Masterclass: Reimagining River Governance
- Benny Callaghan
- Sep 7
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 14
Collaborative Systems Approaches for Integrated Catchment Management
Systems Collaboration Partners offered a masterclass on river governance at the International River Symposium in Brisbane, Australia.
Healthy river systems require stewardship, engagement and commitment of diverse partners and communities who often have conflicting needs.
This experiential masterclass offered river leaders, policymakers and practitioners systems perspectives and practical collaboration approaches to move from fragmented effort to coordinated systems-level action.
Why It's Valuable for River Leaders:
Learn practical systems-thinking tools and frameworks
Experientially explore the power of collaborative process to help bring people on a journey
Contribute to new approaches for catchment-level governance
Discover the importance and power of shifting the ‘deep story’ in complex systems
Leave with stronger connections and fire in the belly
Find downloadable resources at the end of this article. The workshop explored the following topics:
Successes and Barriers to Success of Integrated Catchment Management
Key takeaways:
ICM helped shift towards a systems thinking approach.
Expanded the view of causality.
Fostered collaboration.
Got locked in a practice toolkit, limiting its evolution into transformational framework for river governance.
Systems Tool 1: Stages of Cultural and Vertical Leadership Development
We explored how systems have nested developmental values, perspectives and worldviews, which often leads to tensions between different approaches. The invitation is to step into a systems leadership perspective that makes room for different worldviews. As one attendee artfully put it, this is more about systems facilitation than leadership. Reframing how we approach the work is important.
Systems Tool 2: From Siloes to Systems
We looked at how early-stage systems thinking focuses on optimising the parts, and the need to shift to a genuine systems collaboration approach. We drew on the Spectrum of Public Engagement from IPA2 to see how we shift towards greater collaboration and empowerment.
One attendee rightfully pointed out how difficult 'sharing power' is, and how sometimes this idea can fall into a philosophical trap without tangible ways of bringing it to life. One reframe is to see 'sharing power' as part of having a solid process that allows for meaningful collaboration and naming power dynamics that may be getting in the way of progress.
Systems Tool 3: Causal Layered Analysis
We used this tool by Sohail Inayatullah to explore how dropping down into the Deep Story or mythology helps us to bring wider voices and create a more expanded frame for this work. An example that arose is the emergence of the Rights of Nature movement and ecological jurisprudence. From this expanded story, we are able to reimagine the systems we build.
Empathy Mapping and Design Principles for River Governance
We entered the design principles section by stepping into an exploration of the needs, hopes, and pain points of five key audiences or stakeholder groups. From there, a series of design principles emerged.
Download PDF of PowerPoint:
Download PDF Workbook (e-reader version):
Download Printable Workbook:
Download Empathy Mapping Exercise:
Reach out to us at team@ systemspartners.com.au to learn more about this masterclass if you feel this could be relevant to your team or organisation.
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