Employing intermediaries to achieve freshwater quality improvements: lessons from catchment groups in Aotearoa New Zealand

ABSTRACT

Intermediaries are actors who assist with sustainability transitions. Intermediaries connect, translate, and facilitate flows of information between different groups by positioning themselves between these groups. In this paper we focus on the roles of freshwater intermediaries who have been employed by local authorities and ask how these intermediaries help communities achieve freshwater quality improvements. To answer this question, we present three case studies of freshwater intermediaries working to improve freshwater quality in the Hawke’s Bay region of Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). Our results suggest that intermediaries can help communities improve freshwater quality if they are given the time and resources to establish long-term relationships with communities, and if they are able to synchronise freshwater intermediary work with regional and national freshwater policy objectives. We conclude by arguing that freshwater intermediary work has been undervalued in NZ land and water management, resulting in local and central government attempting to resolve freshwater quality concerns through increasingly prescriptive and complex policy in regulations. Some specific lessons for use of freshwater intermediaries in New Zealand conclude the paper.

KEYWORDS:

• Intermediaries
• catchment collectives
• sustainability transitions
• policy implementation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Mahinga kai means literally ‘to work the food’ and relates to the traditional value of food resources and their ecosystems, and processes of food gathering.

2. Indigenous local people of the land; people connected to the land – at home in an area, naturalised, therefore having authority and status.

3. Māori knowledge system.

4. Meeting, discussion, collaboration, under tikanga and kaupapa.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Strategic Science Investment Fund (SSIF).

Notes on contributors

Nicholas Kirk

Nicholas Kirk is an Environmental Social Researcher at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research. His research examines the governance of natural resources such as freshwater, fisheries, and invasive species. Dr Kirk’s research also investigates sustainability transitions in primary production as well as climate change adaptation.

Melissa Robson-Williams

Melissa Robson-Williams works at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research as a senior researcher in environmental science and transdisciplinary research and manages the Integrated Land and Water Management research area. She specialises in manging the impacts of land use on water, science and policy interactions and the practice of integrative and transdisciplinary research.

Andrew Fenemor

Andrew Fenemor is a hydrologist and water management researcher, now a Research Associate at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research in Nelson. He has over 40 years’ experience in integrated catchment management and is one of New Zealand’s newly appointed freshwater commissioners. He has wide experience in water policy, most recently on the Ministerial panel for New Zealand’s Essential Freshwater reforms.

Nathan Heath

Nathan Heath works at Hawke’s Bay Regional Council in the Māori Patnerships Group as the Relationship Manager for Northern Hawke’s Bay and has extensive experience in the field of policy and catchment implementation in Aotearoa and overseas.