216
3 eThekwini’s Green and Ecological Infrastructure Policy Landscape
development, uptake, monitoring and evaluation. This speaks to the matter of specific
academic expertise that may be lacking within an issue-specific epistocracy, which
could lead to inefficiencies when communicating scientific evidence to decisionmakers. In this respect, Wellstead et al. (2013), writing on climate change, called for
an ‘institutional revolution’ and argued that:
…much systems-inspired modelling in the climate change adaptation area continues to rely
upon structural-functionalist tautologies. That is, what are, in fact, some of the most determinate actors and variables in any policy-making process—politics and government—are
simply assumed away in the belief that policy goals will just be set, and met, since they are
“necessary” for the system to “function”.
eThekwini’s epistocracy
Based on the discussion on epistocracies, and returning to the EPCPD and other entities within the municipality, do the officials of the eThekwini departments constitute
an epistocracy? Judging by the number of publications, we can argue that these individuals are experts in their respective fields. I would not say that they have a superior
knowledge of the politics that is practised at a societal level, but they certainly do
have an expert knowledge on political governance in the municipality. They are,
after all, employees of the municipality, as a local government legislative and political structure, and because of this, they possess an inherent knowledge of this political
arena. Therefore, they wield political power in this institution, as well as in transnational political settings like the IPCC, the municipality’s international relations with
Bremen and linkages to The Nature Conservancy.
The PULSE
3 analysis of their interviews indicates that they are capable of making
‘good’ policies, with regard to the River Horse project, the water fund and the UEIP,
as well as collaborative activities with the CSIR, DUT and UKZN, and other nongovernmental entities, such as DUCT, INR, ORI and WESSA. This indicates an
aptitude on the side of the officials to inform green and ecological infrastructures
with domestic and international epistemic structures. With regard to the green and
ecological infrastructure projects, the EPCPD works towards improving the municipal policies by improving the biodiversity in the city, as well as climate change adaptation and mitigation. Their impressive list of publications shows that they utilise their
superior knowledge to inform governance and politics in this issue-specific policy
arena. This means that we are not dealing with a technocracy, although the officials are skilled in numerous practices, such as storm-water drainage, coastal and
catchment management and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
We can link the work of the officials, and particularly those working in the EPCPD,
to the conceptualisation of the Anthropocene, which encapsulates the influencing
force of humans on the earth’s biosphere. Durban is an urbanised environment, and
its biosphere has been altered by human development since it was established in
the nineteenth century. The fact that Durban’s estuaries, open spaces, in-land forests
and river catchments are being threatened by alien invasive flora was mentioned
in the interviews. This means that the driving force behind the vision of the epistocratic officials is not only a matter of geological transformation through urbanisation,
3 eThekwini’s Green and Ecological Infrastructure Policy Landscape
development, uptake, monitoring and evaluation. This speaks to the matter of specific
academic expertise that may be lacking within an issue-specific epistocracy, which
could lead to inefficiencies when communicating scientific evidence to decisionmakers. In this respect, Wellstead et al. (2013), writing on climate change, called for
an ‘institutional revolution’ and argued that:
…much systems-inspired modelling in the climate change adaptation area continues to rely
upon structural-functionalist tautologies. That is, what are, in fact, some of the most determinate actors and variables in any policy-making process—politics and government—are
simply assumed away in the belief that policy goals will just be set, and met, since they are
“necessary” for the system to “function”.
eThekwini’s epistocracy
Based on the discussion on epistocracies, and returning to the EPCPD and other entities within the municipality, do the officials of the eThekwini departments constitute
an epistocracy? Judging by the number of publications, we can argue that these individuals are experts in their respective fields. I would not say that they have a superior
knowledge of the politics that is practised at a societal level, but they certainly do
have an expert knowledge on political governance in the municipality. They are,
after all, employees of the municipality, as a local government legislative and political structure, and because of this, they possess an inherent knowledge of this political
arena. Therefore, they wield political power in this institution, as well as in transnational political settings like the IPCC, the municipality’s international relations with
Bremen and linkages to The Nature Conservancy.
The PULSE
3 analysis of their interviews indicates that they are capable of making
‘good’ policies, with regard to the River Horse project, the water fund and the UEIP,
as well as collaborative activities with the CSIR, DUT and UKZN, and other nongovernmental entities, such as DUCT, INR, ORI and WESSA. This indicates an
aptitude on the side of the officials to inform green and ecological infrastructures
with domestic and international epistemic structures. With regard to the green and
ecological infrastructure projects, the EPCPD works towards improving the municipal policies by improving the biodiversity in the city, as well as climate change adaptation and mitigation. Their impressive list of publications shows that they utilise their
superior knowledge to inform governance and politics in this issue-specific policy
arena. This means that we are not dealing with a technocracy, although the officials are skilled in numerous practices, such as storm-water drainage, coastal and
catchment management and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
We can link the work of the officials, and particularly those working in the EPCPD,
to the conceptualisation of the Anthropocene, which encapsulates the influencing
force of humans on the earth’s biosphere. Durban is an urbanised environment, and
its biosphere has been altered by human development since it was established in
the nineteenth century. The fact that Durban’s estuaries, open spaces, in-land forests
and river catchments are being threatened by alien invasive flora was mentioned
in the interviews. This means that the driving force behind the vision of the epistocratic officials is not only a matter of geological transformation through urbanisation,