Adaptive Governance and Policy-making Using the ADAPTool

Time Training Programme 20 min Session 1: Context Presentation: Principles at the Nexus of Sustainability, Accountability and Adaptability Discussion: Practices and Tools at the Nexus 30 min Session 2: Introduction Presentation: What Are Adaptive Policies? Discussion: Stressors impacting your national development plan 25 min Session 3: ADAPTool for Existing Policies Presentation: Overview of the ADAPTool for Existing Policies Discussion: Q &A 15 minBreak 75 minSession 4: ADAPTool for New Policies Presentation and Individual Exercise: ADAPTool for New Policies 15 min Session 5: Wrap-up Presentation: Recap of training session Discussion: Participant Experience with Adaptive Tools, Barriers and Barrier Busters.

Session 1: The Nexus of Sustainability, Accountability and Adaptability

sustainAbility accountAbility adaptAbility governAbilities Core Abilities of Government

sustainAbility Multi-generational Multi-dimensional Critical thresholds Multi-stakeholder accountAbility Forward-looking Outcome and evidence-based Responsibility for performance Transparency adaptAbility Anticipatory Self-organizing Iterative Improvement governAbilities Core Abilities of Government

sustainAbility Multi-generational Multi-dimensional Critical Thresholds Multistakeholder accountAbility Forward-looking Outcome and evidence-based Responsibility for performance Transparency adaptAbility Anticipatory Iterative Improvement Self-organizing governAbilities Common Principles. Each of the three abilities requires an evidence base to describe key socioeconomic and ecological outcomes and their progress over time.

sustainAbility Multi-generational Multi-dimensional Critical Thresholds Multistakeholder accountAbility Forward-looking Outcome and evidence-based Responsibility for performance Transparency adaptAbility Anticipatory Iterative Improvement Self-organizing governAbilities Common Principles. Success in all three abilities necessitates that stakeholders have access to information and are part of decision-making processes.

sustainAbility Multi-generational Multi-dimensional Critical thresholds Multistakeholder accountAbility Forward-looking Outcome and evidence-based Responsibility for performance Transparency adaptAbility Anticipatory Iterative Improvement Self-organizing governAbilities Common Principles. A forward-looking aspect is inherent in all three abilities.

sustainAbility accountAbility adaptAbility Tools at the Nexus governAbilities

Discussion From your experience, what types of practices or tools help governments achieve sustainability, accountability and adaptability?

Session 2: What are adaptive policies ?

Complex Adaptive Systems

“many individual, self-organizing elements capable of responding to others and to their environment. network of relationships and interactions, in which the whole is very much more that the sum of the parts. A change in any part of the system, even in a single element, produces reactions and changes in associated elements and the environment” Complex Adaptive Systems

“system cannot be predicted with complete accuracy system is always responding and adapting to changes and the actions of individuals. At the same time, the tendency of elements within the system to organize themselves offers opportunities to bring out changes that benefit the system (Glouberman et al. 2003).” University Complex Adaptive Systems

Policies that cannot perform effectively under complex, dynamic and uncertain conditions run the risk of not achieving their intended purpose, and becoming a hindrance to the ability of individuals, communities and businesses to cope with—and adapt to— change.

…Studied high profile policies and talked to policymakers in Canada and India …talked to those impacted by policy …compiled adaptive features from effective policies

Adaptive Policy Ability of policy to adapt to anticipated conditions (based on a good understanding of cause and effect) (based on a good understanding of system dynamics and complexity) Ability of policy to adapt to unanticipated conditions

Integrated and forward-looking analysis Built-in policy adjustment Formal policy review Multi-stakeholder deliberation Promoting variation Enabling self-organization Decentralization of decision-making Planned Adaptability (for anticipating) Autonomous Adaptability (for unanticipated issues) Seven Tools for Creating Adaptive Policies

Discussion What stressors are making it difficult to achieve your country’s development plan? Are the stressors getting worse?

