Agency and constraint in environmental policy coherence

Whether pursuing the breadth of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals or delivering joined-up approaches within a single environmental domain, policy objectives, policy design and policy implementation should cohere vertically and horizontally. However, policy coherence remains a challenge to...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alba Juarez Bourke, Keith Marshall, Kerry Waylen, Kirsty Blackstock
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Arizona Libraries 2023-04-01
Series:Journal of Political Ecology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu/jpe/article/id/3055/
_version_ 1797851051134550016
author Alba Juarez Bourke
Keith Marshall
Kerry Waylen
Kirsty Blackstock
author_facet Alba Juarez Bourke
Keith Marshall
Kerry Waylen
Kirsty Blackstock
author_sort Alba Juarez Bourke
collection DOAJ
description Whether pursuing the breadth of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals or delivering joined-up approaches within a single environmental domain, policy objectives, policy design and policy implementation should cohere vertically and horizontally. However, policy coherence remains a challenge to implement. The limited empirical scholarship on policy coherence tends to focus on policy documentation and/or the outcomes, with little attention to individual agency or social processes involved. Furthermore, there is little discussion of the normative dimensions of policy coherence and the political aspects of individual agency, indicating the need for political ecology. We conducted an empirical study within four UK catchment (watershed) partnerships, using critical interpretive policy analysis to enrich the interface between political ecology and environmental policy. We explored who practices policy coherence and how; what motivates those investing their energy into these practices; their constraints and the contradictions arising. We found that the appetite and ability to support policy coherence depends on individual agency as much as partnership structures, which are themselves situated in technocratic regimes of policy implementation. Within these regimes, agents presented as apolitical and enabling, making it challenging to research the political and social processes of policy coherence. A political ecology lens highlights how power is involved in these voluntary initiatives, potentially shoring up existing privilege inscribed into riparian habitats and their resources. Our contribution therefore responds to and amplifies the critique of traditional presentations of integrated water resource management devoid of politics.
first_indexed 2024-04-09T19:10:50Z
format Article
id doaj.art-9c47e3c54d4442ec95bae9ea15939ad1
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1073-0451
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-09T19:10:50Z
publishDate 2023-04-01
publisher University of Arizona Libraries
record_format Article
series Journal of Political Ecology
spelling doaj.art-9c47e3c54d4442ec95bae9ea15939ad12023-04-06T15:44:40ZengUniversity of Arizona LibrariesJournal of Political Ecology1073-04512023-04-0130110.2458/jpe.3055Agency and constraint in environmental policy coherenceAlba Juarez Bourke0Keith Marshall1Kerry Waylen2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6593-2795Kirsty Blackstock3Social, Economic & Geographical Sciences, James Hutton InstituteSocial, Economic & Geographical Sciences, James Hutton InstituteSocial, Economic & Geographical Sciences, James Hutton InstituteSocial, Economic & Geographical Sciences, James Hutton InstituteWhether pursuing the breadth of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals or delivering joined-up approaches within a single environmental domain, policy objectives, policy design and policy implementation should cohere vertically and horizontally. However, policy coherence remains a challenge to implement. The limited empirical scholarship on policy coherence tends to focus on policy documentation and/or the outcomes, with little attention to individual agency or social processes involved. Furthermore, there is little discussion of the normative dimensions of policy coherence and the political aspects of individual agency, indicating the need for political ecology. We conducted an empirical study within four UK catchment (watershed) partnerships, using critical interpretive policy analysis to enrich the interface between political ecology and environmental policy. We explored who practices policy coherence and how; what motivates those investing their energy into these practices; their constraints and the contradictions arising. We found that the appetite and ability to support policy coherence depends on individual agency as much as partnership structures, which are themselves situated in technocratic regimes of policy implementation. Within these regimes, agents presented as apolitical and enabling, making it challenging to research the political and social processes of policy coherence. A political ecology lens highlights how power is involved in these voluntary initiatives, potentially shoring up existing privilege inscribed into riparian habitats and their resources. Our contribution therefore responds to and amplifies the critique of traditional presentations of integrated water resource management devoid of politics.http://journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu/jpe/article/id/3055/policy coherenceenvironmentintegrated water resource managementpowerpartnershipsEU Water Framework Directive
spellingShingle Alba Juarez Bourke
Keith Marshall
Kerry Waylen
Kirsty Blackstock
Agency and constraint in environmental policy coherence
Journal of Political Ecology
policy coherence
environment
integrated water resource management
power
partnerships
EU Water Framework Directive
title Agency and constraint in environmental policy coherence
title_full Agency and constraint in environmental policy coherence
title_fullStr Agency and constraint in environmental policy coherence
title_full_unstemmed Agency and constraint in environmental policy coherence
title_short Agency and constraint in environmental policy coherence
title_sort agency and constraint in environmental policy coherence
topic policy coherence
environment
integrated water resource management
power
partnerships
EU Water Framework Directive
url http://journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu/jpe/article/id/3055/
work_keys_str_mv AT albajuarezbourke agencyandconstraintinenvironmentalpolicycoherence
AT keithmarshall agencyandconstraintinenvironmentalpolicycoherence
AT kerrywaylen agencyandconstraintinenvironmentalpolicycoherence
AT kirstyblackstock agencyandconstraintinenvironmentalpolicycoherence