Integrated catchment management research: lessons for interdisciplinary science from the Motueka Catchment, New Zealand
Chris Phillips A F , Will Allen E , Andrew Fenemor B , Breck Bowden C and Roger Young D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Landcare Research, PO Box 40, Lincoln 7640, New Zealand.
B Landcare Research, Private Bag 6, Nelson 7042, New Zealand.
C Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, 304 Aiken Center, Burlington, VT 05405, USA.
D Cawthron Institute, Private Bag 2, Nelson 7042, New Zealand.
E Learning for Sustainability – http://learningforsustainability.net
F Corresponding author. Email: phillipsc@landcareresearch.co.nz
Marine and Freshwater Research 61(7) 749-763 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF09099
Submitted: 5 May 2009 Accepted: 4 March 2010 Published: 23 July 2010
Abstract
Integrative research projects are becoming more common and inherently face challenges that single-discipline or multi-disciplinary projects seldom do. It is difficult to learn what makes a successful integrative research project as many of these challenges and solutions often go unreported. Using the New Zealand Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) for the Motueka River research program, we reflect on the demands confronting research programs attempting to operate in an integrative interdisciplinary manner. We highlight seven key lessons that may help others learn of the benefits and difficulties that confront scientists and stakeholders involved in undertaking similar research. These are (1) clarify the goal and work with key people; (2) manage expectations; (3) agree on integrative concepts and face the challenge of epistemology; (4) leadership; (5) communication in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect; (6) acknowledge that different modes of learning mean that a wide range of knowledge products are needed; and (7) measure and celebrate success. The recognition that many environmental problems can only be solved through the creation of new knowledge and through social processes that engage the research and management domains has been a major benefit of the research program.
Additional keywords: evaluation, ICM, integration, lessons, multi-disciplinary, success.
Acknowledgements
The ICM Motueka whanau/family (researchers, partners, stakeholders, catchment dwellers) is thanked for providing a great place to work and for the ongoing support we have all received in the last 10 years. Christine Bezar is thanked for editing an earlier manuscript. The authors are extremely grateful for the input and suggestions from the guest editor and two anonymous reviewers who provided insightful comments and suggestions that have significantly improved the original manuscript. This research was supported by the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology under Contract CO9X0305.
References
Allen W. (2006). Learning about sediment in the ICM research programme. Internal report on the ICM sediment learning group. Available at http://icm.landcareresearch.co.nz/knowledgebase/publications/public/Sediment_Learning_Group_article.pdf [Verified 26 May 2010].
Allen W. J., and Jacobson C. (2009). Learning about the social elements of adaptive management in the South Island tussock grasslands of New Zealand. In ‘Adaptive Environmental Management: A Practitioner’s Guide’. (Eds C. Allan and G. Stansky.) pp. 95–114. (Springer/CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne.) Available at http://www.learningforsustainability.net/pubs/Allen&Jacobson_AM_ch6.pdf [Verified March 2010].
Allen W., and Kilvington M. (2002). Learning and working together for the environment: applying the Integrated Systems for Knowledge Management approach. Development Bulletin (Canberra) 58, 106–110. Available at http://devnet.anu.edu.au/online%20versions%20pdfs/58/2758Allen.pdf [Verified 26 May 2010].
Allen W. J., and Kilvington M. J. (2005). Getting technical environmental information into watershed decision making. In ‘The Farmers’ Decision: Balancing Economic Successful Agriculture Production with Environmental Quality’. (Ed. J. L. Hatfield.) pp. 45–61. (Soil and Water Conservation Society: Ankeny, IW, USA.) Available at http://www.learningforsustainability.net/pubs/AllenKilvington2005.pdf [Verified 26 May 2010].
Allen, W. J. , Bosch, O. J. H. , Kilvington, M. J. , and Oliver, J. (2001). Benefits of collaborative learning for environmental management: Applying the Integrated Systems for Knowledge Management approach to support animal pest control. Environmental Management 27, 215–223.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
CAS |
PubMed |
Atkinson M., Peacock K., and Fenemor A. D. (Eds) (2004). ‘Travelling River – A Collaboration of Artists, Scientists and the People of the Motueka River Catchment.’ Catalogue for the Travelling River exhibition. (Mountains-to-the-Sea project, Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research: Nelson.)
Atkinson M., Kilvington M., and Fenemor A. (2009). ‘Watershed Talk. The Cultivation of Ideas and Action.’ (Manaaki Whenua Press: Lincoln.)
