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Integrated catchment management - the perfect springboard for KiwiGrow? - September 2011
New Zealand currently has an emerging water crisis, as burgeoning international demand for food products drives expansion of dairying across the countryside. Despite efforts of Fonterra, the country's main dairy exporter and dairy products manufacturer, the environmental performance of dairy farmers remains inadequate, and surface freshwater quality continues to be negatively impacted by both existing pastoral land uses, and the ongoing conversion of sheep farms (or even forestry blocks) to the more intensive dairying land use. Dairying is expanding into dryland areas, with increasing demand for large irrigation projects with consequences for stream flow regimes and ecology. More often than not these proposals lead to expensive and frustrating litigation. Regional Councils have failed to set limits, or to ensure dairy farming practices are sustainable. On the recommendations of a multistakeholder Land and Water Forum (a welcome collaborative innovation) the Government, in May 2011, tasked Councils with developing a framework of performance standards and targets, on a catchment-by catchment basis, taking an integrated approach. Finding ways of achieving effective collaborative governance has been identified as a key requirement before integrated catchment management can become an effective instrument of policy that delivers coherent plans of action that are implemented, monitored, and managed adaptively to achieve sustainable management of freshwater. Here at Creative Decisions we see the NZ2100 sustainability model as underpinning the required governance, and rural communities nationwide can be linked up in a KiwiGrow Network that helps them work together and manage their way through change. Water resources and aquatic ecosystems in urban and peri-urban catchments are also under pressure from land use intensification, so the KiwiGrow Network can deliver collaborative governance and effective ICM nationwide. We are marketing KiwiGrow accordingly. Website up again - September 2011
Marketing Creative Decisions asset management services led to preparation of draft conference papers for the New Zealand Water Conference in November 2011. One of these was on the relevance of risk governance to integrated catchment management, and how improved collaborative governance can be achieved through adoption of the NZ2100 sustainability model. A review of the literature showed that integrated catchment management, despite much research and being central to New Zealand's policies for management of natural resources, remained as difficult to achieve as it was ten years ago. ICM was chosen as the basis for a further marketing push for KiwiGrow and putting the website back up again, with a few modifications. Christchurch earthquakes of September 2010 and February 2011
In February 2011, following the second major earthquake in Christchurch, we offered Christchurch City Council free use of the KiwiGrow IP for two years, including the rights to develop a social networking website to help coordinate recovery efforts. The community response to the earthquake was a vivid demonstration of KiwiGrow values, and we suggested to the Council that they use the model as a governance tool to help ensure decisions made in the course of the recovery and reconstruction produced a city that reflected these values. It seemed appropriate to embed these values in all decisions, rather than have them come to the fore only in emergencies. Preoccupied with the immediate recovery effort, the Council did not to take up the offer. Stepping back after Auckland's response to our KiwiGrow Social Network proposal - February 2011
The response to our proposals was somewhere between zero and negligible, so the idea was obviously premature, or politically unacceptable. We have decided to take the website down and reassess our direction. Sufficient time has passed for politicians and influencers to be aware of and understand the approach, yet a response of any kind is not forthcoming. Any further continuation with KiwiGrow will have to centre around another specific set of applications. Just what this should be, we're not sure, since the KiwiGrow Network is central to the Creative Decisions approach. And another thing! - 30 November 2010
As a city Auckland struggles to find a direction. Debates about the level and type of investment in infrastructure go on forever, lurching from one issue to the next. We are ambivalent about protecting our environment in the face of development pressures. The amalgamations to create the Super City have not changed that. These interminable debates (do they really qualify as "debates"?) will continue until there is agreement on a direction. Auckland's future has to lie in embracing sustainability. I think our new Mayor understands that. And our proposal to the ATA, which we have subsequently referred to the new Local Boards to obtain their support, captures just how coming together under the banner of sustainability can transform Auckland from a bunch of squabbling, often self-centred, interest groups, to a community with integrity and a sense of purpose. Go back and read the proposal. Who'd have thought. Auckland, "The Wellbeing Capital of the World". Why are we focusing on Auckland's new Local Boards and not the NZ Government, which now holds so much power over Auckland? - 30 November 2010.
