ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University Townsville
Queensland 4811 Australia
Phone: 61 7 4781 4000
Email: info@coralcoe.org.au
We focus on understanding and improving complex environmental governance regimes. We draw on the disciplines of political science, public administration, geography, and sociology to explore specific national cases and transnational trends across the US, Australia, Asia, and Europe. This systematic comparative approach is generating important contributions to governance theory and practice, particularly in relation to scale, power, and institutional change. We also work closely with a range of physical, natural, and social scientists and policymakers on inter-disciplinary and applied approaches to environmental governance problems.
Our current research program centers around two main themes:
Principal theoretical contributions to this field emerge out of conducting empirical research on policy and administration in the USA, Australia, and Asia, and focus on the role of inter-agency arrangements, the use of science and stakeholders in decision-making and assessment and planning, and the role of scale in governance. Recent work has involved the development of a Regional Governance Index for assessing the institutional potential of regions. This has led to a new cross-national project analyzing the role of environmental and economic institutions and policy in shaping regional ecosystems, and further theoretical exploration of the governance of governance (‘meta-governance’).
This dimension is concerned with the feasibility of different institutional designs to respond to contemporary environmental issues, such as climate variability and unplanned coastal development. We are particularly interested in how different institutional designs deal with socio-ecological dynamics and the science-policy interface. A recent ARC Super Science Fellowship award funded the collaboration of a team of geographers, planners, economists, lawyers and ecologists on a multi-disciplinary approach to defining and solving the problems and impacts posed by sea level rise, a project which was profiled by The Australian newspaper (2 November 2011) as in the top 10 of innovative collaborative Australian research projects. Key results include papers on dealing with scientific uncertainty in policy, and on transformation of governance systems to deal with heightened risk.
As a political geographer (PhD, University of Queensland), I draw on the disciplines of political science, public administration, geography, and sociology to understand and improve the design of complex and multi-scalar environmental governance regimes. My approach is based on the development of an empirical database of specific national cases and transnational trends across the US, Australia, and Asia. This systematic comparative approach has generated important contributions to governance theory and practice, particularly in the area of decentralisation, regionalisation and risk. I also work closely with a range of physical, natural, and social scientists and policymakers on inter-disciplinary approaches to environmental governance problems.
Philippa Cohen, WorldFish
Cindy Huchery, ARC CoE for Coral Reef Studies and WorldFish
Yasa Belmar, University of Queensland
Eduardo Gallo Cajiao, University of Queensland
Jessica Spijkers, ARC CoE for Coral Reef Studies and Stockholm Resilience Centre
Reports in recent years that marine protected areas (MPAs) aren’t effective in saving coral reefs from the damaging effects of global climate change have led some to argue that such expensive interv
Scientists from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) at The University of Western Australia (UWA) have found that some corals are able to combat the effects of ocean acidifi
Thanks to mom and dad, baby reef fish may have what it takes to adjust to hotter oceans. In a rapidly changing climate, the decline of animal populations is a very real concern. Today, an internati
A new study published online today in Nature shows that corals on the northern Great Barrier Reef experienced a catastrophic die-off following the extended marine heatwave of 2016. “When corals b
Abstract: The current diversity of ecological systems is a result of complex interactions between biotic and abiotic regulators acting in space and time. While abiotic processes tend to influence
Abstract: Connectivity between coral reefs is critical to ensure their resilience and persistence against disturbances. It is driven by ocean currents, which often have very complex patterns with
Abstract: Two epigenomic targets that potentially link environmental exposures to chemical and physical agents early in development to adult disease susceptibility are imprinted genes and those w
Abstract: Small-scale fisheries provide an important source of food and income security, particularly for poor rural communities. As coastal populations and their demands continue to grow, reconc
Abstract: Marine social-ecological systems are threatened by multiple and overlapping human pressures resulting in long-term trajectories of environmental degradation and decline. Governance and mana
Abstract: Increased attention to the social dimensions of environmental governance has led to the emergence of ‘social meta-norms’ that promote the best ways of governing for environmental and
Abstract: Market-based instruments, such as ecolabelling, can incentivise sustainable fisheries management through improved market access and price premiums. However, such instruments are rarely us
Abstract: To address the ongoing environmental and climatological crises of climate change, and how it will alter ecosystems across the globe, will require new and innovative environmental governan
Partner Research Institutions
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University Townsville
Queensland 4811 Australia
Phone: 61 7 4781 4000
Email: info@coralcoe.org.au
