Cross-sector collaboration and the reconciliation of paradoxes: the building of system robustness in the attainment of rural sustainability

Abstract

While the potential of rural communities to serve as a repertoire of ecological and cultural diversity is being increasingly recognised by researchers and policymakers, efforts made to pursue rural sustainability are often compromised by highly intricate problems. Many argue that such problems require solutions that are derived through collaborative efforts between actors with different areas of expertise and local stakeholders. Under these circumstances, collaborative governance is regarded as a more desirable alternative to traditional forms of institutional arrangements, such as government regulation or marketized systems. This has sparked growing research and policy interests on the processes of collaboration and how to improve its effectiveness. Significant research on collaborative governance is conducted from the management perspective, unravelling key elements and stages in the process of collaborative governance, as well as the relationships between this process and the context within which it operates. This study contributes to the literature by developing a theoretical logic that explains how a collaborative arrangement becomes robust—the system’s ability to continue to function and adapt to the changing environment over a period of time. Guided by the aim of deciphering the mechanisms through which collaborative arrangements gain the capacities to cope with intricate matters associated with rural revitalization, this paper argues that the reconciliation of paradoxes and tensions through cross-sector collaboration contributes towards the building of system robustness. Centring on two commonly-perceived paradoxes: conservation versus development, and scientific knowledge versus local knowledge, a constellation of related tensions will be examined in an in-depth case analysis on the Lai Chi Wo rural revitalization project in Hong Kong. The case study project, recognised by the UNDP as a successful example of collaborative governance for rural sustainability, was originally initiated by a handful of policy entrepreneurs from the non-state sector. Build on cross-sector partnership, the project was launched and steered by a public university, with financial support from a corporate foundation. The support of environmental non-profits, local villagers, and the Hong Kong government has also been substantial. Adopting the methodology of process-tracing, empirical evidence are gathered from archival records and in-depth interviews with the extensive range of actors involved. It was discovered that as preconceived paradoxes and tensions were addressed through conscious efforts made by various actors to reconcile these differences, the ability of the overall collaborative arrangement to cope with internal conflicts and external disturbances were also enhanced.