GEOG 203 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Ecosystem Approach, Ecocentrism, Management System
23 May 2018
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GEOG 203- Canadian Environmental Issues
Chapter 5: Planning and Management: Perspectives, Processes and Methods
- Planning and management related to perspectives, processes, and methods applied
in resource and environmental management
- Humans do not manage the environment or natural resources, they attempt to
manage the interaction between humans and the environment
- Resource and environmental management involves more than application of
science or technical expertise but requires sensitivity to various values,
interests, needs and wants.
Chapter objectives:
- Appreciate the significance of different planning and management approaches
- Understand the importance of context for a problem-solving situation and the need
to be able to design solutions to fit particular contexts
- Appreciate the distinctions among government, governance and management
- Distinguish among most probable, desirable and feasible futures and understand
why it is important to identify a vision or direction to help choose the right thing to
do
- Differentiate ecocentric and technocentric perspectives
- Understand the significance of a systems perspective and how that can be applied
as an ecosystem approach
- Realize the importance of thinking simultaneously in the short, medium and long
term
- Understand the significance of social learning as a foundation for resource and
environmental management
- Appreciate the implications of environmental justice when making resource and
environmental decisions
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Introduction
- Improved resource and environmental management can be achieved by using
science to inform decision-making and management and decisions should reflect
the best planning and management approaches in terms of concepts, processes
and methods
- Focus on perspectives we consider basic concepts widely accepted for addressing
resource and environmental problems
Planning and Management Components: Context
• Specific characteristics of a time and place
• Biophysical, economic, social, legal and political conditions differ from place to
place and from time to time
• Context needs to be systematically considered when developing a strategy, plan or
an approach for a resource or environmental management problem
• Local people should be included when developing a strategy or implementing
initiatives. Particularly in Aboriginal contexts
• Context can change as conditions evolve; strategies must be flexible and remain
relevant
• Public agencies often prefer standardized approach to problem-solving, easiest to
justify
• Custom-design solutions: see second bullet point under first context
o Better to design an approach specifically tailored to the needs of and area
and accept criticism about perceived favoritism rather than using a
standardized approach that forestalls criticism but does not really suit the
specific conditions or needs
o Managers must recognize the real possibility of specific conditions of a place
and time and design accordingly
o
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Management challenges
- The scientific system that underlies resource management is facing a crisis of
confidence in legitimacy and power
- Top-down resource management does not work for a multitude of reasons, and the
era of expert-knows-best decision-making is all but over
- New directions proposed:
o Adopting learning-based approaches instead of set management
prescriptions
o Using a broader range of knowledge
o Dealing with resilience and complexity
o Sharing management power and responsibility
Governance, Management and Monitoring
- Governance is the process of resolving trade-offs and providing a vision and
direction for sustainability
- Management is the realization of this vision
- Monitoring provides feedback and synthesizes the observations to a narrative of
how the situation has emerged and might unfold in the future
Context in the Big Pictures
• Management of natural resources involves many organizations whose mandates
overlap
• Governance of resources and the environment takes place in situations defined by
high levels of complexity and uncertainty, managers often deal with rapid change
and conflict
• Four other contextual aspects that are important for understanding progress
related to managing resources and the environment wisely
• The first, governments are preoccupied with debt and deficit reduction
• The second, emerging from concern about debt and deficit reduction:
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Document Summary
Chapter 5: planning and management: perspectives, processes and methods. Planning and management related to perspectives, processes, and methods applied in resource and environmental management manage the interaction between humans and the environment. Humans do not (cid:498)manage(cid:499) the environment or natural resources, they attempt to (cid:498)science(cid:499) or (cid:498)technical expertise(cid:499) but requires sensitivity to various values, Resource and environmental management involves more than application of interests, needs and wants. Appreciate the significance of different planning and management approaches. Understand the importance of context for a problem-solving situation and the need to be able to design solutions to fit particular contexts. Appreciate the distinctions among (cid:498)government(cid:499), (cid:498)governance(cid:499) and (cid:498)management(cid:499) Distinguish among most probable, desirable and feasible futures and understand why it is important to identify a vision or direction to help choose the right thing to do. Understand the significance of a systems perspective and how that can be applied as an ecosystem approach.
