Public Policy, Stakeholders and the River: The Governance of the River Thames – Port and Waterway – from 1900 to the present

Its current focus is the challenge for environmental management presented by the River Thames from the 1950s to the present.

The study has three main aims:

• to assess the role of interest groups and governing bodies in changing perceptions of the nature and function of the River Thames in this period;
• to trace the development of the idea of the river as an 'environment' and relate this to wider debates about governance of the urban environment;
• to illuminate the role of stakeholders in policy-making and environmental governance today.

Sources

Working in association with the Museum of London Docklands, Research Fellow Dr Vanessa Taylor is assessing the potential sources for the project in the collections of the Port of London Authority and other bodies held in the museum's archives. Other relevant historical collections are in the London Metropolitan Archives and the National Archives. Contemporary research will draw on policy documents, news reports and governance frameworks, as well as dialogue with stakeholders, policy-makers and those working in the field of river and port management.
The pilot stage of the project ran from November 2009 to July 2010.

Project team

Prof. Sarah Palmer and Dr. Vanessa Taylor
For more information or to provide feedback, please contact: Vanessa Taylor: V.J.Taylor@greenwich.ac.uk or join our social networking site on Ning.
The Ning site has been created as a forum for discussion on issues raised by the Thames Governance project, and to provide up-to-date information on the ongoing work of the research team.

What next?

The Thames Governance research team undertook an oral history project: Thames Governance: Oral Histories 1960-2010 between September 2010 and July 2011. This focused on people's experience of working in Thames-related groups and of the role of different individuals and groups in decision-making for the river and port.

Events

Greenwich Maritime Institute Symposium, April 2010
The River Thames, Stakeholders and Environmental Governance: Past, Present and Future

Full report (in PDF).

Short report

In April 2010, the project hosted a one-day symposium on the River Thames, Stakeholders and Environmental Governance. This event explored the role of stakeholders in decision-making and environmental governance for the River Thames – port and waterway – in the past and today.

The Thames and waterways of London are at the centre of a wide range of policy initiatives and grass-roots campaigns – including the revitalisation of wharves and waterways, the Mayor of London's 'Blue Ribbon Network', the Thames Gateway, London Gateway port and the Olympics, as well as ongoing environmental projects. These initiatives are rooted in a multi-level governance framework for the river involving a complex set of obligations and rights relating to consultation.

This event explored the changing role of consultation and public participation in the governance of the river and port. The 'stakeholder' is currently crucial to consultation processes, but the river and port have always attracted a multitude of groups wanting to affect policy. The idea of the stakeholder grows out of a long history of debate over the role of users and the public in the governance of the river and riverside areas.

The symposium aimed to:

• explore the changing role of stakeholders and public participation in policy-making for the tidal Thames environment;
• highlight the most pressing issues relating to stakeholders' role in the environmental governance of the river and identify key areas for further research;
• inform the River Thames governance history project at the GMI, and consider how far history helps us to understand stakeholder and public participation in the future governance of the river and port.

The event brought together invited participants working in the field of river, water resource and port management with policy-makers, stakeholders and academics.

Speakers included:

• Sarah Palmer (Director, Greenwich Maritime Institute)
• David Spence (Director of Programmes, Museum of London)
• Vanessa Taylor (Research Fellow, Greenwich Maritime Institute)
• Colin Morris (Ports Division, Department for Transport)
• Phil Pinch (London South Bank University)
• James Trimmer (Head of Planning and Partnerships, Port of London Authority)
• Jane Wilson (Senior Specialist Landscape and Geodiversity, Natural England)
• Jill Goddard (Executive Director, Thames Estuary Partnership)
• Kevin Reid (Senior Planner, Greater London Authority)
• Gary Beckwith (Chairman, City Cruises)
• Phil Stride (Head of London Tideway Tunnels, Thames Water)
• Sarah Lavery (Environment Agency).