Modeling Governance and Policy Drivers of Water Quality in Light of Climate Change: the Place of Public Administration Theory within a Transdisciplinary Research Project

With the ongoing appreciation of the role that human beings play in shaping the dynamics of social ecological systems (SESs) (Ostrom, 2014), researchers from across the natural, social and engineering sciences are teaming... [ view full abstract ]

With the ongoing appreciation of the role that human beings play in shaping the dynamics of social ecological systems (SESs) (Ostrom, 2014), researchers from across the natural, social and engineering sciences are teaming together to develop computational models designed to simulate the relationship between the decisions humans make to manage landscapes and ecosystems and the impacts of these decisions on terrestrial and aquatic systems. Drawing on a five year, $20 million grant from the US National Science Foundation, public administration researchers have teamed up with hydrologists, environmental engineers, ecologists and computer scientists to study the Lake Champlain Basin, a large lake bordering Vermont, New York and Quebec threatened by excessive nutrient loading from non-point source pollution. The central research question driving this project is: In the face of uncertainties about climate change, land use and lake response scenarios, how can adaptive management interventions (e.g. regulation, incentives, treaties) be designed, valued and implemented in the multi-jurisdictional Lake Champlain Basin? This paper lays out the overarching framework undertaken by researchers, with a particular focus on the role that public administration theories and practices play in the construction of the models focusing on the governance networks and policy tools in operation within the Lake Champlain Basin. The paper outlines how researchers are employing dynamic network and agent-based modeling to simulate the relationship between governance network configurations organized for agriculture run-off, stormwater run-off and landuse zoning, the suite of policy tools and financial resources flowing from them, and their impacts on land manager decisions.

This paper fits into the panel on Public Administration and Transdisciplinary Research. By employing computational modeling and a complex systems lens, the paper highlights the methods and roles that network and complexity science contributes to the cultivation of transdisciplinary research incorporating public administration. It also addresses the question of how public administration theory and practice can be used to inform transdisciplinary studies of social ecological systems.