Reference no: EM133744443
BACKGROUND
"In the context of public administration, learning can be understood as the process by which people develop a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of the science, technology, law, economics, and politics that underlie the decisions they make or the recommendations they advance. Such learning can involve revision of professional beliefs regarding facts, values, or policies. When learning results in a convergence of beliefs among stakeholders, it can ultimately lead to political consensus and collective action. Learning is, therefore, an important step in the policymaking process." ~ Leach et al. (2014) "Fostering learning through collaboration..." Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 24(3): 592
One common obstacle to successful intersectoral collaboration is lack of consensus among stakeholders about basic facts or trends. For example:
How many people are homeless in Los Angeles?
How much will the population of Southern California grow over the next 25 years?
How much groundwater is in the Tulare Basin aquifer, and how fast is it being consumed?
Fact-finding is a process of trying to answer such questions. Joint-fact-finding (JFF) is a process of doing so in a collaborative manner designed to generate broad consensus on the facts.
A related type of obstacle to collaborative governance is lack of consensus on the likely consequences of proposed policies or programs. For example:
If we give iPads to students in the Los Angeles Unified School District, will test scores and graduation rates improve?
If we restore spawning gravel and large woody debris in tributaries of the American River, will endangered runs of Chinook salmon recover?
Adaptive Management (or Performance Management) is a process of trying to answer such questions through a cyclical process of (1) implementing proposed policies, (2) carefully monitoring the results, and (3) modifying future policies or programs based on what we have learned from experience. Collaborative Adaptive Management (CAM) is a variation on this process designed to generate broad consensus among stakeholders regarding what works and what doesn't.
One common thread between JFF and CAM is that the stakeholders jointly design, implement, and/or commission new research, such that all the parties to a dispute are more likely to trust and publicly accept the ultimate findings of the research, no matter how the results turn out.