Power, Process, & Involvement

Up to this junction in the lesson a deliberate attempt has been made to be precise with terminology. While the terms partnership, collaboration, and co-management (governance) are definitely not synonymous, they are certainly related. Plummer and FitzGibbon (2004) suggest the umbrella term co-operative to signal increasing participation by civil society in management and decision-making. This is very much in the spirit of our focus on community engagement for building sustainable communities.

Adapted from Plummer and FitzGibbon (2004).

Conceptually, it helpful to consider the dimensions which underpin terms under this co-operative umbrella. The first dimension is representation and addresses who is involved. The second is power and specifies some of the many ways in which it manifest. The third dimension regards the process. It illustrates the spectrum of formality and implications for negotiation and timing. These dimensions help us to precisely consider the arrangement of ‘working together’ that we are describing, and by extension the most appropriate term. Explore the diagram above. Each example is a case study we will explore throughout the coming lessons.