MOPAN 2011 Glasgow and MOPAN 2012 Wageningen

This year's small but vibrant edition of the MOPAN conference organized by Pam Hearne at the Strathclyde Business School had a lot to offer for adepts of multi-organisational partnerships, alliances and networks. With contributions from the health sector to the construction sector, cases from India to Panama and work forms from keynotes to workshops, the conference was very enjoyable. We had papers and an improvised workshop on the location and forms of leadership in inter-organizational collaboration. A theory workshop led by Steve Cropper led to animated discussions about the nature and value of ancient, modern, symbolic-interpretive and postmodern theoretical contributions to the study of inter-organizational relations. Sandra Schruijer introduced us to the psychodynamics of inter-organizational collaboration and the role of fear (fear of taking the lead, fear of loosing power, fear of rejection, etc.). Invited speaker Nic Beech entertained us with an analysis of organising practices in the creative industries of folk and classical music. A number of people (including PhD students from the Utrecht-Nijmegen Programme on Partnerships, UNPOP) discussed business-ngo partnerships, both from the perspective of companies (CSR) and from the perspective of ngo's (activism). We also had the opportunity to engage with Scottish tradition in a whisky tasting at the Corinthian Club - for those interested, among the rich and rounded Singleton, the delicate and floral Glenkinchie, the full bodied Talisker and the fruity and spicy Dalwhinnie, the latter got the majority vote!

I'm already busy organising the 19th Annual Conference on Multi-Organisational Partnerships, Alliances and Networks (MOPAN 2012), which will take place from July 2nd – 4th 2012 at Wageningen. A conference website will be on-line soon at http://www.mopan2012.wur.nl

Fragmentation and connection of frames in collaborative water governance

This article dates back to my work with ACORDES at the University of Cuenca. Together with Monica Mancero, German Cárdenas and Dolores, we analyzed a case of river catchment management in Ecuador. The focus is on the fragmentation and connection of frames in this water governance process, with special attention to problem domain framing, issue framing and scale framing. The article is part of a symposium on water governance, guest-edited by Jurian Edelenbos and Geert Teisman, in the International Review of Administrative Sciences.

This the abstract:

In collaborative water governance, the variety of frames that actors bring to the discussion constitutes an important challenge. In this study, we analyse the fragmentation and connection of frames in collaborative water governance projects in the Paute catchment and its sub-catchment Tabacay in the Southern Andes of Ecuador. We rely on frame analysis of project documents, interviews and meeting recordings to analyse the initial stages of these projects. We discuss (1) the different roles of problem domain framing and issue framing in frame fragmentation; (2) the significance of scale framing to problem domain and issue framing; (3) the challenge of connecting expert frames with frames of other actors; and (4) the importance of face-to-face dialogue for connecting frames.

Points for practitioners

Professionals in public management and administration all over the world are increasingly involved in governance processes where they have to deal with a multitude of actors and perspectives. If their task involves setting up collaborative projects with other governmental agencies, civil society organizations and/or business actors, there is much to gain by paying close attention to how they themselves and other actors are framing both the problem domain and the issues involved. In processes of collaborative water governance, additional attention is required for how projects are framed with respect to water system scales and administrative scales, and for how technical framing of the issues connects to the frames and experiences of other actors.

Here's the full reference:

Dewulf, A., Mancero, M., Cárdenas, G., & Sucozhañay, D. (2011). Fragmentation and connection of frames in collaborative water governance: a case study of river catchment management in Southern Ecuador. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 77(1), 50-75. doi: 10.1177/0020852310390108

The article can also be downloaded here

Do scale frames matter?

One of the PhD students I'm working with - Maartje van Lieshout - has just published an article on Scale Frame Mismatches in the Decision Making Process of a “Mega Farm” in a Small Dutch Village. The article is part of a special issue on Scale and Governance in the interdisciplinary open access journal Ecology and Society.

This is the abstract:

Scale issues are an increasingly important feature of complex sustainability issues, but they are mostly taken for granted in policy processes. However, the scale at which a problem is defined as well as the scale at which it should be solved are potentially contentious issues. The framing of a problem as a local, regional, or global problem is not without consequences and influences processes of inclusion and exclusion. Little is known about the ways actors frame scales and the effect of different scale frames on decision making processes. This paper addresses the questions that different scale frames actors use and what the implications of scale frames are for policy processes. It does so by analyzing the scale frames deployed by different actors on the establishment of a so-called new mixed company or mega farm and the related decision making process in a Dutch municipality. We find that actors deploy different and conflicting scale frames, leading to scale frame mismatches. We conclude that scale frame mismatches play an important role in the stagnation of the decision making process.

This is the full reference:

van Lieshout, M., A. Dewulf, N. Aarts, and C. Termeer. 2011. Do scale frames matter? Scale frame mismatches in the decision making process about a “mega farm” in a small Dutch village. Ecology and Society 16(1): 38. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol16/iss1/art38/

The pdf-version of the article can be downloaded here.

MOPAN 2011 Call for papers!

Pam Hearne at Strathclyde University (Glasgow) has been taking care of the arrangements for MOPAN 2011. The website is up at http://www.sbs.strath.ac.uk/mopan2011/ and a call for papers is waiting for your abstracts.

The theme of this year's conference is "Interventions in collaboration systems"

From the website:

"This year the conference will be held in the University of Strathclyde Business School building at 199 Cathedral Street in Glasgow. An early bird discount on bookings is available for any made prior to May 1st. See Registration.

April 8th is the deadline for abstracts. See Call for Papers.

For fees and accommodation details see registration

For further information, please contact sbs-mopan@strath.ac.uk"

Two climate conferences put interesting material on-line

The "Deltas in Times of Climate Change" conference (Rotterdam) and the "Climate Controversies: Science and Politics" conference (Brussels/Paris) have put papers, slides and recorded presentations on-line.

Climate controversies: science and politics

"Climategate" and climate skepticism received a lot of attention at this event. The majority of the presentations from the conference are now accessible on the siteshttp://climatecontroversies.ulb.ac.be (for the Brussels events), andhttp://www.iddri.org/Activites/Conferences-internationales/Controverses-climatiques-sciences-et-politique (for the Paris proceedings - including a presentation by Bruno Latour).

Deltas in time of Climate Change

From the conference website:

The participants debated climate adaptation strategies for deltas and delta cities and exchanged knowledge, which was widely offered in 70+ sessions. Many contacts between scientists, policy makers and practitioners were established, refreshed and deepened. Relations between delta cities in and outside Connecting Delta Cities (CDC) were strengthened and the Delta Alliance was launched.

High profile guests during the opening session included His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange, who gave the opening speech, Nguyen Thai Lai (Vice Minister, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Vietnam), Ahmed Aboutaleb (Mayor of Rotterdam), Delta Commissioner Wim Kuijken and Cedric Grant (Deputee Mayor of New Orleans) who gave a moving presentation on the state of New Orleans five years after Katrina.

The audience was updated byMichael Oppenheimer (Princeton University, USA) and Martin Parry(Imperial College London, United Kingdom) about sea level rise and other factors playing a crucial role in deltas. Pavel Kabat (Climate changes Spatial Planning) gave a presentation on Dutch climate research and Malcom Smith (architect at ARUP) triggered the audience with a few challenging thoughts for the rest of the conference.

The results of the conference can be found here