Bammer G., Mobbs C., Lane R., Dovers S., and Curtis A. (2005a). An introduction to Australian case studies of integration in natural resource management (NRM). Australasian Journal of Environmental Management 12(Suppl.), 3–4. doi:10.1016/J.ENVSOFT.2006.10.006
Bammer G., O’Connell D., Roughley A., and Syme G. (2005b). Integration research for natural resource management in Australia: An introduction to new challenges for research practice. Journal of Research Practice 1, Article E1. Available at http://jrp.icaap.org/index.php/jrp/article/view/18/29
Basher L. R. (Ed.) (2003). The Motueka and Riwaka Catchments. A technical report summarizing the present state of knowledge of the catchments, management issues and research needs for integrated catchment management. Landcare Research, Lincoln, New Zealand.
Benda, L. E. , Poff, L. , Tague, C. , Palmer, M. , Pizzuto, J. , Stanley, E. , and Moglen, G. (2002). How to avoid train wrecks when using science in environmental problem solving. BioScience 52, 1127–1136.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Bonnell M., and Askew A. (2000). ‘The Design and Implementation Strategy of the Hydrology for Environment, Life and Policy (HELP) Initiative.’ (HELP Task Force, United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization: Paris.)
Booth J., Layard N., and Dale N. (2004). A strategy for a community information, knowledge and learning system. Prepared for The University of Northen British Columbia’s Northern Land Use institute, Northern Coastal and Research Programme. Available at http://www.empr.gov.bc.ca/OG/offshoreoilandgas/ReportsPresentationsandEducationalMaterial/Reports/Documents/jacqueline_booth_report.pdf [Verified 26 May 2010].
Boulton A., Piegay H., and Sanders M. (2008). Turbulence and train wrecks: using knowledge strategies to enhance the application of integrative river science to effective river management. In ‘River Futures. An Integrative Scientific Approach to River Repair’. (Eds G. Brierley and K. Fryirs.) pp. 28–39. (Island Press: Washington, DC.)
Bowden W. B., and Wilkinson R. (2000). Stakeholder opinions regarding priority research issues for land and water resource management in the Motueka River catchment, Tasman District. Landcare Research Report LC0001/07, Lincoln, New Zealand.
Bowden, W. B. , Fenemor, A. , and Deans, N. (2004). Integrated water and catchment research for the public good: The Motueka River – Tasman Bay initiative, New Zealand. Water Resources Development 20, 311–323.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Brierley G., and Fryirs K. (2008). ‘River Futures. An Integrative Scientific Approach to River Repair.’ (Island Press: Washington, DC.)
Bruce, A. , Lyall, C. , Tait, J. , and Williams, R. (2004). Interdisciplinary integration in Europe: the case of the Fifth Framework programme. Futures 36, 457–470.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Cornwall A., Pratt G., and Scott-Villiers P. (2004). Participatory learning groups in an aid bureaucracy. IDS Learning from Change Series No. 11. Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton.
COSEPUP (Committee on Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research, Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy) (2004). Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research. National Academies Press, Washington, DC. Available at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11153#toc [Verified 26 May 2010].
Cottingham, K. L. (2002). Tackling biocomplexity: the role of people, tools and scale. BioScience 52, 793–799.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Cronin K. (2008). Transdisciplinary research (TDR) and sustainability. Overview report prepared for the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (MoRST). Environmental Science and Research (ESR) Ltd, New Zealand.
Cullen, P. (1990). The turbulent boundary between water science and water management. Freshwater Biology 24, 201–209.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Dewulf A., Francois G., Pahl-Wostl C., and Taillieu T. (2007). A framing approach to cross-disciplinary research collaboration: experiences from a large-scale research project on adaptive water management. Ecology and Society 12, 14. Available at http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol12/iss2/art14/ [Verified 26 May 2010].
Dodd M., Wilcock B., and Parminter T. (2009). Review of recent rural catchment-based research in New Zealand. Report for MAF Policy, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Wellington.
Dwyer, C. , and Ross, H. (2006). Integrating sciences for the Australian NRM. The role of the social sciences. International Journal of the Interdisciplinary Social Sciences 1, 39–48.
Dymond J., Cole A., Davie T., Fenemor A., and Gibbs M. (2006). IDEAS – an Integrated Dynamic Environmental Assessment System for catchment planning. Landcare Research report. Available at http://icm.landcareresearch.co.nz/knowledgebase/publications/public/ideas_report_2006.pdf [Verified 26 May 2010].
