Content

Governing the Environment

Trends

Governing the Environment
Persistent Challenges, Uncertain Innovations
Edited by Edward A. Parson

Are we on the verge of a global environmental catastrophe, or is a modest revision of environmental policy all that is necessary to ensure our safety and prosperity? Governing the Environment considers both scenarios, and those between the two extremes, in its examination of current trends and challenges in managing environmental issues.

This collection of seven essays, authored by leading Canadian academics, examines different aspects of the relationship between government and environmental issues. The volume focuses on Canadian contributions and innovations in the field, but it is of relevance to audiences around the world.

Parson's introductory essay sets the stage for the complex discussions to follow. He provides background by sketching the Canadian institutional context for environmental protection, by describing the major pollutant burdens and the state of natural resources, and by summarizing the most salient policy issues. His conclusion elaborates on four major themes emerging from the work. These are the achievement of 'adaptive management'; the challenge of building effective government and interjurisdictional capacities for managing the environment; the need for networks to share responsibility more effectively without overlapping tasks; and finally, the real challenge to state authority that these undertakings represent.

This work is written for a multidisciplinary academic audience, encompassing students and teachers of advanced environmental studies and Canadian public policy.

Chapter 1
Environmental Trends: a Challenge to Canadian Governance
Edward A. Parson

Chapter 2
Using Science In Environmental Policy: Can Canada Do Better?
Ted Schrecker

Chapter 3
Spatial Proportionality: Right-Sizing Environmental Decision Making
Robert Paehike

Chapter 4
Regional Models of Environmental Governance in the Context of Market Integration
Luc Juillet

Chapter 5
Aboriginal Peoples in Canada: Their Role in Shaping Environmental Trends in the 21st Century
Patricia Doyle-Bedwell and Fay G. Cohen

Chapter 6
Voluntarism and Environmental Governance
Kathryn Harrison

Chapter 7
Great Expectations, Mixed Results: Trends in Citizen Involvement in Canadian Environmental Governance
Anthony H.J. Dorcey and Timothy McDaniels

Chapter 8
Complex Network Management and the Governance of the Environment: Prospects for Policy Change and Policy Stability Over the Long Term
Michael Howlett