Session 3: The ADAPTool Version 2.0 for Existing Policies

1.Ability of existing policies to support sector adaptations to specific stressors 2.Ability of policies to be adapt themselves to changing conditions brought on by the stressors

MS Excel Workbook Four Worksheets 1.Scope 2.Vulnerability and Adaptation Analysis 3.Adaptive Capacity Analysis 4.Policy Synthesis The ADAPTool ( A daptive D esign and A ssessment P olicy T ool)

Policy Synthesis and Recommendations Planned Adaptability (Ability of policy to support anticipated necessary adaptation actions) Are anticipated adaptation actions supported by the policy? Is the policy itself vulnerable to an increase range of the stressor? Can the policy enhance the capacity of actors within the sector to undertake anticipated adaptation actions? Was multi-stakeholder deliberation used in the policy design? Autonomous Adaptability (Ability of policy to enable sector stakeholders to respond to unanticipated issues) Is multi-stakeholder deliberation used in implementation? Does the policy enable self-organization and social networking? Is decision-making adequately decentralized? Is there adequate variety in the suite of policies? Does the policy have a regular formal policy review?

Session 4: The ADAPTool for New Policies Policies (Beta Version)

1.Ability of new policies to support sector adaptations to specific stressors 2.Ability of the policies to be adaptive themselves to changing conditions brought on by the stressors

1. Policy Objectives Worksheet

2. Key Stressors Worksheet

3. Vulnerability Analysis Worksheet

Integrated and Forward- looking Analysis By identifying key factors that affect policy performance and identifying scenarios for how these factors might evolve in the future, policies can be made robust to a range of anticipated conditions, and indicators developed to help trigger important policy adjustments when needed.

Policy Wind Tunnels

4. Policy Adaptive Capacity Worksheet Integrated and Forward-looking Analysis

Multi-stakeholder Deliberation Strengthens ability of policy to address a range of anticipated conditions. By providing access to different perspectives, different sources of knowledge, and different ways of knowing in order to consider new information and new views of the problem. Rapid adjustment and response to unanticipated conditions. By building the social cohesion, shared vision and capacity for collective action

Why is it important?

4. Policy Adaptive Capacity Worksheet Multi-stakeholder Deliberation

Enabling Self-organization and Social Networking Ensuring that policies do not undermine existing social capital; creating forums that enable social networking; facilitating the sharing of good practices; and removing barriers to self-organization, all strengthen the ability of stakeholders to respond to unanticipated events in a variety of innovative ways.

Why is it important?

Making use of social capital in public policy: from direct to indirect influence (PRI, 2005)

4. Policy Adaptive Capacity Worksheet Enabling Self-Organization

#5 Decentralization of Decision-making #5 Decentralization of Decision-making Decentralizing the authority and responsibility for decision-making to the lowest effective and accountable unit of governance, whether existing or newly created, can increase the capacity of a policy to perform successfully when confronted with unforeseen events.

4. Policy Adaptive Capacity Worksheet Decentralization of Decision-making

#6 Promoting Variation #6 Promoting Variation Given the complexity of most policy settings, implementing a variety of policies to address the same issue increases the likelihood of achieving desired outcomes. Diversity of responses also forms a common risk- management approach, facilitating the ability to perform efficiently in the face of unanticipated conditions.

the Architect, the facilitator, the learner The policy-maker as an architect: –Providing a range of policy options –Designing and using a mix of policy instruments to achieve a single policy objective –Seeing and making linkages with other policies that have similar intent The policy-maker as a facilitator: –Creating an enabling environment for variation to occur The policy-maker as a learner: –Observing which policies work well and strengthening those policies

4. Policy Adaptive Capacity Worksheet Promoting Variation

#7 Formal Review and Continuous Learning #7 Formal Review and Continuous Learning Regular review, even when the policy is performing well, and the use of well-designed pilots throughout the life of the policy to test assumptions related to performance, can help address emerging issues and trigger important policy adjustments.

4. Policy Adaptive Capacity Worksheet Formal Policy Review and Improvement

4. Synthesis Worksheet

Session 5: Wrap Up

Integrated and forward-looking analysis Built-in policy adjustment Formal policy review Multi-stakeholder deliberation Promoting variation Enabling self-organization Decentralization of decision-making Planned Adaptability (for anticipating) Autonomous Adaptability (for unanticipated issues) Seven Tools for Creating Adaptive Policies

Sustainability Accountability Adaptability governAbilities Core Abilities of Government

Discussion Q1: Have you seen any of these tools applied in your experience, and how did they help the policy or programme be more adaptive? Q2: What do you perceive as the main barriers to using these tools? Q3: What are the barrier busters?

For more information contact: Darren Swanson