It is true that the NZ Government has effectively taken away from Aucklanders the responsibility for many key functions (e.g. roads, water) , through the creation of Council Controlled Organisations over which the Council has minimal control. It is also true that political party networks will have a significant influence on the stance of the members of the Local Boards. And it is government and the former councils that bought into the idea of sustainable development in the first place. However past approaches by Creative Decisions to central Government and the old councils have been fruitless, even those to a previous Labour government that championed sustainable development, and leading the response to climate change. The present government considers these issues to be too "PC" and it is only since it came to power that it acknowledged that accelerated global warming and climate change are human-induced. (In the current international environment, we don't blame them for their watered-down approach to the ETS). Obtaining even a reply from these people can be a challenge, especially for a minor and presumptuous entity such as Creative Decisions. We see that the real question now is how Local Boards see themselves contributing to the new city's governance, and whether they want to restrict themselves to dog control, ensuring there are plenty of seats by the waterfront, and the occasional walkway, rather than acting as monitors, guardians, champions, and advisers on their community's wellbeing and sustainable development. The Boards have a very real opportunity to become a powerful force for truly local government. Marketing KiwiGrow to Auckland's Local Boards - 30 November 2010
The new Auckland City now has 21 Local Boards who are responsible for articulating and advocating the needs of local communities. Local representation is much smaller than under the former "multiple city" governance structures, and there are concerns that the Local Boards will be ineffectual in dealing with the very large new Auckland Council. On 24 November 2010 we forwarded our KiwiGrow Social Network proposal (that we put to the ATA) to all Board Members (cc'd to other stakeholders, including mayor, councillors and Auckland MPs) , requesting they use the proposal and other material on our website to stimulate a public discussion over the coming summer, on ways to strengthen community governance. Our further advocacy of the KiwiGrow Network approach will likely depend on the level of support that is evident from these Local Boards. Using Social Networking Technology - 29 November 2010
In June 2010 Creative Decisions wrote to the Auckland Transition Agency (responsible for setting up new local government structures) for assistance with setting up an advisory group for a new, spatial, KiwiGrow Social Network website. Membership of this social networking website would be open to groups who sign up to the KiwiGrow / NZ2100 model for sustainability. (See our downloadable proposal to the ATA). Is the idea of a dedicated social networking website premature? Should we first build an informal social network using existing methods of linking up? We think that it is best to go for it and make the KiwiGrow Network as tangible and functional as possible from the outset. Start with a clear sense of vision and opportunity. Also the transparency of such a network would allow tracking the size of the membership. The ATA were unfortunately in their final phase of their programme of work and did not have the time to become involved. Hmmm. "General" uptake mechanisms - should we be leading or supporting? - 29 November 2010.
In view of the far-reaching potential implications of KiwiGrow (which any readers of the material on this website will appreciate!), and our own desire to be part of, rather than lead, what could become a massive, global, self-governing change movement, we have chosen to take an approach that is supportive, and is an ongoing reminder to policymakers and politicians of their responsibilities to their communities. Political parties have committed cities and governments to sustainable development, so they have now to embed it more effectively in our institutions, now we know how to do it. Quite apart from the fact that KiwiGrow requires leadership at all levels, the question of overarching leadership is important when it comes to managing certification and accreditation (see our June 2010 downloadable proposal to the Auckland Transition Agency). New Zealand or a supportive international agency could perform these critical leadership functions. Given the current instability and mounting conservatism in US politics, and Americans' reverence for their Constitution and its Amendments, significant acknowledgement or leadership on this from that country would come as a surprise, and would likely be unplanned, entertaining, and very human! Or perhaps it might come from some new and compelling evidence for climate change that restores the credibility and authority of the IPCC. Perhaps a drought in Alaska. US leadership on this will emerge only when Americans come to realise that sustainable development is in US interests and not a challenge its sovereignty. Here in New Zealand, we are focusing our hopes on the Local Boards of the new Auckland as the body of politicians most likely to put the approach into practice on a large scale. Our renewed marketing efforts are directed at presenting Creative Decisions as a provider of support at the Council-community interface, with a focus on environment, infrastructure, and community strengthening, for a city that has realised what sustainability means and has chosen to embrace it without reservation.
