Collaborative governance in rural regions: an examination of Ireland and Newfoundland and Labrador

Abstract

Rural communities, residents, and governments at all levels are considering new \nforms of governance as a mechanism to assist in the revitalization and sustainability of \nrural regions. This search for new forms of governance is partly fueled by frustrations of \nresidents in rural regions at the lack of central governments’ abilities to respond to \nregional priorities, challenges, and opportunities. Recognizing this frustration, this \ndissertation responds to two calls for ‘calls to arms’ for research on rural governance. \nIn the early 2000s Reimer suggested governance was a revolution being missed, \nleading to lack of understanding of the phenomenon. He suggests additional research is \nrequired on this phenomenon in Canada. Further, in the mid 2000s Ansell and Gash \nencouraged researchers to test their collaborative governance model. This model was \nconstructed from a synthesis of over 100 cases of governance and was designed to \nadvance empirical data collection on collaborative governance. In responding to these \ncalls, this initiative examines the collaborative governance model in two regions: the \nSouth Kerry area of Ireland and the Northern Peninsula region of Newfoundland. \nThis dissertation addresses four research questions through an international case \nstudy approach: (i) is the collaborative governance model, proposed by Ansell and Gash \n(2007), appropriate for understanding rural regional governance?; (ii) how do individuals, \ncommunity-based organizations, and other key stakeholders influence the rural regional \ngovernance process or processes?; (iii) how do regional boundaries influence the \nformation and operation of rural regional governance models?; and (iv) what is the \nrelationship between government(s) and regional governance initiatives? \nThe two governance initiatives convey much of Ansell and Gash’s collaborative \ngovernance model components. The examination of the two cases suggests four additions \nto strengthen the collaborative governance model: definition of region, introduction of \ndifferentiating multi-level actors, recognition of power-resource-knowledge a/symmetries \nin the collaborative process component, and the addition of explicit need for power \nand/or responsibility sharing. \nThis dissertation advances academic knowledge on collaborative governance and \nrural regional development. The findings emerging from this dissertation hold relevance \nto academia, policy, and local/regional development practice.

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