Collaborative Management

This research, conducted by the author when a Senior Researcher at Newcastle University, UK, was funded by a UK governance organisation to help them assess, integrate and improve their understanding of the governed population.

ABSTRACT: Governance organisations have been urged to develop more holistic evidence-based approaches with partners to better deal with issues affecting the governed population. This presupposes an understanding of the population, yet there has been little research work addressing how governance organisations come to understand their governed population, nor how this understanding can be improved upon within such organisations.

This case study examined in-depth how understanding of a governed population was developed within one UK local governance organisation and it explored how such understanding might be developed and improved through more holistic and evidence-based organisational learning within the organisation and its governance partnerships.

The research methodology involved placement within the governance organisation, participant observations on several projects and innovative initiatives, observations within, across, and outside the organisation, and also interviews with varied key stakeholders.

The study examined:

- stakeholder engagement and networks
- current and varied understandings of the population
- mechanisms actually used for developing understandings
- the influence of context on organisational learning

and analysed these to arrive at a recommendations to improve organisational understanding of the governed population.

In the case studied, significant strengths were found: including innovative past learning trials for development, extensive ongoing networking activities, and many varied and accumulating quantitative datasets available across partnerships.

However, entrenched organisational approaches and practices constrained the development of holistic evidence-based understanding, for instance: the absence of systematic maintained collective learning processes; weak recording and forgetting of understandings; methodological exclusion of stakeholders from the development of understanding; the relative neglect of qualitative data, explanations, investigations, interpretations, and reflexivity; and also implicit organisational acceptance of such limitations and low aspirations.

Nonetheless, untapped opportunities existed to enable change including: latent practitioner knowledge and innovative management champions, the desire for improvement and raised aspirations within learning networks, and the development potential of alterative learning approaches.

It was concluded that more holistic evidence-based understanding was possible, but required new learning approaches beyond those then in use in both local government or academia.   

Recommendations are made to utilise and develop improved organisational learning approaches trialed and reported in the case study.

It is argued that the case study findings, conclusions, and recommendations may be applicable to other similar local governance organisations and partnerships that seek to better understand local populations, services and interventions.

The work was also submitted for, and awarded, an MPhil (at Newcastle University, supervised by Prof. Patsy Healy)

In the United States, treatment as a state (TAS) provisions enable eligible Native American tribes to assume the same responsibilities as state governments in setting and implementing water quality standards (WQSs). Following the introduction of TAS through 1987 amendments to the US Clean Water Act (CWA), forty-four US tribes have enacted TAS tribal standards, which may be more stringent than those of neighboring states; can incorporate cultural and/or ceremonial uses; and can be used to influence pollution levels coming from upstream, off-reservation users. To evaluate TAS as a model for Indigenous water co-governance, we examine how Native American tribes are advancing tribal sovereignty and environmental sustainability through TAS, and we engage with conflicting views on whether and how Indigenous self-determination can be advanced through existing bureaucratic and colonial governance systems. We specifically analyze environmental pollutant listings in tribal water quality standards for the forty-four TAS tribes. Findings suggest that TAS tribes are creating more culturally relevant WQSs, which are typically as comprehensive as, and often more stringent than, analogous state regulations. Tribal standards are diverse, and TAS tribes can set standards independently from neighboring states and one another. Further analysis reveals the complexities of TAS policy, whereby colonial entanglements both enable and constrain enhanced Indigenous self-determination.

The use of Last Planner System of Production Control designed to optimize work flow and enhance fast learning is increasing rapidly motivated by its perceived benefits. The purpose of this paper is to study the Last Planner System of construction project scheduling through literature published in various journals. This methodology used was to consider the literature Study from different locations of the world. It includes systematic literature search for motivations, benefits and challenges for choosing LPS as management tool. This paper explains the theory behind LPS and explanation of best possible procedure to implement the methodology through literature study. The factors influencing the implementation effectiveness of LPS are discussed based on arguments and findings of various authors in their studies.

