Sustainable governance 23 January 2005

1. Sustainable governance23 January 2005 Joseph Cho-wai Chan Centre for Civil Society and Goverance The University of Hong Kong

2. Trends of governance • Emphasis on public participation/civil society • Collaborative governance (UK) • Community governance (UK, AU, NZ, CA) • Sustainable governance (EU) • Partnership (UK..) • State-society synergy (World Bank) • Deliberative democracy (US, UK)

3. Trends of governance in western liberal democracies • Reasons: • Rolling back the state: neo-conservatism • Complexity of cross-cutting social issues • Environmental protection, social exclusion, public health, area regeneration, culture and arts development • Declining public confidence in representative democracy and political parties • Growth of civil society

4. Trends of governance in western liberal democracies • The role of the state shifts from that of • governing through direct forms of control (hierarchical governance)—”government” • to • governing via a multiplicity of stakeholders—”governance” that cuts across the public, private, and voluntary sectors

5. Two roles of government • government as provider of funding and specific services • focuses on efficiency, value for money, quality, service and effective feedback • government as facilitator of collaboration • focuses on facilitation, networking, dialogue and participation

6. Challenges of governance in HK • Hong Kong faces similar challenges • Deficit in finance • Deficit in democracy • Governability crisis • Low trust in politicians and political institutions • A highly vocal civil society • There is all the more reason for HKSAR to take seriously collaborative governance, particularly in the case of WKCD

7. Principles of governance in WKCD • Three principles as stated by the Chief Secretary: • “People-oriented” 「以人為本」 • “Partnership (with property developers and the cultural sector)” 「建立夥伴關係」 • “Community-driven” 「民間主導」

8. What has been done? • Government claimed to have done • Extensive and open consultation with LegCo and different sectors • Careful research/consultancy studies • Transparent competition and open tendering • See CS’s speech in the LegCo on 26 Nov. 2003

9. Principles of collaboration • Inclusion • Shared goals • Shared “ownership” • Open, clear, accessible communication • Mutual learning • Mutual respect and trust

10. What has gone wrong? • Was there genuine sharing of information and mutual learning? • Stakeholder workshops or formal public hearing or “consultation sessions”? • Did the making of crucial moves (single development package, May 2003) involve the stakeholders? Was there a shared ownership?

11. What can we do? • Stakeholders’ workshops (Creative Initiatives Workshop) • Leading to the establishment of the Logistics Development Council in Nov. 2001 • An inclusion and consensus building process • 79 different companies and organizations participated, including 14 government bureaus/depts • The whole process took less than two years (2000-2001)

12. What can we do? • Three phases • Phase I: Preparation • Identifying the stakeholder community and forming a small subgroup as executive committee • Appoint consultants to do research and lead a one-day workshop • Consultants to do personal interviews with stakeholders to identify issues and formulate discussion strategies

13. What can we do? • Phase II: A one-day workshop to • Define the present situation/need • Create a vision for future development • Agree on a set of principles to define and implement the vision

14. What can we do? • Phase III: Follow-up • Send report to government • Urge government to commission a consultancy study to identify one or two strategies • Public consultation • Example: A deliberative opinion poll using the methods of random sampling and focus groups