Dymond J. R., Davie T. J. A., Fenemor A. D., Ekanayake J. C., Knight B. R., et al. (2010). Integrating environmental and socio-economic indicators of a linked catchment–coastal system using variable environmental intensity. Environmental Management, in press.
Fahey B., Ekanayake J., Jackson R., Fenemor A., Davie T., and Rowe L. (2010). Using the WATYIELD water balance model to predict catchment water yields and low flows. Journal of Hydrology, in press.
Fenemor, A. , Deans, N. , Davie, T. , Allen, W. , and Dymond, J. , et al. (2008). Collaboration and modelling – tools for integration in the Motueka catchment, New Zealand. Water S.A. 34, 448–455.
Giller K. E., Leeuwis C., Andersson J. A., Andriesse W., Brouwer A., et al. (2008). Competing claims on natural resources: what role for science? Ecology and Society 13, 34. Available at http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss2/art34/ [Verified 26 May 2010].
Harmsworth G. (2005). Motueka Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) Programme – Working with Iwi. Journal of Water and Wastes in New Zealand May Issue, 43–48.
Hellberg C., Davis M., Feeney C., and Allen W. (2009). A logic model-based framework to assess progress with integrated catchment managemernt planning in the Auckland region. In ‘Proceedings, NZWWA 6th South Pacific Stormwater Conference 29 April–1 May 2009, Auckland’. [Available as a CD-ROM.]
Hirsch, J. E. (2005). An index to quantify an individual’s scientific research output. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 102, 16 569–16 572.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
CAS |
Hollaender K., Loibl M. C., and Wilts A. (2002). Management of transdisciplinary research. In ‘Unity of Knowledge in Transdisciplinary Research for Sustainability’. (Ed. G. Hadorn Hirsch.) (UNESCO Publishing – Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems Publishers: Oxford.)
Hong T., Minni G., Davie T., and Thomas J. (2009). 3D finite-element transient groundwater-river interaction model in a narrow valley aquifer system of the Upper Motueka Catchment. Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Report 2009/28, Wellington, New Zealand.
Ison, R. , Rolling, N. , and Watson, D. (2007). Challenges to science and society in the sustainable management and use of water: investigating the role of social learning. Environmental Science & Policy 10, 499–511.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Kates R. W. with National Academies Committee on Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research (2005). How academic institutions can facilitate interdisciplinary research. In ‘Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research’. (Eds Committee on Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research and Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy.) pp. 85–113. (The National Academies Press: Washington, DC.)
Kilvington M., and Allen W. (2007). Evaluation of the Social Spaces of the Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) Research Programme. Landcare Research Contract Report, LC0607/183.
Kilvington M., and Horn C. (2006). ‘Mountains to the Sea: Reflections on an Arts and Science Collaboration about the Motueka River Catchment.’ (Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research: Lincoln.)
Lélé, S. , and Norgaard, R. B. (2005). Practicing interdisciplinarity. BioScience 55, 967–975.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Macleod C. J. A., Blackstock K. L., and Haygarth P. M. (2008). Mechanisms to improve integrative research at the science–policy interface for sustainable catchment management. Ecology and Society 13, 48. Available at http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss2/art48/ [Verified 26 May 2010].
MacMynowski D. P. (2007). Pausing at the brink of interdisciplinarity: power and knowledge at the meeting of social and biophysical science. Ecology and Society 12, 20. Available at http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol12/iss1/art20/ [Verified 26 May 2010].
Mansilla V. B., and Gardner H. (2003). ‘Assessing Interdisciplinary Work at the Frontier. An Empirical Exploration of ‘Symptoms of Quality’.’ Available at http://www.interdisciplines.org/interdisciplinarity/papers/6 [Verified 26 May 2010].
Marden, M. , Rowan, D. , and Phillips, C. J. (2005). Stabilising characteristics of New Zealand indigenous riparian colonising plants. Plant and Soil 278, 95–105.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
CAS |
Miller T. R., Baird T. D., Littlefield C. M., Kofinas G. P., Chapin F. S.III, and Redman C. L. (2008). Epistemological pluralism: reorganizing interdisciplinary research. Ecology and Society 13, 46. Available at http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss2/art46/ [Verified 26 May 2010].