The overwhelming majority of government-designated protected areas in Asia have been thwarted with constraints to become effectively and equitably managed, and integrated into the broader landscapes. Significant constraints have included legal, governance, institutional, management capacities and financial aspects. In sharp contrast, the Philippines has over three decades of experience tackling the institutional mechanics of collaborative management. This paper analyzes the management arrangements of Mount Kitanglad Range Natural Park (MKRNP), one of the country's best collaboratively managed protected areas. The analysis reveals a multi-level collaborative management system, involving two landscape collaborative management bodies, 13 protected area management working groups and the resurrection of local indigenous institutional bodies-the Council of Elders and the tribal guards. Some protected area working groups are effective whilst a few working groups have broad, and sometimes overlapping, mandates. Of high concern, both the landscape collaborative management bodies have low representation of these working groups and the indigenous communities themselves. Protected area staffing levels and resources are inadequate for providing technical support to effective multi-level collaborative management. Overall, MKRNP represents an interesting example of multi-level collaborative management for protected areas and adjacent buffer zones – and generating positive attitudes and behavioral change. Recommendations are made regarding strengthening protected area management towards achieving Aichi Target 11.

The protected area system of Bangladesh in March 2017 comprised 17 national parks covering 45,740 hectares and 21 wildlife sanctuaries covering 394,053 hectares. The Government of Bangladesh introduced collaborative management in these reserves in three successive, expanding phases undertaken between 2003 up until the present time. During this period, the successive programmes introduced an elaborate collaborative management system. This paper evaluates this collaborative management system as well as the protected area management arrangements being promoted, comprising: (i) the Co-management Council, (ii) the Co-management Committee, (iii) the People's Forum, and (iv) sub-village institutional bodies including the Community Patrol Groups and the Forest User Groups (or the Village Conservation Forums). It assesses the management interventions and the effectiveness of the collaborative management system to implement an effective protected area programme. The review indicates that the current organisation and mandate of the protected area authorities precludes them from being effective partners in collaborative management, lacking dedicated staff in both the outreach and livelihood agendas, which severely undermines their participation in collaborative management. This paper recommends that the protected area authority needs to be strengthened and reorganised, in order to play a leading role in village engagement – and a key leading agency in the higher level collaborative management bodies.

The protected area system of Bangladesh in March 2017 comprised 17 national parks covering 45,740 hectares and 21 wildlife sanctuaries covering 394,053 hectares. The Government of Bangladesh introduced collaborative management in these reserves in three successive, expanding phases undertaken between 2003 up until the present time. During this period, the successive programmes introduced an elaborate collaborative management system. This paper evaluates this collaborative management system as well as the protected area management arrangements being promoted, comprising: (i) the Co-management Council, (ii) the Co-management Committee, (iii) the People's Forum, and (iv) sub-village institutional bodies including the Community Patrol Groups and the Forest User Groups (or the Village Conservation Forums). It assesses the management interventions and the effectiveness of the collaborative management system to implement an effective protected area programme. The review indicates that ...

Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) around the world are increasingly asserting ‘Indigenous agency’ to engage with government institutions and other partners to collaboratively steward ancestral Places. Case studies in Hawai‘i suggest that ‘community-driven collaborative management’ is a viable and robust pathway for IPLCs to lead in the design of a shared vision, achieve conservation targets, and engage government institutions and other organisations in caring for and governing biocultural resources and associated habitats. This paper articulates key forms of Indigenous agency embodied within Native Hawaiian culture, such as kua‘āina, hoa‘āina, and the interrelated values of aloha ‘āina, mālama ‘āina, and kia‘i ‘āina. We also examine how Hawai‘i might streamline the pathways to equitable and productive collaborative partnerships through: (1) a better understanding of laws protecting Indigenous rights and practices; (2) recognition of varied forms of Indigenous agency; ...

Multitasking is not a panacea and it can have adverse consequences. For organisational leaders multi-tasking can be a particular challenge that is compounded when they have to handle and balance the imperatives of short-term problems, some of which may require immediate responses, and longer-term issues such as climate change, protecting the environment and sustainability. Handling some tasks can require collaborative responses that take account of the actions of others. As tasks multiply and/or involve external parties their management and monitoring can become more demanding. A scheme of delegation and the extent of empowerment may need to be reviewed. In some cases, task routing and handling might have to be preceded by a change of policy.

