Adaptive Governance: Integrating Science, Policy, And Decision Making

Drawing on five detailed case studies from the American West, the authors explore and clarify how to expedite a transition toward adaptive governance and break the gridlock in natural resource policymaking. Unlike scientific management, which relies on science as the foundation for policies made through a central bureaucratic authority, adaptive governance integrates various types of knowledge and organizations. Adaptive governance relies on open decision-making processes recognizing multiple interests, community-based initiatives, and an integrative science in addition to traditional science.

Case studies discussed include a program to protect endangered fish in the Colorado River with the active participation of water developers and environmentalists; a district ranger's innovative plan to manage national forestland in northern New Mexico; and how community-based forestry groups are affecting legislative change in Washington, D.C.

Ronald D. Brunner is a policy scientist and professor at the University of Colorado; Toddi A. Steelman is associate professor of environmental and natural resource policy at North Carolina State University; Lindy Coe-Juell is a policy analyst with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in Los Angeles; Christina M. Cromley is a policy analyst with the GAO in Washington, D. C.; Christine M. Edwards is the alumni coordinator for the School for Field Studies in Salem, Massachusetts; Donna W. Tucker is a doctoral student in environmental studies at the University of Colorado.