How to harness the full potential of integrated catchment management as a pathway to sustainability

One of the objectives of the Lincoln Ventures (LVL) led Foundation for Research Science and Technology funded research programme is to identify challenges for integrated catchment management (ICM) in New Zealand under the RMA regime and to suggest a way forward. The ‘human dimension’ of ICM research is not as well established or recognised in New Zealand as bio-physical research is. There is a need for improved social science understanding of catchment governance focused on context, perceptions and interrelationships amongst and between user groups, communities, regulators and other stakeholders from place based, multi-scalar perspectives. The LVL project is designed to contribute to that. In this article a brief summary and recommendations from this research is outlined.Funding for this project was provided by the New Zealand government through the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, particularly under contract LVLX0303