Biography

Dr. Michael Sutherland holds an M.Sc.E. and Ph.D. in Geomatics Engineering from the University of New Brunswick, Canada specializing in land information management and GIS. He previously held post-doctoral positions at the University of Ottawa and Dalhousie University, Canada where he did GIS research in relation to multi-criteria decision analysis supporting socioeconomic and environmental phenomena. Dr. Sutherland is a member of the Canadian Institute of Geomatics and the Institute of Surveyors of Trinidad and Tobago, and is an elected member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He is also an Associate of the Canadian Fisheries, Oceans, and Aquaculture Management (C-FOAM) research group, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, Canada. Dr. Sutherland is a lecturer, and the Programme Coordinator of the B.Sc. in Land Management Programme in the Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management, University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. At UWI, St. Augustine, he is also an Honorary Fellow of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies. Michael is currently Chair of Commission 4, International Federation of Surveyors.

Article Title

TOWARDS NON-SILO GOVERNANCE: SPATIAL INFORMATION EXAMPLES

Abstract

Governance is the management of stakeholder relationships through the dictates of value systems, as these relationships impact upon the stakeholders’ current and possible future social, economic, political and physical environments. In the English-speaking Caribbean, social, political, economic, and environmental objectives have traditionally (and often still are being) pursued through specialist persectives such as agriculture, education, health, land management etc. that manifest as government and quasi-government ministries and agencies. It is not uncommon for these ministries and agencies to operate in “silos”, i.e., operating according to non-collaborating, non-cooperating, or non-integrating mandates. Often this silo approach to governance results in overlapping uses or management of spaces without the benefit of shared information among stakeholders. This lack of sharing of information comes with unnecessary costs due to the duplication of efforts to collect, process, and disseminate the information to support defined social, political, economic, and environmental objectives.

The answer to many of society’s ills, however, require multidisciplinary or holistic approaches. An example of this is Integrated Coastal Zone Management, in recognition of the fact that the coastal zone is affected by factors seaward and landward of the coastal zone, and that an integrative solution involving the participation of all stakeholders is a better strategic approach than a ministry or agency that on its own tries to implement solutions. Collaborative, cooperative, or integrative governance models are being recognised as better bases for governance decision-making.

The efficient management and administration of defined spaces depend upon access to appropriate and useful information and information systems, appropriate technologies, adequate laws and policies, relevant institutional arrangements, efficiently functioning organizations, well-trained professionals, and informed stakeholders. Value systems in any socioeconomic construct determine the acceptable uses of any space. These value systems are expressed as laws, regulations, policies, customs etc. that control behaviours in defined spaces. This management of defined spaces has obvious spatial information management implications that, in addition to the other types of information management required, support governance decision making.

However, management efficiencies are improved if management is enacted from a holistic perspective, i.e., the recognition that multiple stakeholders with multiple objectives often impact upon a defined space, and therefore the sharing of information not only saves time and money but also is necessary to faciltitate more efficient uses of defined spaces. In support of growth in the Caribbean region towards more collaborative, cooperative or integrative governance, Caribbean climate change spatial information management examples from an International Community-University Research Alliance (ICURA) project are presented.