Boards should take a holistic view of the portfolios of tasks being undertaken across the companies for which they are responsible, many of which may be interdependent while others are in conflict. They should look for patterns, trends, common drivers and/or underlying root causes. Individual tasks may be much less important than their collective implications for the continuing relevance and value of a corporate vision, strategy, objectives and priorities. A monthly board meeting alone may not provide the strategic direction and oversight a portfolio of climate change related tasks, projects and initiatives of differing timescales may require. Sometimes only when multi-tasking fails is a matter brought to a board and its consideration triggers a change of direction. Effective collective responses to climate change can build bridges across belief, governance and political systems but for this to occur we need boards that are positive, proactive, opportunity focused and collaborative.

Published in the September 2017 issue of Effective Executive (Vol. XX, No. 3, September, pp 14-30) a quarterly 'peer-reviewed' journal published by IUP Publications, a division of ICFAI. The citation is: Coulson-Thomas, Colin (2017), Organizational Leadership, Multitasking and Multiple Timescales, Effective Executive, Vol. XX No. 3, September, pp 14-30

Uma parte importante do que, hoje, se entende como gestão participativa, colaborativa ou co-gestão diz respeito ao manejo de recursos naturais e a parcerias com comunidades locais. Não obstante, há alguns conceitos, diretrizes, lições e outros aspectos que podem ser aproveitados –mesmo desses textos e alocuções não exatamente relacionados com o assunto que aqui nos interessa mais. Mas, diferente de processos participativos, ou reconhecimentos genéricos de direitos comunitários, neste caso se pretende um acordo claro entre, normalmente, um representante do estado, responsável pela área protegida em questão, e uma ou mais entidades co-gestoras. A participação e o envolvimento dos atores sociais interessados, inclusive as comunidades locais, consolidaram-se como necessários na gestão das unidades de conservação no Brasil a partir da década de 1990. Mesmo a prática da co-gestão não é tão recente, e existem vários casos, inclusive no Brasil. Ver, por exemplo, os casos dos parques nacionais Serra da Capivara, Jaú e Grande Sertão Veredas. Ou, ainda, muitos outros, onde a colaboração se dá de maneira mais informal, incluisive com comunidades locais, p. ex., parques estaduais Morro do Diabo, Campos do Jordão, Ilha do Cardoso, Intervales, Turístico do Alto Ribeira (PETAR), etc.

Dynamic ocean management, or management that uses near real-time data to guide the spatial distribution of commercial activities, is an emerging approach to balance ocean resource use and conservation. Employing a wide range of data types, dynamic ocean management can be used to meet multiple objectives—for example, managing target quota, bycatch reduction, and reducing interactions with species of conservation concern. Here, we present several prominent examples of dynamic ocean management that highlight the utility, achievements, challenges, and potential of this approach. Regulatory frameworks and incentive structures, stakeholder participation, and technological applications that align with user capabilities are identified as key ingredients to support successful implementation. By addressing the variability inherent in ocean systems, dynamic ocean management represents a new approach to tackle the pressing challenges of managing a fluid and complex environment.

Environmental conservation has developed significantly in China over the past 20 years, including more collaborative approaches and recent advances in establishing a national parks system. This study reviews the development of protected areas in the headwaters of the Yangtze River, drawing lessons from experiences of community development and co-management approaches. Community engagement and participation in developing localized plans for natural resource utilization and conservation have been critical features of successful ventures. Government programs and policies, the emergence of grassroots civil society, and the development of herders' cooperatives and protected areas, are all tracked, each pointing towards the significant value of inclusive biodiversity conservation approaches for meeting broadly agreed development agendas, such as achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Observations from the vast, high, arid, and semi-arid lands of the Tibetan Plateau are then considered in light of China's Belt and Road Initiative, which is bringing vast financial and technical resources to the world. Special attention is given to applying the lessons that have been learned in China to the mountains of Central Asia, globally recognized as a biodiversity hotspot and a water tower for large downstream populations. Keeping local people at the heart of conservation is deemed fundamentally important.

