Water Policy Fellowships

Mario Levesque

Mario is interested in understanding the relationship between linkages among governance arrangements and changes in common pool resources (especially groundwater) as one element of a broader strategy for policy change. His other research interests include federalism as it relates to social policy, voluntary approaches to regulatory compliance, institutional analysis and horizontal management. Mario holds BA and MA Degrees from the University of Western Ontario and a PhD from McMaster University which he ocmpleted in July 2008.

In addition, Mario also holds a Diploma in Agricultural Business Management from Centralia College of Agricultural Technology. His personal webpage can be found at http://publish.uwo.ca/~mlevesq/. Prior to these, Mario also held a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship (2006 - 2008) and a Water Policy Fellowship from the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation.

Fellowship Project Description

Avenues of Change in Groundwater Governance in Hamilton, Ontario

The project examined how to structure groundwater policy change by examining relationships between groups. The legislative and regulatory framework for four groundwater problems (e.g. demand, permitting, quarry, underground storage tanks) were identified, as well as, potential avenues of change. Stock of interest group and governance unit collaboration, communication, and functional roles were taken and courses of action were plotted by mapping engagement processes.

The results for positive groundwater policy changes were mixed. For instance, it was evident that little progress would be made in addressing permitting issues by community/environmental organizations due to the lack of interaction they had with regional-national organizations and/or provincial levels of governments where action needed to be directed and where regional-national organizations had the densest links or interactions with the provincial entities. As such, a renewed focus on engagement between community and regional interests was required to capitalize on the advantages each had while minimizing their disadvantages to address groundwater policy changes.

In addition, an important part of addressing Hamilton's excessive water use was informing and educating the people of the city to conserve water. Yet, as the results showed, governments did not adequately perform this role whereas community/environmental groups with their dense interaction and connections among themselves were well positioned to perform these functions. Governments needed to tap into those dense local networks in order to drive the water conservation message home.

In short, the examination of linkages between interest organizations and governance units has much to offer in terms of determining who to engage in policy change activities, their respective roles in such engagement processes, and where engagement efforts should be directed. In essence, the broad parameters of a framework for structuring changes in groundwater policy were developed for my ENGO partner Environment Hamilton.

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	Water Policy Fellowships Mario Levesque Mario is interested in understanding the relationship between linkages among governance arrangements and changes in common pool resources (especially groundwater) as one element of a broader strategy for policy change. His other research interests include federalism as it relates to social policy, voluntary approaches to regulatory compliance, institutional analysis and horizontal management. Mario holds BA and MA Degrees from the University of Western Ontario and a PhD from McMaster University which he ocmpleted in July 2008. In addition, Mario also holds a Diploma in Agricultural Business Management from Centralia College of Agricultural Technology. His personal webpage can be found at http://publish.uwo.ca/~mlevesq/. Prior to these, Mario also held a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship (2006 - 2008) and a Water Policy Fellowship from the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation. Fellowship Project Description Avenues of Change in Groundwater Governance in Hamilton, Ontario The project examined how to structure groundwater policy change by examining relationships between groups. The legislative and regulatory framework for four groundwater problems (e.g. demand, permitting, quarry, underground storage tanks) were identified, as well as, potential avenues of change. Stock of interest group and governance unit collaboration, communication, and functional roles were taken and courses of action were plotted by mapping engagement processes. The results for positive groundwater policy changes were mixed. For instance, it was evident that little progress would be made in addressing permitting issues by community/environmental organizations due to the lack of interaction they had with regional-national organizations and/or provincial levels of governments where action needed to be directed and where regional-national organizations had the densest links or interactions with the provincial entities. As such, a renewed focus on engagement between community and regional interests was required to capitalize on the advantages each had while minimizing their disadvantages to address groundwater policy changes. In addition, an important part of addressing Hamilton's excessive water use was informing and educating the people of the city to conserve water. Yet, as the results showed, governments did not adequately perform this role whereas community/environmental groups with their dense interaction and connections among themselves were well positioned to perform these functions. Governments needed to tap into those dense local networks in order to drive the water conservation message home. In short, the examination of linkages between interest organizations and governance units has much to offer in terms of determining who to engage in policy change activities, their respective roles in such engagement processes, and where engagement efforts should be directed. In essence, the broad parameters of a framework for structuring changes in groundwater policy were developed for my ENGO partner Environment Hamilton. << Go back
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