Adapting to Climate Change in the Coastal Zone in Western Australia
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Faculty of Humanities Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute Adapting to Climate Change in the Coastal Zone in Western Australia: Meanings, Dimensions, Effectiveness and Shortfalls of Collaborative Coastal Adaptation Planning Chiara Danese Galano This thesis is presented for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Curtin University August 2017 Declaration of Originality To the best of my knowledge and belief this thesis contains no material previously published by any other person except where due acknowledgment has been made. This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university. The proposed research study received human research ethics approval from the Curtin University Human Research Ethics Committee (EC00262), Approval Number HR129/2010. Chiara Danese Friday 10 March 2017 2 Abstract In Australia, the coast is an important ecological, cultural, economic and community asset. The potential impacts of climate change on the coast is a critical issue for local councils who, as the closest level of government to the community, are required to play a key role in coastal adaptation planning. To meet the challenges of implementing such complex, complicated and resource intensive processes, and to overcome the inadequacy of traditional governance systems, collaborative arrangements between central and local governments in the form of voluntary partnerships have been become a popular means to plan for coastal adaptation. However, the important role of collaborative governance warrants closer examination in the academic literature; the pitfalls of technical approaches to coastal adaptation planning are the current focus. Thus, while collaboration has been instrumental in improving climate risk knowledge and progressing coastal adaptation decision making, the meanings, dimensions, effectiveness and shortfalls of collaborative coastal adaptation planning needs further analysis. The present study explores the features of and key challenges to collaborative coastal adaptation planning in Western Australia. Through a multiple case study approach, two Western Australia partnership arrangements, the Geraldton Coastal Vulnerability and Risk Assessment Partnership and the Peron Naturalist Partnership, are examined and compared with a third partnership arrangement from Tasmania which has been widely recognised for its pioneering work in coastal adaptation planning through strong collaborative efforts. A set of governance principles is collated from the literature on governance for climate adaptation, governance for sustainability, risk governance, transition governance and collaborative governance; these are tested through in-depth interviews, workshops and participant observations in the case studies. The results are then used to further refine a set of principles of good governance specifically aimed at guiding a collaborative approach to coastal adaptation planning. Each principle examines the role that collaboration plays in addressing coastal adaptation issues such scale mismatches, poor leadership, lack of shared understanding, inadequate policy integration and coordination, poor policy learning and so on. The findings suggest that in Western Australia coastal adaptation planning partnerships have been instrumental in progressing coastal adaptation planning. However, the informal nature of these collaborative governance arrangements make them more vulnerable to changes in government leadership, political agendas and funding regimes, hence less effective at reducing the gaps in institutional responsibilities of existing governance arrangements for identifying and managing coastal hazard risk. The present study also shows that collaborative efforts across jurisdictional boundaries are stronger at the initial stages of a coastal adaptation planning process, for sharing information and resources and for advocating for policy change, but weaker at the implementation stage. This result highlights the inadequateness of existing governance systems for supporting policy implementation at the local level and for enabling more consistent, coordinated and cross-boundary coastal adaptation decision-making approaches. 3 Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to my advisors Associate Professor Laura Stocker and Dr Garry Middle for the continuous support of my Ph.D. study, for their patience, motivation, and immense knowledge. Besides my advisor, I would like to thank my colleagues and friends Ashley Robb, Ben Preston, Carolyn Hofmeester, Peter Howard, Ann Larson, Maria Fiocco and David Wood for their insightful comments and encouragement. Last but not the least, I would like to thank my partner Brett, my mum and dad, my baby soon to be born and my loyal dog Pancho for patiently supporting me throughout writing this thesis. 