Morse W. C., Nielsen-Pincus M., Force J. E., and Wulfhorst J. D. (2007). Bridges and barriers to developing and conducting interdisciplinary graduate-student team research. Ecology and Society 12, 8. Available at http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol12/iss2/art8/ [Verified 26 May 2010].
Naiman, R. J. (1999). A perspective on interdisciplinary science. Ecosystems 2, 292–295.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (2004). Growing for Good – intensive farming, sustainability and New Zealand’s environment.
Patton M. Q. (1990). ‘Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods.’ 2nd edn. (Sage Publications Inc.: Thousand Oaks.)
Peacock S. (Ed.) (2005). ‘Conversations About a River.’ (Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research: Lincoln.)
Pennington D. D. (2008). Cross-disciplinary collaboration and learning. Ecology and Society 13, 8. Available at http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss2/art18/ [Verified 26 May 2010].
Phillips C. J., Allen W. J., and Kilvington M. (2004). Is knowledge management the answer in ICM? The Motueka River ICM experience. Water – Journal of Australian Water Association May, 63–66 doi:10.1007/S100219900081
Pickett, S. T. A. , Burch, W. R. , and Grove, J. M. (1999). Interdisciplinary research: maintaining the constructive impulse in a culture of criticism. Ecosystems 2, 302–307.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Roux D. J., Rogers K. H., Biggs H. C., Ashton P. J., and Sergeant A. (2006). Bridging the science–management divide: moving from unidirectional knowledge transfer to knowledge interfacing and sharing. Ecology and Society 11, 4. Available at http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss1/art4/ [Verified 26 May 2010].
Shadish W. R., Cook T. D., and Leviton L. C. (1992). ‘Foundations of Program Evaluation: Theories of Practice.’ (Sage Publications Ltd.: London.)
Spencer B. F. J., Butler R., Ricker K., Marcusiu D., Finholt T., and Foster I. (2006). Cyberenvironment project management: lessons learned. Report for the National Science Foundation. Available at http://www.nsf.gov/od/oci/CPMLL.pdf [Verified 26 May 2010].
Stevens, C. J. , Fraser, I. , Mitchley, J. , and Thomas, M. B. (2007). Making ecological science policy-relevant: issues of scale and interdisciplinary integration. Landscape Ecology 22, 799–809.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Tress B., Tress G., and Fry G. (2005c). Ten steps to success in integrative research projects. In ‘From Landscape Research to Landscape Planning: Aspects of Integration, Education and Application’. (Eds B. Tress, G. Tress, G. Fry and P. Opdam.) UR Frontis Series. Vol. 12. pp. 241–257. (Springer: Dordrecht.)
Tress, B. , Tress, G. , and Fry, G. (2006). Publishing integrative landscape research: analysis of editorial policies of peer-reviewed journals. Environmental Science & Policy 9, 466–475.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
UNEP/GPA (United Nations Environment Programme/Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities, of the United Nations Environment Programme) (2006). Ecosystem-based management: markers for assessing progress. UNEP/GPA, The Hague. Available at http://www.gpa.unep.org/documents/ecosystem-based_management_english.pdf [Verified 26 May 2010].
van Raan A. F. J. (2004). Measuring science. Capita Selecta of Current Main Issues. In ‘Handbook of Quantitative Science and Technology Research’. (Eds H. F. Moed, et al.) pp. 19–50. (Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht.)
Wadsworth Y. (1998). What is participatory action research? Action Research International. Paper 2. Available at http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/ari/p-ywadsworth98.html [Verified 26 May 2010].
Westley F., Miller F., and Lacy B. (2003). Far from land: further explorations in consilience. Paper presented at the Tenth International Conference on Multi-Organizational Partnerships, Alliances and Networks, ‘Co-creating Emergent Insight’. 25–28 June 2003, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland.
Young, R. G. , and Collier, K. J. (2009). Contrasting responses to catchment modification among a range of functional and structural indicators of river ecosystem health. Freshwater Biology 54, 2155–2170.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
CAS |
Young R. G., Harmsworth G., Walker D., and James T. (2008). Linkages between cultural and scientific indicators of river and stream health. Motueka ICM Stakeholder report. Available at http://icm.landcareresearch.co.nz/knowledgebase/publications/public/Cultural_indicators_report2.pdf [Verified 26 May 2010].
Young, R. G. , Wilkinson, J. , Hay, J. , and Hayes, J. W. (2010). Movement and mortality of adult brown trout in the Motupiko River, New Zealand: effects of water temperature, flow and flooding. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 139, 137–146.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
