Sustainability^[2] as an over-riding goal for society in general is arguably one of the greatest challenges currently facing human society. It is a complex, ambiguous and often contested concept which has generated much debate in the academic and political literature. As a concept, its focal emphasis has evolved over time. The contemporary interpretation of sustainability as an integrative concept encompassing the so-called ‘triple bottom line’ of environmental integrity, economic vitality and social cohesion evolved in Australian policy arenas in the 1990s (e.g. Commonwealth of Australia 1992; AFFA 1999; Bellamy and Johnson 2000; MDBMC 2001; Dovers and Wild River 2003). This interpretation places strong emphasis on:

The ‘triple bottom line’ dimensions of sustainability are fundamental to progress towards Australia’s preferred and sustainable future but they require considerable change in policy and institutional systems and structures.

Significantly, from local to global scales, linked social and natural systems do not respond to change in ‘smooth’ linear ways rather they are dynamic and characterised by accelerating complexity, uncertainty, disorganisation and irregular or sudden changes that are multilevel, difficult to predict and potentially irreversible or very difficult and costly to manage (e.g. Gunderson and Holling 2003; Berkes et al 2003). Moreover the multifunctional character of our interconnected social and natural systems involves multiple, but often conflicting, benefits (such as water supply, recreation, commerce, human health, ecosystem services), which are linked to a multiplicity of stakeholders (across governments, industry and community) with diverse and plural values, responsibilities and agendas, which may themselves be conflicting.

Contemporary interpretations emphasise sustainability as a process and a means to an end, rather than an end in or of itself. For example, Holling (2001) argues that:

It is argued that for societies to deal with and shape change, they require ‘adaptive capacity’ based on shared understanding and management power through collaboration and partnerships that foster adaptation and learning (e.g. Berkes et al 2003; Folke et al 2005). Importantly such adaptive capacity resides in actors, social networks and institutions as well as ecosystems. This concept of adaptive capacity emphasises the ability of underpinning systems to adapt to or compensate for on-going transformative processes rather than just the ability of management approaches to maintain existing systems. As such, sustainability is as much about the flexibility and adaptive capacity of our underlying social and natural systems as it is about the ability of actors to manage change. Governance considerations are therefore central to an adaptive process.

Coupled with a perceived failure of top down governmental command-and-control approaches to resolving many natural resource issues, this shift in interpretation has led to increasing calls for new and more ‘adaptive governance’ of interconnected social and natural systems (e.g. Folke et al 2005; Scholz and Stiftel 2005; Howlett and Raynor 2006). A new generation of governance institutions is being experimented with by governments worldwide to address diverse issues relating to the uncertainties and dynamism of changing social and natural systems (e.g. Bellamy and Johnson 2000; Bellamy et al 2002; Innes and Boher 2003; Lebel et al 2006). These issues include: policy coordination and coherence; multidimensional and inequitable policy impacts (i.e. equity and social justice); power sharing; legitimacy (i.e. procedural justice and social acceptability); incomplete knowledge, technical uncertainty and ignorance; conflicting values and priorities; and urgency of response.