Problematizing the wickedness of the Fundao dam rupture: Are cross-sector partnerships enough to bring about the Doce river basin recovery process?

This paper aims to draw attention to the intricacies of hybrid network governance in a challenging institutional landscape. The empirical focus is a case study of the recovery process from the Fundao dam rupture, Brazil's most significant environmental disaster, and the largest in the world involving tailings dams. To drill into the barriers to cross-sector partnerships, we adopted a multi-methods approach, including interviews, grey materials and documents, participant observation and social network analysis. We identified interrelated barriers and grouped them into institutional, power and knowledge barriers, which act through a positive feedback loop leading to a structural arrangement that is inadequate for collaboration in disaster management. As a result, the Doce river basin's recovery process has taken the form of a wicked industrial disaster, enabling a chain reaction of increasing wickedness. We thereby advance cross-sector partnership research by drawing attention to the underlying causes of failure and offer guidance to public and private managers on possible strategies to address the barriers to cross-sector partnerships.

Automated summary

This paper focuses on the complexities of hybrid network governance in a challenging institutional landscape, using a case study of the recovery process from the Fundao dam rupture in Brazil. The study identifies barriers to cross-sector partnerships, including institutional, power, and knowledge barriers, which contribute to an inadequate structural arrangement for collaboration in disaster management. This has resulted in a wicked industrial disaster with increasing severity, highlighting the underlying causes of failure in cross-sector partnerships.