PhD Scholar

Is working together enough? The role of 'community' in catchment and regional environmental management frameworks

E-mail: Rory.Eames@anu.edu.au

'Community', 'stakeholder' and 'public participation' are often referred to as key aspects of integrated and collaborative frameworks used to address complex environmental degradation issues, especially at the catchment and regional scale. In Australia, Integrated Catchment Management and to some extent Landcare have predominantly provided the avenues for this to happen, and the case study of the Swan-Canning catchment in South West Western Australia is typical of this approach. However a combination of factors surrounding this case study suggests that the conceptualisations of the role of community in environmental management are increasingly inadequate. An understanding of these factors, combined with a synthesis of theories from a range of literature suggests a fruitful way to (re)conceptualise the role of community in collaborative environmental management at the catchment and regional scales.