GEO Brasil - UNEP

introduction
7. Institutional Aspects for the Implementation of
the Integrated Environmental Management Approach
In addition to the aspects related to planning, control and monitoring that have
been identified here, another challenge for the implementation of the Integrated
Environmental Management is the institutional aspect.
One important aspect to start with is the method through which institutions
were structured to address the environment. As was noted earlier with regard to
fragmented policies, the same approach was also adopted to deal with institutions.
This event can be easily identified by analysing the organisational structure of
governments at federal, state and local level. At federal level, for instance, the
various sector-specific ministries and the agencies that usually operate under
such ministries demonstrate how fragmented public administration is.
Also, with regard to the institutional side, interagency co-operation is another
Management approach, its effective
implementation depends on restoring
a practice of government planning as
a mechanism of concerted action and
integration of policies. Furthermore,
when a need for planning is identified,
a key element in this sense is the
development of co-ordination
procedures that cannot lead, as was
noted earlier, to the establishment of
controls and power centralisation in
one or a few institutions. Much to the
contrary, by co-ordination we mean an
approach towards negotiation,
accommodating different viewpoints
and acknowledging that participation
and transparency are indispensable
elements for a successful planning.
Chart 1 contains the main differences
between the Traditional Management
approach and the Integrated
Management approach.
With regard to the major difficulties
for the implementation of this new
system of environmental
management, it is important to point
out the items below:
critical point. If it is about time that the society exerts more pressure on government
agencies – though greater financial, human and infrastructure resources will not
be made available for them in turn – an aggregation of competencies and
resources is a necessary step in order to boost the response ability of such
agencies. The actual picture of interagency co-operation, however, is a clear-cut,
inflexible outline of institutional frontiers, as if this approach could ensure survival
of the institutions.
As was identified in the discussion about the Integrated Environmental
a) development of approaches that
adequately address the high levels of
uncertainty that environmental
systems involve;
b) intra- and interagency changes in
the government in order to meet
requirements of increased cooperation
and partnership work;
c) design of new institutional
capacities able to meet adaptative
management requirements, especially
with regard to public participation in
the decision-making process; and the
need to adopt a more interdisciplinary
scientific approach.
20