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Samuel Hayes, University of Liverpool, UK
This blog post come book chapter presents reflections from my research on the prospect of negotiating sustainability within formal assessment processes which form part of strategic development planning in the UK. My starting point is an observation from my empirical data that issues like climate change are identified as problematic or difficult to take action on in strategic planning. My aim in writing this post is to consider, in brief, how this observation might act as an example of how action to tackle complex sustainability problems might, or might not, be negotiated.
The research which forms the basis of my thinking on this subject was concerned with two somewhat different assessment processes conducted in the UK, referred to as Sustainability Appraisal in England and Strategic Environmental Assessment in Scotland. An understanding of the detail of these processes and their specific similarities and differences is not of vital importance for this discussion. It is, however, important to understand that when Local Authorities in the UK prepare strategic planning documents they must also conduct these assessments with the aim of ensuring that their plans contribute to sustainable development. These assessments therefore open up potential space to negotiate what sustainability might look like.
Looking first to the broader climate change literature, Anderson and Bows (2012) provide a useful starting point by describing the disconnection between the issue of climate change and our economic system or economic development. They write:
“Acknowledging the immediacy and rate of emission reductions necessary to meet international commitments of 2°C illustrates the scale of discontinuity between the science (physical and social) underpinning climate change and the economic hegemony.”
“Put bluntly, climate change commitments are incompatible with short- to medium-term economic growth.” (Anderson & Bows, 2012, p.640).
More central to development planning and the associated assessment processes, the following authors summarise what I argue are the most relevant and pertinent points. Gibson (2013) posits that sustainability assessments seeking to contribute to sustainable development need to be concerned with significant change and transition rather than minor adjustments. At this point, it is crucial to note the central and influential position held by the definition of sustainable development that a planning system might be aligned with and is therefore notionally aiming at.
In addition, Owens and Cowell (2002, p.44) describe development planning in the UK as providing a “somewhat cramped opportunity for dialogue about what constitutes sustainable development”. More recent changes, particularly in England, have created the mantra “presumption in favour of sustainable development” (DCLG, 2012, p.3) and have perhaps hardened this cramped environment. Central to my argument, therefore, is the suggestion that sustai