Unmasking Community Engagement in Urban Waterways Governance: Beyond Community-Washing

Updated: Feb 6, 2024

E. Dineth Perera

Researcher ,Urban Planner - Urban Designer, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology

Email: eperera@swin.edu.au

Introduction

The management of urban waterways is a critical concern for cities worldwide, with implications for biodiversity, ecosystem health, flood control, and the well-being of local communities. Communities engage in urban waterways management differently, including tree-planting, waste collection, decision-making and science programs. Recognising the importance of involving communities in this process, urban waterways managers, researchers, and policymakers have increasingly embraced the concept of community engagement. However, a critical examination reveals that in many instances, community engagement in urban waterways governance might be more of a superficial process, often labelled as “community-washing,” rather than genuine and active participation.

Understanding Community-Washing

Community-washing refers to the tokenistic involvement of community members in decision-making processes without providing them with real agency or influence. While the term ‘Community-washing’ is relatively new, the concept is not. Many urban waterways initiatives claim to engage communities but fall short of fostering meaningful participation. The danger lies in the illusion of inclusivity, where communities are involved merely for appearance, without substantial impact on decision-making or outcomes.

The Deceptive Façade of Community Engagement

In the quest for sustainable urban waterways management, the adoption of community engagement strategies has become commonplace. These strategies aim to tap into local knowledge, foster a sense of ownership, and align management decisions with community needs and values. However, in practice, the level of community involvement often remains at a surface level, lacking genuine collaboration, which constantly questions whether the community participates for what purpose and what their actual role is in the engagement actions.

The Research Perspective

Numerous studies have explored the phenomenon of community engagement in urban waterways governance. They reveal that, despite efforts to involve communities, decision-making power remains concentrated in bureaucratic and institutional hands. The article “Beyond ‘Community-Washing’: Effective and Sustained Community Collaboration in Urban Waterways Management” highlights the gap between rhetoric and reality in community engagement processes.

Challenges in Community Engagement

Several challenges contribute to the community-washing phenomenon in urban waterways governance:

1. Power Imbalances:

The power dynamics between community actors and institutional actors often lead to imbalances, where decision-making authority remains concentrated within bureaucratic structures. Strategies to address power imbalances range from institutional design to capacity building, but the issue persists.

2. Lack of Clear Purpose and Agency:

Community engagement lacks a clear and comprehensive reform that outlines and resources the community’s roles and responsibilities. In the absence of a transparent purpose, community involvement becomes tokenistic, without meaningful impact on decision-making.

3. Knowledge and Resource Gaps:

Effective community participation depends on the knowledge and resources available to both communities and experts. The undervaluing of diverse knowledge systems, coupled with conflicts between community and bureaucratic knowledge, further hinders collaboration.

4. Funding Model Inefficiencies:

The current funding models often prove insufficient or ineffective in implementing broader community engagement. Uncertainties, timing issues, and disruptions in government funding systems pose challenges to long-term partnerships and programs crucial for effective community engagement.

5. Formal and Limited Engagement Approaches:

Many community collaboration methods remain formal, representing lower levels of participation. The inconsistency and narrowed focus in innovating community collaboration methods restrict inclusivity and community agency in decision-making.

Moving Beyond Community-Washing

1. Resolving Power Dynamics:

To move beyond community-washing, there is an urgent need to innovate systemic mechanisms that realign community power and agency in decision-making. This involves addressing power imbalances through strategies such as institutional design, capacity building, and facilitative leadership. Although we have seen Catchment Management Committees (CMC) introduced in practice as a solution, these CMC are controlled by the bureaucrats due to the existence of having one or more issues I highlighted above.

2. Defining Clear Purpose and Agency:

Reforms like CMC are necessary to clearly outline and resource the community’s roles and responsibilities with a transparent purpose. Legislation should be considered to enact sharing powers in managing urban waterways, ensuring that community involvement goes beyond being a tokenistic endeavor.

3. Recognising Knowledge and Resources:

The undervalued role of diverse knowledge systems should be acknowledged, with a focus on overcoming knowledge and resource gaps. Community segments should be effectively connected, and conflicts in synthesising communities’ and bureaucrats’ knowledge should be addressed.

4. Reforming the Funding Model:

Institutional settings need reform to align with clear purposes, empowering collaborative bodies and innovating new funding sources independently. Legal empowerment of collaborative bodies can reduce bureaucratic and technocratic impediments to effective collaboration.

5. Innovating Engagement Approaches:

Community collaboration methods should evolve beyond formal approaches, embracing more engaging and inclusive methods. Fit-for-community methods, designed to generate open and reciprocal decision-making, should be integrated into decision-making processes.

Conclusion

It is time for urban waterways managers, researchers, and policymakers to critically assess the nature of community engagement in governance processes. Community-washing, with its deceptive façade of inclusivity, hinders genuine collaboration and compromises the effectiveness of urban waterways management. By addressing power imbalances, defining clear purposes, recognising knowledge and resource limits, reforming funding models, and innovating engagement approaches, we can move beyond the tokenistic involvement of communities. The goal should be to foster active, meaningful participation that truly empowers communities and ensures the long-term sustainability of our urban waterways.

Resources used

Perera, E. D., Moglia, M., & Glackin, S. (2023). Beyond “Community-Washing”: Effective and Sustained Community Collaboration in Urban Waterways Management. Sustainability, 15(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054619