1 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:10,540 We have just seen why it is important for policy makers to know the social and political 2 00:00:10,540 --> 00:00:12,080 environment they are operating in. 3 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:17,090 We will now look at what it is: an actor-network analysis. 4 00:00:17,090 --> 00:00:21,830 Therefore we are gone look at an example from our own consultancy practice and it shows 5 00:00:21,830 --> 00:00:27,430 you the results of the analysis of a very complex network; it depicts the network of 6 00:00:27,430 --> 00:00:33,670 actors that a group of policy makers is operating in. 7 00:00:33,670 --> 00:00:37,699 Behind me on the screen you see this beautiful multi-colored picture. 8 00:00:37,699 --> 00:00:39,150 It is a map. 9 00:00:39,150 --> 00:00:45,290 It is a map representing the network of actors, mostly organizations involved in policy making 10 00:00:45,290 --> 00:00:47,330 on water quality issues. 11 00:00:47,330 --> 00:00:53,239 Each of these more than 80 colored hexagons represents an actor in this policy network. 12 00:00:53,239 --> 00:00:55,199 I will tell you the story. 13 00:00:55,199 --> 00:01:00,700 A few years ago we had this project in the Netherlands commissioned by the province of Utrecht. 14 00:01:00,700 --> 00:01:05,000 Provinces in the Netherlands are politically responsible for the water quality and the 15 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:10,720 EU requires all its member states to improve their surface water and groundwater quality. 16 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:17,600 Utrecht had a so-called 'platform' diffuse pollution to execute this task, 17 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:22,640 but it seemed quite unsuccessful in generating support for measures to improve the water 18 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:28,360 quality in the province; so what should they do differently to become more effective? 19 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:35,170 You should then know that 'diffuse pollution' stands for pollution; particles, 20 00:01:35,170 --> 00:01:39,310 chemical substances that do not originate from point sources like a chemical plant or 21 00:01:39,310 --> 00:01:43,140 a water treatment facility, rather it is about dispersed sources such 22 00:01:43,140 --> 00:01:47,840 as NOx from the air, smut from the exhausts of cars, 23 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:53,970 metals like Cupper and Zink from buildings, Phosphates from manure or anti-fouling chemicals 24 00:01:53,970 --> 00:01:56,390 from boats. 25 00:01:56,390 --> 00:02:01,479 This multicolored image is one of the results of our analysis; it shows the network the 26 00:02:01,479 --> 00:02:03,400 platform is operating in. 27 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:07,600 After a number of interviews and a series of workshops we were able to construct this 28 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:14,410 map and it shows the platform in the center of the map and its relations to over 80 other 29 00:02:14,410 --> 00:02:16,230 organizations, including authorities, 30 00:02:16,230 --> 00:02:18,970 private bodies, industries, 31 00:02:18,970 --> 00:02:22,709 farmers, environmental/nature/landscape NGO's, 32 00:02:22,709 --> 00:02:26,060 Land-owners, professional representatives of the shipping 33 00:02:26,060 --> 00:02:28,900 sector, the chamber of commerce, and so on. 34 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:35,319 Moreover it turned out they were fighting in four different arenas and at two different 35 00:02:35,319 --> 00:02:39,490 levels: in their province and with the national and European authorities. 36 00:02:39,490 --> 00:02:45,930 The detailed map behind me reflects this very complex environment this organization is trying 37 00:02:45,930 --> 00:02:47,040 to influence. 38 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:52,380 We used this map mainly for showing them how complex their world is. 39 00:02:52,380 --> 00:02:58,670 Each quadrant of the map shows a specific power/interest grid in one of the four policy 40 00:02:58,670 --> 00:03:01,110 arena's the platform is operating. 41 00:03:01,110 --> 00:03:06,780 The parties closest to the center are their allies; the parties at the rim are the opponents 42 00:03:06,780 --> 00:03:11,310 and the bigger their size the more powerful they are. 43 00:03:11,310 --> 00:03:16,959 We made a somewhat simpler map for discussing their strategy. 