Beyond consensus - improving collaborative planning and management

Richard D. Margerum, Associate Professor and Department Head in the Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management at theUniversity ofOregon, based his book ‘on over fifteen years of research on collaboration in natural resources, land use planning, social services, and transportation planning’ (p. ix). Using a strong empirical emphasis, the author investigated more than 60 case studies from the United States and Australia (conducted within the period 1993–2010) in order to derive his conclusions. Right at the begin of his book, the author delivers his own definition of collaboration: ‘Collaboration is an approach to solving complex problems in which a diverse group of autonomous stakeholders deliberates to build consensus and develop networks for translating consensus into results’ (p. 6). Therefore,Margerum’s view of collaboration goes far beyond public engagement and participation in environmentally basedprocedures like environmental impact assessment or strategic environmental assessment, both in termsof scope (as it covers any planning and management issues) and actors; it particularly highlights the implementation phase by referring to results in order tomake collaboration as effective as possible. The author divided his book into four sections, namely ‘Introduction’, ‘Consensus Building’, ‘Beyond Consensus’, and ‘Synthesis’, containing in total 11 chapters, and he added a valuable appendix that describes and reviews his research methods.Moreover, the comprehensive list of references and the detailed index improve the book’s benefit. Section II on consensus building focuses on the process to reach a consensus and explores its products and outcomes, whereas section III deals with the implementation of collaboration and the author’s typologyof implementationapproaches.His classification is grouped into three different network structures: (i) ‘social networks’ (with a focus on direct actions of individuals); (ii) ‘interorganizational networks’ (with organizational activities at their centre); and (iii) ‘political networks’ (dealing with legislation and policies), all of which are illustrated by various case studies and examples. The book’s last section analyses how the elements discussed in the previous sections can be translated into practice and provides the readerwith prospects for the future. Margerum’s overview of factors affecting the results of collaboration (p. 260) is a comprehensive and worthwhile key result of his book and here he distinguishes between four implementation approaches. The first is called the ‘passive approach’ and leads to an increased understanding among the participants; its corresponding process factors are, for example, ‘open communication’, ‘supportive context’ or ‘facilitated process’. The second element of his typology is the ‘informal approach’, relying on a social network among the group members rather than on the production of an agreement or a formal plan. In contrast, the ‘cooperative approach’ is ‘collaboration as a plan, contract, or other type of agreement’ (p. 262). The author lists as output factors for that approach ‘clear goals and objectives’, ‘plan communication’, ‘shared high quality fact base’ and ‘sound intervention strategy’. The fourth and last approach is that of an ‘adaptive network’ with its main features of ongoing interaction and adjustment for implementing planning and management issues. The approach’s sustaining collaboratives are, for example, ‘information capacity’, ‘commitment’ and ‘external pressures’. All four approaches mentioned above except the informal one make use of social networks, inter-organizational networks and/or political networks. One of the decisive issues in the context of collaboration is to measure the results achieved by it, regardless of its approach. The author discusses six well-known methods of measurement, namely in termsof inputs (concept: improving the information basis); outputs (assessing a plan’s or agreement’s quality); the process itself (example: selfassessment by collaboratives); the performance (concept: improving plans and policies through shorter feedback loops); the outcomemeasures (example:monitoring through state of environment reports); and the programme logic (approach: evaluation of outputs to outcomes links). He concludes, inter alia, that ‘to achieve results, collaboratives need outcome indicators. They need to establish baseline conditions and collect data that will allow their progress (or their lack of) to be evaluated’ (p. 286). Margerum’s book is useful both for practitioners (through its comprehensive empirical body) and scientists (through its typologies and classifications)whoare interested in collaborative planning and management. The author’s interest in the topic originates from‘collaboration as awayof solving problems, addressing concerns and achieving results’ (p. 306), and in contrast, he is not interested in collaboration as a concept. For Margerum, all approaches to collaborative planning and management play a crucial role when addressing ‘complex, interjurisdictional, dispersed, and diffused problems’ (ibid.), and he hopes that his book contributes to ‘help collaboration proceed better and faster’ (ibid.). I am sure it does.