TY - JOUR
T1 - Locating communities in natural resource management
AU - Harrington, Christopher
AU - Curtis, Allan
AU - Black, Rosemary
N1 - Imported on 12 Apr 2017 - DigiTool details were: Journal title (773t) = Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning. ISSNs: 1522-7200;
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - In recent decades, natural resource management (NRM) has embraced community participation and engagement. Despite considerable literature addressing community participation, the tasks of negotiating and integrating diverse community interests, values, goals and boundaries remains a challenge for practitioners. Our view is that NRM discourse is hamstrung by a multitude of overlapping terms and excessive focus on place-based communities. In this paper, we critically review existing strands of community theory and draw on stakeholder analysis and actor-network theory to identify a more effective approach to decisions about who should be involved and how they might participate. We then offer a typology as a conceptual tool for understanding, organizing, mapping and analyzing communities. Examples from NRM in Australia's Murray-Darling Basin are provided to illustrate the potentially multi-scalar nature of communities and their significance in addressing environmental change. As part of our discussion, we highlight the need for further research into the inter-relationships of power and environmental agency. These inter-relationships can assist in uncovering how differing actors hold variable capacity to exercise power, authority and influence while attempting to implement environmental change within a network of interactions.
AB - In recent decades, natural resource management (NRM) has embraced community participation and engagement. Despite considerable literature addressing community participation, the tasks of negotiating and integrating diverse community interests, values, goals and boundaries remains a challenge for practitioners. Our view is that NRM discourse is hamstrung by a multitude of overlapping terms and excessive focus on place-based communities. In this paper, we critically review existing strands of community theory and draw on stakeholder analysis and actor-network theory to identify a more effective approach to decisions about who should be involved and how they might participate. We then offer a typology as a conceptual tool for understanding, organizing, mapping and analyzing communities. Examples from NRM in Australia's Murray-Darling Basin are provided to illustrate the potentially multi-scalar nature of communities and their significance in addressing environmental change. As part of our discussion, we highlight the need for further research into the inter-relationships of power and environmental agency. These inter-relationships can assist in uncovering how differing actors hold variable capacity to exercise power, authority and influence while attempting to implement environmental change within a network of interactions.
KW - Communities of interest
KW - Conservation
KW - Democracy
KW - Governance
KW - Public participation
KW - Sustainability
U2 - 10.1080/15239080801928469
DO - 10.1080/15239080801928469
M3 - Article
VL - 10
SP - 199
EP - 215
JO - Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning
JF - Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning
SN - 1522-7200
IS - 2
ER -