Towards better NRM outcomes: Optimising co-production

Abstract

At many levels of government there is regular consideration of the appropriateness of structures for engaging with communities in regard to the design and delivery of policy. Consideration of such matters naturally raises the issue of the appropriateness of more decentralised management strategies. Hence, the Department of Sustainability and Environment's Sustainable Irrigation Program (DSE SIP) and Goulburn-Broken Catchment Management Authority (GB CMA) are interested in the merits of greater, or lesser, decentralising of delivery models for the implementation of natural resource management (NRM) through Sustainable Irrigation Programs in Victoria. In a previous paper we characterised the consequences of centralising regional delivery structures for NRM as a contribution to a rigorous foundation for considering the consequences of centralising agencies and decision making, highlighting the resulting strategic risks for DSE SIP (Wright et al. 2011). In the paper we identified, using economic and organisational analysis, predictable consequences for NRM in Victoria of the centralisation of agencies and decision making. ... This second working paper builds on two key findings from the first, notably: the importance of community and landholder involvement to the production of NRM outcomes (co-production); and ways to ensure co-production is optimised. The purpose of the analysis in this paper was to move beyond this diagnostic phase to identify, using economic and organisational analysis, changes to existing structures, including practices, which could be expected to increase community involvement in NRM, accountability and the performance of authority staff. To meet these objectives we identify salient, detailed theoretical frameworks and apply them to describe the key aspects of the NRM system that determine the nature of governance that is best suited to implement programs like the SIP. Taking into consideration current arrangements and extensive experience across CMAs and the SIP in working with community and landholders, it is intended future papers will consider in greater detail (case studies) the integration of proposed changes to support or enhance current arrangements.