The purpose of this study is to describe the management process; to analyze the
role of each stakeholder as well as supporting and inhibiting factors of the
Participative and Inclusive Collaborative management of conservation areas in
Kayan Mentarang National Park North Kalimantan. The data were collected by deep
interviews to 20 informants and field observation. This study revealed that the
condition of collaborative management planning was carried out by hearing people's
aspirations. The aspirations of the people were not directly conveyed to the
Collaborative Management Advisory and Control Board (CMACB), as the forum was
formed to carry out this collaborative management. Rather, the aspirations of the
people, delivered by means of representatives. The Kayan Mentarang National Park
(KMNP) collaborative management were lack of good coordination, but there were
still many parties involved in the collaborative management of KMNP. Few of them
which low level of knowing how the development or activities of this collaborative
management. In this management there were several factors that may mendongkrak
the chances of success, such as the level of community enthusiasm towards this
collaborative management. There were stakeholders, both NGOs and the private
sector who were ready to assist in the management of the KMNP. In other side, there were also various obstacles that need to be solved. As well as funding sources to
support the implementation of collaborative management programs in this KMNP
conservation area. Furthermore, the lack of coordination between the stakeholders
involved and the inequality between stakeholders regarding resources and
composition in the CMACB collaborative structure of institutions, is also an obstacle
in this collaborative management.

Water governance is a key issue for modern governments and its transboundary nature makes it a challenge for traditional forms of governance. In Canada, every province has put in place some form of organization in charge of management and governance of water at a local level, respecting the watershed boundaries. In Manitoba, Conservation Districts (CDs) have been in place since 1972. Designed by their watershed boundaries, CDs engage local expertise and technical support, along with provincial support and oversight to deliver programs and initiatives that promote healthy watersheds. Participation levels, representation and accountability are some of the challenges they face, but due to their governing structure, CDs can be seen as a good fit for interjurisdictional governance and a suitable environment for forms of collaborative governance and co-management.

This paper examines the rebuilding and revitalizing of self-governance capacities in Indigenous communities, and how this is impacting their efficacy in resource management.  The origins and experiences in Canada of integrating Indigenous peoples and knowledge into institutionalized resource management are discussed, and the paper will posit necessary conditions for full and effective participation in environmental management, arguing why effective self-governance is vital to moving forward on these conditions.  Two collaborative processes led by Indigenous peoples will be highlighted as they demonstrate the importance of self-governance initiatives for participation in environmental management processes: the Whitefeather Forest Initiative led by Pikangikum First Nation in northern Ontario; and the Turning Point Initiative led by the Haida in British Columbia.

Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) around the world are increasingly asserting ‘Indigenous agency’ to engage with government institutions and other partners to collaboratively steward ancestral Places. Case studies in Hawai‘i suggest that ‘community-driven collaborative management’ is a viable and robust pathway for IPLCs to lead in the design of a shared vision, achieve conservation targets, and engage government institutions and other organisations in caring for and governing biocultural resources and associated habitats. This paper articulates key forms of Indigenous agency embodied within Native Hawaiian culture, such as kua‘a ̄ina, hoa‘a ̄ina, and the interrelated values of aloha ‘a ̄ina, ma ̄lama ‘a ̄ ina, and kia‘i ‘a ̄ ina. We also examine how Hawai‘i might streamline the pathways to equitable and productive collaborative partnerships through: (1) a better understanding of laws protecting Indigenous rights and practices; (2) recognition of varied forms of Indigenous agency; and (3) more deliberate engagement in the meaningful sharing of power. We contend that these partnerships can directly achieve conservation and sustainability goals while transforming scientific fields such as conservation biology by redefining research practices and underlying norms and beliefs in Places stewarded by IPLCs. Further, collaborative management can de-escalate conflicts over access to, and stewardship of, resources by providing IPLCs avenues to address broader historical legacies of environmental and social injustice while restoring elements of self- governance. To these ends, we propose that government agencies proactively engage with IPLCs to expand the building of comprehensive collaborative management arrangements. Hawai‘i provides an example for how this can be achieved.

Social manufacturing (SM), a novel distributed, collaborative and intelligent manufacturing mode, is proposed and developed for high-end apparel customization. The main components of SM cloud are designed, and its research topics are summarized. Then, SM's key technologies are studied. 3D technologies for apparel customization, like 3D modeling, 3D fitting mirror and 3D customization, are developed to improve the customization precision and user experience. Information based collaborative management is realized to share, communicate, and handle the information efficiently among all groups and individuals of SM cloud. Suppliers' evaluation mechanism is designed to support the optimal decisions making. Next, SM cloud is constructed in five layers for high-end apparel customization. By using SM cloud based crowd-sourcing, social resources can be allocated rationally and utilized efficiently, consumer can customize the product in any processes like innovation, design, making, marketing and service, and traditional apparel enterprise can be upgraded into SM mode for keeping it competitive in the future customization markets.

Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) around the world are increasingly asserting ‘Indigenous agency’ to engage with government institutions and other partners to collaboratively steward ancestral Places. Case studies in Hawai‘i suggest that ‘community-driven collaborative management’ is a viable and robust pathway for IPLCs to lead in the design of a shared vision, achieve conservation targets, and engage government institutions and other organisations in caring for and governing biocultural resources and associated habitats. This paper articulates key forms of Indigenous agency embodied within Native Hawaiian culture, such as kua‘āina, hoa‘āina, and the interrelated values of aloha ‘āina, mālama ‘āina, and kia‘i ‘āina. We also examine how Hawai‘i might streamline the pathways to equitable and productive collaborative partnerships through: (1) a better understanding of laws protecting Indigenous rights and practices; (2) recognition of varied forms of Indigenous agency; ...

This paper explores a case example of qualitative research that applied productive hermeneutics and the central concept, fusion of horizons. Interpretation of meaning is a fusing of the researchers' and subjects' perspectives and serves to expand understanding. The purpose is to illustrate an exemplar of qualitative research without establishing a rigid recipe of methodology. The illustration is based on in-depth observational and textual data from an applied anthropological study conducted in western Alaska with Yup’ik hunters and fishers and government agency employees as they worked towards collaborative management. The metaphor of the hermeneutical circle is showcased to help the reader understand the philosophical underpinnings and the analytical processes used to realize a meaningful interpretation. A series of organizing systems for the interpretation is described, culminating in a final organizing system to communicate a fully realized understanding of collaborative management at the time.

https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941211065164

An important task in research about natural resource management is to communicate the utility of different approaches from various settings. Using ecosystem services as a conceptual frame, we study a local solution to alleviate goose-human conflicts in an agricultural region in Sweden. Increasing goose numbers and crop damage led to the foundation of a goose management group (GMG), comprising landowners, farmers, hunters, ornithologists, conservation NGOs, and local and county level administration. The GMG was not given any formal or legal authority. We asked: is this management solution successful? Which problems can be solved and which remain? Can the GMG stand as a model for management of other species and in other landscapes? We interviewed present members of the GMG and analyzed minutes from its meetings. We found that the GMG has autonomy to self-organize and shows adaptive capacity over time in handling variability and complexity in its socio-ecological system. This makes the GMG a sustainable solution for local management of a resource in which goose population growth and legislation are decided at other (national or international) levels. We assessed what constitutes perceived success and found that GMG is geared toward " mediation of opposing preferences " by establishing a figurative handshake between stakeholders. By comparing how four general challenges in ecosystem service management align with formative attributes of the GMG, we discuss in which ways this management solution is applicable to other ecosystem services in other contexts.

Co-management frameworks are intended to facilitate sustainable resource management and more equitable power sharing between state agencies and Indigenous communities. However, there is significant debate about who benefits from co-management in practice. This article addresses two competing perspectives in the literature, which alternately portrays co-management as an instrument for co-optation or for transformation. Through a case study of co-management negotiations involving the Karuk Tribe and the U.S. Forest Service in the Klamath Basin of Northern California, this study examines how Indigenous communities use co-management to build greater equity in environmental decision-making, despite its limitations. The concept of pivot points is developed to describe how Indigenous communities like the Karuk Tribe are simultaneously following existing state policies and subverting them to shift federal forest management. The pivot point analytic demonstrates one mechanism by which communities are addressing Indigenous self-determination goals and colonial legacies through environmental policy and management.

In this paper we present a Multi-Agent System (MAS) for extracting and analysing users interaction in a Collaborative Knowledge Management system called KnowCat. The proposed MAS employs Web Use Mining and Web Structure Mining techniques in order to detect the most relevant interactions of the Know- Cat users and therefore should have more weight in the Knowledge Crystallization mechanism of KnowCat. More concretely, the MAS extracts the users interaction information and analyses whether they are working in the system in an organised or disorganised way. The obtained results in this study give us evidence that organised users contribute positively in a good performance of the Knowledge Crystallization mechanism of KnowCat.