JOHN TURNPENNY. School of Environmental Sciences

Transcription

1 JOHN TURNPENNY School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia What are we assessing? Differing interpretations of sustainable development and implications for its assessment

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3 Summary What is sustainable development? Why is it contested and how? What are the consequences of this contestation?

4 Sustainable development a contested concept How sustainable development challenges What should be sustained? The hope of Brundtland Principles rather than prescription

5 Wickedness

6 Wickedness Criteria Conflicting problem definitions Problem hard to define Uncertainties about systems and goals What should we be doing? Uncertainties about consequences of (in)action Complex interdependencies Example - Climate change Framed, variously, as a problem of market failure, over-consumption, energy system engineering, resilience, justice, moral failure. Human contribution to changing climates is generally accepted by ypolicy makers and public, but focus on future energy supplies? Adapt? Protect current settlements at all costs? Uncertain effectiveness of mitigating climate change through demand and supply ppy( (eg. biofuels or nuclear power); although the impacts are more debated - uncertain when and where exactly to focus adaptation measures

7 Politics

8 The core meaning of politics Politics i is what governments do (polis Greek for city state): Easton s authoritative allocation of values Politics is the broader social process of decision making: Laswell s Who Gets What, When and How? Allevents and processes and practices which occur in the social sphere have the potential to be political and, hence, should be amenabletopolitical analysis (Hay 2003: 3).

9 Implications for sustainable development Focus is more about how different sub principles i interact and about how the concept is interpreted and debated than about pinning i down a dfiiti definition [Adger & Jordan 2009] What about appraisal/evaluation for SD?

10 Policy appraisal a basic definition A process of multi disciplinary inquiry designed tocreate create, critically assess, and communicate information that is useful in understanding and improving policies (Dunn 2004: 2).

11 Role of appraisal in encouraging SD Cuts across departments and sectors Formal requirement to consider spillovers Considers economic, environmental & social aspects in every decision (Russel & Turnpenny 2009)

12 BUT appraisal is also politicised! Politics is what governments do Appraisal occurs within government; it creates a statement Politicsframes it shapes and triggers appraisals Some are expressly commissioned to support a particular policy Their findings become part of the policy process They have sponsors and supporters; they are produced by actors with opposing imperatives (Palumbo 1987:19) 19) Politics as the broader social process of decision making They involve value judgements which are essentially political positions on an issue Non state actors are often involved (brought in?) Knowledge is power appraisal has accountability and lesson drawing implications that highlight winners and losers They operate within broader policy frames and paradigms which indicate what is important and what needs doing;

13 Boundary Organisations

14 What is a boundary organisation? Multi accountable intermediary? Defines a space for multi way engagement? Creates boundary objects? [Guston, 1999; 2001; Cash et al, 2003; Lorenzoni et al, 2007; McNie, 2007]

15 How might htbos be useful?

16 Further reading Turnpenny, J.; Lorenzoni, I.; Jones, M. (2009) Noisy and definitely not normal: Responding to wickedissues issues in the environment, energy and health. Environmental Science and Policy 12, pp Turnpenny, J; J.; Radaelli, C; C.; Jordan, A; A.; Jacob, K. (2009) The policy and politics of policy appraisal: Emerging trends and new directions. Journal of European Public Policy 16(4), pp Russel, D.J.; Turnpenny, J.R. (2009) The Politics of Sustainable Development in UK Government: What Role for Integrated Policy Appraisal? Environment & Planning C 27, pp Turnpenny, J.; Nilsson, M.; Russel, D.; Jordan, A. Hertin, J., Nykvist, B. (2008) Why isintegrating integrating policy assessment so hard? A comparative analysis of the institutional capacities and constraints. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 51 (6), pp

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18 Key questions in designing BOs What mechanisms form its basis? Created and operated how and by whom? How far does the BO shape outcomes? What counts as success? Who is on what side?