44 00:03:16,959 --> 00:03:21,690 In this simpler map you see the platform in the middle and the four policy arenas it is 45 00:03:21,690 --> 00:03:23,130 working in. 46 00:03:23,130 --> 00:03:27,410 Referring to the Roman concept of arenas, these policy arenas are the fighting rings 47 00:03:27,410 --> 00:03:31,910 where the actors involved engage in a fight over what policy needs to be implemented. 48 00:03:31,910 --> 00:03:36,739 in green - agriculture; in red - the build environment, 49 00:03:36,739 --> 00:03:42,600 in brown - road and rail infrastructure and in blue - the water transport and water quality sector. 50 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:47,550 The yellow oval on top - are the national and European authorities who are imposing 51 00:03:47,550 --> 00:03:51,840 or more complicated: not imposing all kind of legislation. 52 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:57,310 In these five ovals representing the different arenas you see the issues they are fighting 53 00:03:57,310 --> 00:04:01,800 over; for instance rural development and the use of herbicides in the rural network; garbage 54 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:07,150 collection and dog shit in the urban areas. 55 00:04:07,150 --> 00:04:09,680 It shows the world they are operating in. 56 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:14,760 What lessons did we draw from this analysis and what advice did we give the people form 57 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:16,109 the platform? 58 00:04:16,109 --> 00:04:21,319 Our advice was based on what these maps showed. 59 00:04:21,319 --> 00:04:26,979 One is don't mingle with agriculture/rural areas; the second map with the arenas shows 60 00:04:26,979 --> 00:04:31,120 that the farmers are overburdened by national en EU regulations; they are struggling for 61 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:36,249 survival and water quality is about the last of their concerns. 62 00:04:36,249 --> 00:04:39,719 Moreover, the actor-map shows that in this arena there 63 00:04:39,719 --> 00:04:42,449 are few allies and many strong opponents. 64 00:04:42,449 --> 00:04:48,029 More or less the same story goes for urban areas and construction materials. 65 00:04:48,029 --> 00:04:54,600 Our analysis shows that these issues are dealt with elsewhere and there are no strong allies either. 66 00:04:55,500 --> 00:05:01,800 Roads and water transport sectors; here the maps show they have easy access to some strong 67 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:06,430 supporters who actually have the means to do something about issues like anti-fouling 68 00:05:06,430 --> 00:05:08,330 and road run-off. 69 00:05:08,330 --> 00:05:13,809 These partners show in the map: they are the province itself and the regional water boards. 70 00:05:13,809 --> 00:05:18,069 And finally, we had two strategic advises: Focus on low 71 00:05:18,069 --> 00:05:23,680 hanging fruit: go for short term highly visible guaranteed successes that you can boast about 72 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:29,879 (like an anti-fouling policy for boats) and where you have some means yourself, 73 00:05:29,879 --> 00:05:31,319 so you have control. 74 00:05:31,319 --> 00:05:35,009 And keep others informed of these successes and your endless ambition. 75 00:05:35,009 --> 00:05:40,680 And it that way you try to generate support. 76 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:43,639 We now finish this first chunk. 77 00:05:43,639 --> 00:05:49,589 Up to now what have you learned: Well, the Brent Spar example has learned us that 78 00:05:49,589 --> 00:05:53,879 it if you want to solve a complex problem or design a new policy it is important to 79 00:05:53,879 --> 00:05:58,189 know the playing field and to know who are your friends and who are the foes. 80 00:05:58,189 --> 00:06:01,849 You have to know the concerns and issues of other actors and you may need to take those 81 00:06:01,849 --> 00:06:06,080 into account when designing a strategy for problem solving. 82 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:11,529 And you may want to know who has the power to block your plans and whom you need to incorporate 83 00:06:11,529 --> 00:06:18,529 or involve in your work to generate social support for your policy or project. 84 00:06:18,740 --> 00:06:23,879 The diffuse pollution example showed us that we often don't really know the networks we 85 00:06:23,879 --> 00:06:27,169 are operating in: how they actually look like. 86 00:06:27,169 --> 00:06:32,779 And we showed that for effective policy analysis and policy design it is important to systematically 87 00:06:32,779 --> 00:06:35,800 explore the socio-political environment you are operating in.