Placing environmental democracy at the heart of co-governance: rethinking the governance of complex waterways

Abstract

The ways in which complex systems are governed often generate democratic malaise due to a gap between people’s expectations and the ability of authorities to meet these expectations. Additionally, misalignment between ecological and social systems makes it difficult for decision-makers to adapt to dynamic environments. Co-governance, which involves collaboration and engagement between governments and a range of stakeholders, is a common mechanism to address these challenges. However, co-governance has been criticized for being exclusionary, ad hoc, and counter to democratic principles. We argue that principles of environmental democracy offer a way to strengthen the effectiveness and legitimacy of co-governance. We base this argument on findings from research on the governance of national historic waterways in Ontario, Canada, specifically the Rideau Canal and Trent-Severn Waterway. These waterways reach across multiple watersheds, territories, and jurisdictions, involving a range of authorities and different stakeholder groups, many of whom have expressed dissatisfaction with current decision-making structures. By examining the difficulties involved in governing these waterways, we propose three reforms to co-governance that would enhance environmental democracy: (1) tiered-mechanisms that facilitate collaborative governance, (2) targeted collaborative exercises to create and strengthen within-ties across stakeholder groups, and (3) semi-regular forums to support communication among stakeholder groups.

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