Auckland's governance reforms: 27 August 2010
For those living outside New Zealand, and unaware of the momentous changes that are taking shape in our little country: "Auckland" as a region has become tired of its current governance arrangements. The region is presently governed through multiple adjoining cities and the New Zealand government has decided to go for a Big City model, amalgamating the existing entities, as from 1 November 2010. Our submissions to the various arms and legs of government appear to have been, along with many others, by and large, ignored. All is not lost, however. How the local Boards are to function is not yet clear, and the accountability arrangements for the large Council-Controlled Organisations (CCOs) have yet to emerge. If the new entities can survive this shake-up there should be a lot of work for the private sector, because it isn't going to be all done in the Council and CCOs. And that'll mean an increased need for some form of hypergovernance to move the ship along. Reality check: 27 August 2010 (Paul)
Some correspondents have commented that the website is starting to look a bit old. We agree, and we think we will need to move from a website that is, frankly, pretty stuffy (being directed to a large extent at politicians, policymakers, researchers, and people who like to just increase their understanding) to one which is more focused around specific projects and actions. When that happens the talk will not be about sustainable development, which as a concept seems to have run its course as far as the popular imagination is concerned. Innovation, Change, and Transformation will be the themes. "Hypergovernance": 27 August 2010
We have introduced the term "hypergovernance". In promoting NZ2100 and KiwiGrow we need to be aware that people have choices. It is not a TINA (There is No Alternative) situation. There are other approaches to hypergovernance, such as the values and principles that underpin most federalist societies, visionary charismatic leadership, or government "programmes". They just don't seem to be emerging as very useful for addressing the needs of the 21st century. That is not to say that they were not suited to their times. We live in a fast-changing world, and it is useful to have an independent framework, particularly one that potentially has global applicability. And, notwithstanding the simplicity and evident integrity of the NZ2100 model, it is always possible that someone will come along with a better model - perhaps one which delivers a sharper and more compelling statement of our responsibilities towards the environment. NZ2100 is appropriate for times where we believe we still have choices. On research versus business objectives: 22 July 2009 (Paul)
KiwiGrow and NZ2100 have been given good exposure among policy and political audiences, who have had ample time (since 2004) to develop a political response, if that were to be forthcoming. Perhaps that should be a worry. Evidently, being simply based in common sense has been insufficient to warrant rapid uptake, or engagement with Creative Decisions in trials. As we are still committed to the approach, our emphasis has to remain on raising awareness, and further research and evaluation. The potential of KiwiGrow for catalysing new research is very significant. The business potential, on the other hand, may be a long time being realised, but may become more demonstrable to potential investors and collaborators when business and governments begin to focus unambiguously on sustainable development. This may be when they come to acknowledge a broad-based response is required to make an impact on climate change. Or it may follow from a growing demand for more effective accountability mechanisms, in the wake of frustrations with the financial system and the methods used to achieve a sustainable recovery. On the religious connection: 20 July 2009 (Paul)
Environmentalism has always had a religious-spiritual dimension, but we have to acknowledge that KiwiGrow is about trying to rewrite the rules of the world, based on a model of just 7 words. If we get some uptake on anything like a wide scale, there will be some who start to imagine religious connections, or, who, for their own purposes, find it convenient to highlight those. KiwiGrow is based on the secular NZ2100 model, more or less developed on the back of an envelope at the family table. It has commonalities with the major religions. Maybe we should think of it as being something like a hymn - a little poetic, and consistent with much of what religion has to offer. Putting NZ2100 into the public domain: 18 July 2009 (Paul)
Uptake of KiwiGrow has been slower than anticipated. We think the potential power of the approach may have been at odds with the proprietary nature of the model. Putting the underlying model and reporting standard (NZ2100) out into the public domain is the obvious thing to do to provoke more general interest. Also, it is necessary if we are to effectively harness public good research. |
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