Balancing the see-saw of natural resource governance: the interaction of legislation, policy and practice in four Australian participatory processes

Increasing the role of community in the management of natural resources is a stated priority of ecologically sustainable development principles. Despite a proliferation of policy and legal requirements for public participation and non-legal guidelines that promote community access to environmental decisionmaking at both the international and national scale, implementation is often unsatisfactory and difficult to evaluate. For environmental managers, understanding both the potential and limitations of legal rules and policy requirements is important when evaluating the impact of reform efforts. Examining case studies of wind farm governance and natural resource planning in New South Wales, this article considers how legislative commitments to community engagement are experienced in practice. The intention is to move beyond a repetitive focus on how to run a good participatory process to a better understanding of how legislative and policy requirements can more effectively involve communities in natural resource governance. Results are presented within an analytical framework that distinguishes between legislation, policy, practice, evidence and reform elements of natural resource governance. The outcome is a better understanding of how legal requirements, audit and review mechanisms, best practice standards and guidelines can improve the quality and authenticity of community engagement in natural resource governance.