The days of rationalist scientific management and deference to official data are behind us. The credibility of experts and the information they provide are regularly challenged; officials are routinely provided with conflicting sets of facts as they plan and make decisions; and decision makers and stakeholders alike are largely skeptical that technical information will adequately account for the various interests and concerns and lead to the right outcomes. They struggle to reconcile technical information with other forms of knowledge, and differing interests, priorities and perspectives....

The days of rationalist scientific management and deference to official data are behind us. The credibility of experts and the information they provide are regularly challenged; officials are routinely provided with conflicting sets of facts as they plan and make decisions; and decision-makers and stakeholders alike are largely sceptical that technical information will adequately account for the various interests and concerns and lead to the right outcomes. Uncertainly around issues like climate change only complicates matters further, as scientists and technicians must increasingly...

Climate change poses a range of threats to our infrastructure systems and these threats are complicated by the uncertainty and complexity involved, which comprises more than the science or dynamic nature of the climate itself. Many of the challenges decision-makers and other stakeholders must grapple with are governance related. Planning and decision-making is evolving in ambiguous institutional environments, in which many key issues remain unresolved, including: relationships between different actors; funding arrangements; and the sources and procedures for vetting data. These...