policy salience, however, the social and political sciences have paid limited attention to the study of ecological restoration policy and practice. By drawing upon the political science study of multilevel governance, institutions, power elations, and place-based politics, a flavour is given of what a political science engagement might contribute to the rich tapestry of analysis that has already been produced by other disciplines on ecological restoration. As the use of restoration grows, it is increasingly likely that it will give rise to social dispute and be brought into conflict with a variety of environmental, cultural, economic, and community interests. Restoration policy and projects encounter professional and institutional norms as well as place-specific interests and values. There is urgent need to investigate how and in what ways some interests become winners and others losers in these activities, and how this in turn can influence ecological restoration outcomes. A political science lens could help build new criteria for evaluating the success of ecological restoration, ones that combine both process- and product-driven considerations.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Baker, Susan, 1954-, et al.
(författare)
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The Role of the State in the Governance of Sustainable Development : subnational practices in European states
- 2014
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Ingår i: State and Environment. - Cambridge MA /London : MIT Press. - 9780262525817 - 9780262027120 ; , s. 179-202
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter investigates the role of the state in the governance of sustainable development at the sub-national, regional and local levels in Europe, including 1) the scope of state involvement, 2) the function of the state in sustainable development policy making. The state is shown to be a key player in initiating and co-ordinating the sustainable development planning processes in the four key themes across European states: (1) multi-level governance; (2) networks and public / private partnerships; (3) participation and (4) the use of marked based instruments.The main function of the state in the analyzed policy areas is, on the one hand to act as coordinator between different interests, and on the other to act as stimulator for initiating new policy initiatives. The state both initiates and co-ordinates policy networks and retains a great deal of power over the nature and functioning of network forms of governance. Evidence also points out how the use of new environmental policy tools can strengthen the hand of the state by supporting hierarchical governance. Thus, far from being a simple one, the relationship between market and network governance and the state has been shown to be complex and dense.
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| 9. |
- Jørgensen, Dolly, et al.
(författare)
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Policy Language in Restoration Ecology
- 2014
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Ingår i: Restoration Ecology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1061-2971 .- 1526-100X. ; 22:1, s. 1-4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Relating restoration ecology to policy is one of the aims of the Society for Ecological Restoration and its journal Restoration Ecology. As an interdisciplinary team of researchers in both ecological science and political science, we have struggled with how policy-relevant language is and could be deployed in restoration ecology. Using language in scientific publications that resonates with overarching policy questions may facilitate linkages between researcher investigations and decision-makers' concerns on all levels. Climate change is the most important environmental problem of our time and to provide policymakers with new relevant knowledge on this problem is of outmost importance. To determine whether or not policy-specific language was being included in restoration ecology science, we surveyed the field of restoration ecology from 2008 to 2010, identifying 1,029 articles, which we further examined for the inclusion of climate change as a key element of the research. We found that of the 58 articles with climate change or global warming in the abstract, only 3 identified specific policies relevant to the research results. We believe that restoration ecologists are failing to include themselves in policy formation and implementation of issues such as climate change within journals focused on restoration ecology. We suggest that more explicit reference to policies and terminology recognizable to policymakers might enhance the impact of restoration ecology on decision-making processes.
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| 10. |
- Mancheva, Irina, 1982-
(författare)
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Forest water governance : challenges in cross-sectoral and multi-level collaboration
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Forests and water are highly interconnected with forestry practices negatively affecting forest water. In the last five decades, the Swedish state has enacted multiple policy changes and allocated significant resources towards the implementation of soft policy instruments to alleviate the effects on forest water. The European Union Water Framework Directive has further raised the legal requirements for water protection, including within the forest sector. However, these efforts have largely failed thus far. Forests and water are governed by two separate sectors, each with its own polycentric governance system and policy goals that are often conflicting. The governance mode of these systems is determined by a unique combination of policy instruments and a varying degree of centralisation depending on state involvement. Since governing forest water requires collaboration between the forest and water sector governance systems, it entails interplay between the two systems on different ecological scales. The aim of this thesis is to explore and explain the challenges related to the governance of a resource that requires cross-sectoral multi-level governance and to examine the role of the state in those interactions. The thesis includes a mix of quantitative (survey and aerial photographs) and qualitative (interviews, analysis of documents and meeting observations) research methods for investigating forest water governance across national, regional and local levels. Empirically, it involves four case studies analysing units embedded in the larger case – namely cross-sectoral governance of forest water.The results show that within the current structure of Swedish forest water governance there is minimal cross-sectoral collaboration, with an exception being at the national level. Regional and local implementation of the outputs produced at national level relies mainly on the forest sector, with little to no coordination with water sector institutions at the regional district or river basin levels. Moreover, power asymmetries between the two sectors are transposed to the collaborative process which affects participants’ capacity to influence the governance of forest water. Since the studied cases show that most of the financial resources for forest water protection are provided top-down, the role of the state in initiating and maintaining collaboration is crucial. The thesis confirms previous research findings that water governance requires a more centralised polycentric governance system. Combining polycentric governance (including at the river basin scale) with centralised state-coordination is a potential solution to problems that require cross-sectoral and multi-level governance interplay. Further inquiry into cross-sectoral governance of natural resources could develop a better understanding of how coordination in polycentric governance systems at different ecological scales could be structured to mitigate policy goal conflicts across sectors and institutional levels, thus fostering more effective governance.
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