Bøger af Toddi A. Steelman

Analyzes a series of cases to understand how collaborative processes work and whether government can be an equal partner even as government agencies often formally control decision making and are held accountable for the outcomes, looking at examples where government has led, encouraged, or followed in collaboration.

Drawing on five detailed case studies from the American West, the authors explore and clarify how to expedite a transition toward adaptive governance and break the gridlock in natural resource policymaking. Unlike scientific management, which relies on science as the foundation for policies made through a central bureaucratic authority, adaptive governance integrates various types of knowledge and organizations. Adaptive governance relies on open decision-making processes recognizing multiple interests, community-based initiatives, and an integrative science in addition to traditional science. Case studies discussed include a program to protect endangered fish in the Colorado River with the active participation of water developers and environmentalists; a district ranger's innovative plan to manage national forestland in northern New Mexico; and how community-based forestry groups are affecting legislative change in Washington, D.C.

Over the years governments at the local, state, and federal levels have undertaken a wide range of bold innovations to try to address their environmental and natural resource management tasks. This title argues that the key to successful and long-lasting innovation must be a realistic understanding of the challenges that face it.