The days of rationalist scientific management and deference to official data are behind us. The credibility of experts and the information they provide are regularly challenged; officials are routinely provided with conflicting sets of facts as they plan and make decisions; and decision makers and stakeholders alike are largely skeptical that technical information will adequately account for the various interests and concerns and lead to the right outcomes. They struggle to reconcile technical information with other forms of knowledge, and differing interests, priorities and perspectives. Issues like climate change are complicating matters even further, as scientists and technicians must increasingly acknowledge the uncertainty and potential fallibility of their findings, and highlight the dynamic nature of the systems they are explaining. This book examines how groups looking to plan and make decisions in any number of areas can wade through the imperfect and often contradictory information they have to make fair, efficient, wise and well-informed choices. It introduces an emerging and very promising approach called joint fact-finding (JFF). Rather than each stakeholder group marshaling the set of facts that best advance their respective interests and perspectives while discrediting the contradictory facts others provide, groups are challenged to collaboratively generate shared sets of facts that all parties accept. This book introduces readers to the theory of JFF, the value it can provide, and how they can adopt this approach in practice. It brings together writings from leading practitioners and scholars from around the world that are at the forefront of the JFF approach to science intensive policymaking, urban planning, and environmental dispute resolution. The first set of chapters outlines the concept of JFF, and situates it within other bodies of theory and practice. The second set of case-based chapters elucidates how JFF is being applied in practice. This book delivers a new perspective to scholars in the field of public policy, urban planning, environmental studies, and science and technology studies, as well as public officials, technical experts, policy consultants, and professional facilitators.

Many of the challenges that decision-makers grapple with in relation to climate change are governance related. Planning and decision-making is evolving in ambiguous institutional environments, in which many key issues remain unresolved, including relationships between different actors; funding arrangements; and the sources and procedures for vetting data. These issues are particularly acute at this juncture, as climate adaptation moves from broad planning processes to the management of infrastructure systems. Concrete decisions must be made. Adapting Infrastructure to Climate Change draws on case studies of three coastal cities situated within very different governance regimes: neo-corporatist Rotterdam, neo-pluralist Boston and semi-authoritarian Singapore. The book examines how infrastructure managers and other stakeholders grappling with complex and uncertain climate risks are likely to make project-level decisions in practice, and how more effective decision-making can be supported. The differences across governance regimes are currently unaccounted for in adaptation planning, but are crucial as best practices are devised. These lessons are also applicable to infrastructure planning and decision-making in other contexts. This book will be of great interest to scholars of climate change and environmental policy and governance, particularly in the context of infrastructure management.

Many of the challenges that decision-makers grapple with in relation to climate change are governance related. Planning and decision-making is evolving in ambiguous institutional environments, in which many key issues remain unresolved, including relationships between different actors; funding arrangements; and the sources and procedures for vetting data. These issues are particularly acute at this juncture, as climate adaptation moves from broad planning processes to the management of infrastructure systems. Concrete decisions must be made. Adapting Infrastructure to Climate Change draws on case studies of three coastal cities situated within very different governance regimes: neo-corporatist Rotterdam, neo-pluralist Boston and semi-authoritarian Singapore. The book examines how infrastructure managers and other stakeholders grappling with complex and uncertain climate risks are likely to make project-level decisions in practice, and how more effective decision-making can be supported. The differences across governance regimes are currently unaccounted for in adaptation planning, but are crucial as best practices are devised. These lessons are also applicable to infrastructure planning and decision-making in other contexts. This book will be of great interest to scholars of climate change and environmental policy and governance, particularly in the context of infrastructure management.

The days of rationalist scientific management and deference to official data are behind us. The credibility of experts and the information they provide are regularly challenged; officials are routinely provided with conflicting sets of facts as they plan and make decisions; and decision makers and stakeholders alike are largely skeptical that technical information will adequately account for the various interests and concerns and lead to the right outcomes. They struggle to reconcile technical information with other forms of knowledge, and differing interests, priorities and perspectives. Issues like climate change are complicating matters even further, as scientists and technicians must increasingly acknowledge the uncertainty and potential fallibility of their findings, and highlight the dynamic nature of the systems they are explaining. This book examines how groups looking to plan and make decisions in any number of areas can wade through the imperfect and often contradictory information they have to make fair, efficient, wise and well-informed choices. It introduces an emerging and very promising approach called joint fact-finding (JFF). Rather than each stakeholder group marshaling the set of facts that best advance their respective interests and perspectives while discrediting the contradictory facts others provide, groups are challenged to collaboratively generate shared sets of facts that all parties accept. This book introduces readers to the theory of JFF, the value it can provide, and how they can adopt this approach in practice. It brings together writings from leading practitioners and scholars from around the world that are at the forefront of the JFF approach to science intensive policymaking, urban planning, and environmental dispute resolution. The first set of chapters outlines the concept of JFF, and situates it within other bodies of theory and practice. The second set of case-based chapters elucidates how JFF is being applied in practice. This book delivers a new perspective to scholars in the field of public policy, urban planning, environmental studies, and science and technology studies, as well as public officials, technical experts, policy consultants, and professional facilitators.