Growing Restorative Regulation

Overview & Synopsis

Regulation that prioritises punishment over learning often fails to repair harm or build lasting compliance. It can alienate communities, deepen mistrust and do little to prevent future breaches. 'Growing Restorative Regulation' reveals an alternative approach – one grounded in dialogue, learning from multiple perspectives and ensuring active accountability. Drawing upon a multi-year institutional ethnography of an environmental regulator, the book shows how the principles of restorative justice can be used to address and prevent pollution and environmental harm. In so doing, it also illustrates how restorative approaches are applicable to a wide variety of other regulatory challenges. Throughout, the authors offer a practical framework for inclusive processes and relationship-building, involving local and Indigenous communities, and for transforming regulation into a system that actively repairs. Essential reading for regulators, policymakers, business leaders, environmental advocates, community groups and regulatory scholars, Growing Restorative Regulation is a critical and constructive guide to seeding sustainable restorative practices into the very heart of regulatory decision-making.