building protected area stewardship in an era of complexity and messiness
DESCRIPTION
Presentation before a workshop involving Icelandic park managersTRANSCRIPT
Protected Areas … Special Places …
Key Values
Biodiversity
Cultural
Heritage
Spirituality
Scenery
Recreation …
and Fun
This is what Planning is all
about …
This is what We are all about
So, how do we protect these places?
But, given all the changes the world
is experiencing …
Given all the pressures of
population and consumption …
Given all the conflicting demands for
ecosystem services …
Protected areas don’t protect
themselves
How we go about developing
plans for protection impacts the
effectiveness of our plans
Building Protected Area Stewardship in an
Era of Complexity and Messiness
STEPHEN MCCOOL
THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA
MISSOULA, MONTANA
Þjóðgarðastjórnun – Gildi þekkingar og
menntunar
11 October 2010
Presentation Goals
Discuss the global forces affecting protected
areas and their impacts on planning
Identify a new paradigm for protected area
planning
Suggest a way forward
Global Forces Create
Change, Complexity and Uncertainty
Population Dynamics
Technology
Governance Public Values Decision
Making Economic Restructuring
Increasing Contentiousness Higher Stakes Growing
Scrutiny Greater
Accountability
Climate Change
Muliplying Volatility
The Practical Implications
Resource Scarcity
Increased Uncertainty
Emergent Complexity
Growing and Diversifying Expectations
Planning as Management of Competing
Demands
Great Opportunities
An Abbreviated History of
Protected Area Planning
A short journey to understand the challenges
confronting protected area planning
Lessons of the past are the keys to the future
Three Waves of Planning
Each makes assumptions about the world,
planning purposes and functions
Each represents a different paradigm
Each wave represents a response to
dissatisfaction with earlier waves
And later planning waves incorporate good
ideas from earlier waves
First Wave Planning
Application of technical expertise
Take politics out of planning
Procedurally oriented
Societal agreement on goals
Scientific agreement on cause-effects
Second Wave Planning
Recognition of Connectedness
Ecosystem Management
Pre-eminence of Science
Compartmentalization of Planning and
Management
Development of Third Wave Planning
Global forces stretch 2nd wave planning
How to deal with uncertainty, surprises,
changing expectations all at once
Must Rethink the Whole
Notion of Planning
What is Protected Area Planning
All About?
Framing the problem or issue parks are
confronted with
Developing and assessing responses to these
problems
Implementing actions
Planning is all about changing the future
Thus,
Planning must
Create opportunities for learning
Work to build consensus
Use science to inform rather than direct
Thus, protected area planning in the Third
Wave is adaptive, inclusive, emphasizing
learning and consensus building that provide
a basis for societal action
Third Wave Planning
Recognition that challenges are “wicked” Confusion/conflict over goals
Little science at scales of interest
Planning problems are “messy” Problems are connected
Scientific disagreement
“facts are uncertain, values in dispute, stakes high, and decisions urgent”
Hard science and soft value judgments are replaced with hard policy decisions made with little science available
The Four Practices of Planning
Planning as Building Technical Proficiencies
Planning as Organizational Learning
Planning as Constructing Public Interests
Planning as the Application of Knowledge
These Practices are Integrated
Which Way Forward?
To Build the Starship, We Need to …
Frame parks as integral components of social-
ecological systems
Practice management as learning; build new
institutions
Develop learning platforms to enhance
competencies
Frame parks as integral components of
social-ecological systems
Recognize global and local forces
Recognize interaction with people
Understand that parks/protected areas provide
benefits to people
Use systems thinking
Practice Management as Learning;
Build New Institutions
Monitoring and evaluation play critical roles
Adaptive management not just a matter of
adding a new checkbox to the list
Management encourages a culture of
Curiosity
Reflection
Critical thinking
Develop Learning Platforms to
Enhance Competencies
Academic research and instruction
Continuing education based on adult learning principles
Develop community of practice
Sites
Universities
NGOs
Consultancies
Develop confidence
Conclusion
What we did in the past is no longer adequate
Must change our mental model of planning
View planning more holistically and
strategically
Need cadres of managers with professional
competencies
Develop opportunities for learning
