Landscapes in transition: planning for uncertain futures and alternative scenarios in resource-dependent regions
dc.contributor.advisor | Mulvihill, Peter | |
dc.contributor.advisor | Sandberg, Anders | |
dc.contributor.advisor | Martell, Dave | |
dc.creator | Kramkowski, Victoria | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2016-09-13T13:13:27Z | |
dc.date.available | 2016-09-13T13:13:27Z | |
dc.date.copyright | 2013-01 | |
dc.degree.discipline | Environmental Studies | |
dc.degree.level | Doctoral | |
dc.degree.name | PhD - Doctor of Philosophy | |
dc.description.abstract | Resource-based regions face a unique set of challenges and vulnerabilities regarding environmental, social, and economic sustainability and stability. Such regions are characterized by complex relationships with the landscape and resource industry, a distinctive Northern identity, multiple spatial and temporal scales of planning, complex power relations, shifting environmental values, and high uncertainty. These challenges and dynamics can preclude the utility of long-range environmental planning and the agency to undertake it. This dissertation examines three key research questions: ( 1) How can regional environmental planning processes address the cumulative, multi-scale challenges inherent to resource-dependent regions experiencing social, economic, and environmental transitions?; (2) How can uncertainty and long-term futures be planned for by utilizing scenarios, and how can scenario planning be integrated into existing environmental planning and assessment frameworks to manage uncertainty?; and (3) How do the diverse values and power relations inherent to a post-productivist landscape shape environmental planning and resultant outcomes? These research questions were addressed through a case study analysis of the Northeast Superior region utilizing semi-structured interviews, focus groups, site visits, and document analysis. Key findings include the need for: (1) Better recognition of planning participants' complex, multi-dimensional relationships with the landscape and each other; (2) Planning that is both place-based and transferable to other contexts; (3) Transparent planning processes that co-exist with their inherently political nature; ( 4) Governmental commitment to planning outcomes; and ( 5) The incorporation of scenarios into existing approaches to long-range environmental planning to both strengthen these approaches and facilitate acceptance of scenario planning in managing uncertainty. | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10315/31918 | |
dc.rights | Author owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests. | |
dc.subject.keywords | landscapes | |
dc.subject.keywords | resource-based regions | |
dc.subject.keywords | environmental planning | |
dc.subject.keywords | Northeast Superior region | |
dc.subject.keywords | Ontario | |
dc.title | Landscapes in transition: planning for uncertain futures and alternative scenarios in resource-dependent regions | |
dc.type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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