Managing Environmental Disputes Network Management as an Alternative

The concept of sustainable development is a source of inspiration for many, who see it as a call to cooperative action. In practice, however, policies intended to further this goal often generate conflicts of interest. The ensuing disputes occur among governmental organizations, but disputes also arise between public authorities, private interest groups, and the environmental movement. In the opinion of the authors, the fact that environmental policy can provoke such conflict may be attributed largely to decision making procedures in our society. Accordingly, the authors are convinced that a new approach to managing environmental disputes is needed in order to deal effectively with environmental problems. Indeed, this book presents a viable alternative, which is called network management.

1. Environmental dispute resolution as a management issue: Towards new forms of decision making.- 2. Activating a policy network: The case of the Mainport Schiphol.- 3. Strategies for network management in an agricultural region: The case of the Gelre Valley.- 4. From adversarial to collaborative interaction: Environmental problem solving in the Zealand Flanders Canal Region.- 5. The role of mediation in the process of integrated planning: Environmental planning in the area of the world’s biggest harbor.- 6. Government control in a polynuclear metropolis: The search for an effective management strategy.- 7. Project management for water conflicts: An analysis of factors conducive to success or failure.- 8. Between salt and salmon: Network management in the Rhine catchment area.- 9. Forecasting land-use disputes: Network analysis of a nature development project.- 10. Network management in perspective: Concluding remarks on network management as an innovative form of environmental management.- About the authors.