Mulvihill, PeterSandberg, AndersMartell, Dave2016-09-132016-09-132013-01http://hdl.handle.net/10315/31918Resource-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.Author owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.Electronic Thesis or Dissertationlandscapesresource-based regionsenvironmental planningNortheast Superior regionOntario