Agency and Constraint in Environmental Policy Coherence

Abstract

Whether pursuing the breadth of the UN's Sustainable Development Goalsor delivering joined-up approaches within a single environmental domain, it isincreasingly important to understand how policy objectives, policy design andpolicy implementation cohere vertically (within policy) and horizontally(between policies). However, policy coherence remains a challenge to implement.The limited empirical scholarship on policy coherence tends to focus on policydocumentation and/or the outcomes, with little attention to individual agencyor social processes involved. Therefore, our contribution considers theindividuals making policy coherence happen. Furthermore, there is littlediscussion of the normative dimensions of policy coherence making it ripe for apolitical ecology analysis. Empirical research conducted with thoseimplementing policy coherence within four UK catchment (watershed) partnershipsis considered from a critical interpretive policy analysis perspective toenrich the interface between political ecology and environmental policy. We findthat the appetite and ability to support policy coherence depends on individualagency as much as partnership structures. We consider which actors practicepolicy coherence; what motivates those investing their energy into thesecoherence practices; and their constraints. Although it is challenging to researchsuch processes, our data provides insights into the social processes of policycoherence. The explicit political ecology lens highlights how power is involvedin these voluntary initiatives, echoing the critique of traditionalpresentations of integrated water resource management devoid of politics.