Building with Nature in Marine Infrastructure: Toward an Innovative Project Arrangement in the Melbourne Channel Deepening Project

Abstract

Globally, there is an increasing pressure on coastal and marine ecosystems. The development of marine infrastructure is causing additional ecological impacts on these systems. To reduce ecological impacts innovative approaches of marine infrastructure development are being developed. These approaches, such as Building with Nature, aim to integrate ecological and social dynamics in the creation of coastal and marine infrastructure. This integration has implications for the development and management of these projects. To understand opportunities for Building with Nature approaches, this article analyzes the development of the Melbourne Channel Deepening project in Australia that developed from a conventional, state-led project toward a Building with Nature arrangement. This article shows that a Building with Nature project arrangement differs not just substantially in its ecological focus and primacy from a conventional project arrangement, but also in its leading discourse, its actor coalition, its power and resources applied, and the rules of the game through which the project is designed and implemented. We conclude that developing a Building with Nature project requires a specific arrangement that allows for an early involvement of both ecological and social dynamics.

Keywords:

• Building with Nature
• marine and coastal governance
• marine infrastructure
• Melbourne Channel Deepening Project
• project arrangement

Notes

1. The project is also referred to as “Port Phillip Bay Channel Deepening”; however, for reasons of clarity we have chosen to use Melbourne Channel Deepening Project (MCDP) in this article.

2. The analysis was conducted based on a total number of 128 newspaper articles that were published on the impact and consequences of the project. The search terms to collect these articles were: Port Phillip Bay, dredging, Port of Melbourne, Channel Deepening, Boskalis, and Blue Wedges.

3. Due to changes of government, the organization of departments and ministers in Victoria are under constant change. At the time of writing, the Department of Infrastructure no longer exists; the transport portfolio has been transferred to the Department of Transport, while the planning portfolio was transferred to the Department of Planning and Community Development. However, each portfolio has its own responsible minister, and each minister can be responsible for different portfolios. The rearrangements in new departments do not therefore automatically imply a real change in practices.

4. Based on the minutes of the 10 meetings that were held between April 3, 2008 and February 17, 2011.

5. The VCA, as a division of the Ministry for Transport, focuses primarily on the provisioning and maintenance of shipping infrastructure. Its main tasks are to manage shipping, channels, and navigation aid provision. The handing over of responsibility of “Melbourne channel” to the Port of Melbourne reflects a change on governmental level to a more inclusive approach. Responsibility for the other Victorian waterways is transferred to the “Victorian Regional Channel Authority,” under the Port Management Act 1995.