4 Niza, my baby angel, this work is dedicated to you. 5 Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION 9 1.1 Aim of Thesis 9 1.2 Motivation for the Study 9 1.3 Background 10 1.4 Significance of Thesis 14 1.5 Research Questions and General Approach 14 1.6 Structure of Thesis 15 2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 17 2.1 Coastal Adaptation Planning Under Different Conceptual Lenses 17 2.2 Key Barriers to Coastal Adaptation Planning 21 2.3 Good Governance for Coastal Adaptation 25 2.3.1 Governance for Sustainability 28 2.3.2 Adaptive Governance 31 2.3.3 Collaborative Governance 35 2.3.4 Governance of Transition 42 2.3.5 Risk Governance 43 2.4 Principles of Good Governance for Coastal Adaptation 48 3 METHODOLOGY 58 3.1 Research Approach 58 3.2 Case Study Methodology 60 3.2.1 Multiple Case Studies 60 3.2.2 Participant Sampling and Recruitment in Case Studies 62 3.3 Methods 63 3.3.1 Desktop Analysis 63 3.3.2 Interviews 64 3.3.3 Participant Observations 65 4 COASTAL ADAPTATION PLANNING AND GOVERNANCE (BACKGROUND) 67 4.1 Introduction 67 4.2 Coastal Adaptation Governance in WA 67 4.2.1 Coastal Adaptation Planning in WA 70 4.2.2 Partnerships for Coastal Adaptation Planning in WA 71 4.3 Coastal adaptation governance in Tasmania 71 4.3.1 Coastal Adaptation Planning in Tasmania 75 6 4.3.2 Partnerships for Coastal Adaptation Planning in Tasmania 75 5 CASE STUDIES 77 5.1 Introduction 77 5.2 Case Study 1: The CVRAP Partnership 77 5.2.1 The Geraldton coast 77 5.2.2 Coastal Governance 80 5.2.3 The CVRAP Partnership 81 5.3 Case Study 2: The Peron Naturaliste Partnership (PNP) 85 5.3.1 The PNP Coast 85 5.3.2 Coastal Governance 87 5.3.3 The Peron Naturaliste Partnership 88 5.4 Case Study 3: The TCAP Partnership 95 5.4.1 The Clarence Coast 95 5.4.2 Coastal Governance 96 5.4.3 The TCAP Partnership 97 6 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS 103 6.1 Introduction 103 6.1.1 Principle 1: Shared understanding, goals and priorities 103 6.1.2 Principle 2: Policy integration and coordination 108 6.1.3 Principle 3: Long-term political commitment and leadership for adaptation 113 6.1.4 Principle 4: Clear, coherent and flexible policy directions 121 6.1.5 Principle 5: Embracing complexity and uncertainty through innovation, experimentation and reflexivity 125 6.1.6 Principle 6: Uptake and use of evidence and value-based knowledge in adaptation decision making 133 6.1.7 Principle 7: Scale matching 143 6.1.8 Principle 8: Adequate funding for adaptation 147 6.1.9 Principle 9: Shared responsibility and decision powers 152 7 DISCUSSION 157 7.1 Introduction 157 Shared understanding, goals and priorities 157 Policy integration and coordination 158 Long-term political commitment and leadership for adaptation 158 7 Uptake and use of evidence and value-based knowledge in adaptation decision making 158 Adequate funding for adaptation 159 7.2 Revised Principles for Good Governance for Coastal Adaptation 159 7.2.1 Principle 1. Shared understanding, goals and priorities in coastal adaptation planning are mutually supportive/constitutive with collaboration 159 7.2.2 Principle 2: Collaborative approaches are crucial for the successful integration of coastal adaptation objectives into policy and into every day decision making processes, and for effective coordination across multiple levels of government 166 7.2.3 Principle 3: Leadership and long-term political commitment are crucial for supporting collaborative coastal adaptation planning and collaboration can support effective leadership 174 7.2.4 Principle 4: Collaboration is instrumental in developing and implementing adaptive policy, improved policy dialogues and policy learning 183 7.2.5 Principle 5: A collaborative and transdisciplinary approach promotes better uptake and incorporation of evidence and value-based knowledge into adaptation decision making 195 7.2.6 Principle 6: Collaborative approaches to coastal adaptation planning improve spatial and temporal scale matching 207 7.2.7 Principle 7: Collaboration helps generate adequate, consistent, coherent and diversified sources of funding which are necessary for coastal adaptation planning 214 7.2.8 Principle 8: Collaboration increases shared responsibility and shared decision powers for coastal adaptation 220 8 CONCLUSIONS 226 8.1 Limitations of the research and recommendations for future work 240 BIBLIOGRAPHY 245 APPENDIX A 278 Coastal Adaptation Planning: From Global to Local (background) 278 APPENDIX B 283 Copyright Authorisation Forms 283 8 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Aim of Thesis This thesis aims to explore the meanings, dimensions, effectiveness and shortfalls of collaborative coastal adaptation planning in response to climate change with a particular focus on two case studies in Western Australia. 1.2 Motivation for the