▪ Abstract We explore the social dimension that enables adaptive ecosystem-based management. The review concentrates on experiences of adaptive governance of social-ecological systems during periods of abrupt change (crisis) and investigates social sources of renewal and reorganization. Such governance connects individuals, organizations, agencies, and institutions at multiple organizational levels. Key persons provide leadership, trust, vision, meaning, and they help transform management organizations toward a learning environment. Adaptive governance systems often self-organize as social networks with teams and actor groups that draw on various knowledge systems and experiences for the development of a common understanding and policies. The emergence of “bridging organizations” seem to lower the costs of collaboration and conflict resolution, and enabling legislation and governmental policies can support self-organization while framing creativity for adaptive comanagement efforts. A resilient social-eco...

/pdf/adaptive-governance-of-social-ecological-systems-4doqvfxaqg.pdf

Adaptive governance of social-ecological systems

Knowledge Management

https://ncfp.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/berkes_2009_adaptive-co-management.pdf

Evolution of co-management: role of knowledge generation, bridging organizations and social learning.

The case studies of Kristianstads Vattenrike, Sweden; the Northern Highlands Lake District and the Everglades in the USA; the Mae Nam Ping Basin, Thailand; and the Goulburn-Broken Catchment, Australia, were compared to assess the outcome of different actions for transforming social-ecological systems (SESs). The transformations consisted of two phases, a preparation phase and a transition phase, linked by a window of opportunity. Key leaders and shadow networks can prepare a system for change by exploring alternative system configurations and developing strategies for choosing from among possible futures. Key leaders can recognize and use or create windows of opportunity and navigate transitions toward adaptive governance. Leadership functions include the ability to span scales of governance, orchestrate networks, integrate and communicate understanding, and reconcile different problem domains. Successful transformations rely on epistemic and shadow networks to provide novel ideas and ways of governing SESs. We conclude by listing some rules of thumb” that can help build leadership and networks for successful transformations toward adaptive governance of social-ecological systems.

/pdf/shooting-the-rapids-navigating-transitions-to-adaptive-2k3x8580o5.pdf

Shooting the Rapids: Navigating Transitions to Adaptive Governance of Social-Ecological Systems

Resent research has identified the existence of social networks as a common and important denominator in cases where different stakeholders have come together to effectively deal with natural resource problems and dilemmas. It has even been shown that social networks can be more important than the existence of formal institutions for effective enforcement and compliance with environmental regulations. However, all social networks are not created equal. On the contrary, the structural pattern of relations (i.e. the topology) of a social network can have significant impact on how actors actually behave. This clearly has implications for actors’ abilities to manage environmental challenges. This review aims to add more precision to initial insights and pending hypotheses about the positive impacts of social networks on governance processes and outcomes, by reviewing and synthesizing empirically based literature explicitly studying structural characteristics of social networks in natural resource governance settings. It is shown that significant differences in governance processes and outcomes can be expected among networks experiencing structural differences in terms of density of relations, degree of cohesiveness, subgroup interconnectivity, and degree of network centralization. Furthermore, the review shows that none of these structural characteristics present a monotonically increasing positive effect on processes of importance for resource governance, and that favoring one characteristic likely occurs at the expense of another. Thus, assessing the most favorable level and mix of different network characteristics, where most of the positive governance effects are obtained while undesired effects are minimized, presents a key research and governance challenge.

https://www.stockholmresiliencecenter.org/download/18.5ce3bd8012d79a5929580003005/Bodin+and+Crona+2009_Social+networks+in+NRM+review.pdf

The role of social networks in natural resource governance: What relational patterns make a difference?

The literature on ecosystem management and assessment is increasingly focusing on social capacity to enhance ecosystem resilience. Organizational flexibility, participatory approaches to learning, and knowledge generation for responding adequately to environmental change have been highlighted but not critically assessed. The small, flexible municipal organization, Ecomuseum Kristianstads Vattenrike (EKV) in southern Sweden, has identified win-win situations and gained broad support and legitimacy for ecosystem management among a diversity of actors in the region. Navigating the existing legal-political framework, EKV has built a loose social network of local stewards and key persons from organizations at municipal and higher societal levels. As a ‘bridging organization’, EKV has created arenas for trust-building, knowledge generation, collaborative learning, preference formation, and conflicts solving among actors in relation to specific environmental issues. Ad hoc projects are developed as issues arise by mobilizing individuals from the social network. Our results suggest that the EKV approach to adaptive comanagement has enhanced the social capacity to respond to unpredictable change and developed a trajectory towards resilience of a desirable social-ecological system.

Trust-building, Knowledge Generation and Organizational Innovations: The Role of a Bridging Organization for Adaptive Comanagement of a Wetland Landscape around Kristianstad, Sweden

The literature on ecosystem management and assessment is increasingly focusing on the social capacity to enhance ecosystem resilience and the services it sustains. Organizational flexibility and participatory approaches to learning in order to respond adequately to environmental change have been highlighted but not critically assessed. The aim of this article is to describe and analyze a response to declining ecosystem services by Kristianstad municipality in southern Sweden. The municipality launched the project Kristianstad Wetlands (Kristianstads Vattenrike, KV) in 1989 and set up a small, fle xible organization (EKV) to initiate and coordinate water -related ecosystem projects. This case has been chosen because it appears to be an example of successful collaboration for ecosystem and landscape management and illuminates many theoretical concerns of adaptive co-management and resilience of social-ecological system. By being sensitive to the concerns within non-environmental sectors, EKV has identified winwin situations and gained broad support for ecosystem management among a diversity of actors in the region. Operating under existing legal framework, EKV has built a network of key individuals representing stakeholders and institutions at all levels of society. EKV appears to create arenas for exchanging information, preference formation, creating meaning, and solving conflicts among actors in relation to specific nature conservation issues arising in the area. It is a dynamic system where ad hoc projects and sub-networks are formed for each issue arising. These arenas also make it possible for different knowledge systems, such as local ecological knowledge and scientific knowledge, to be combined. We assess how collaborative learning has been employed to monitor, interpret and respond to signals of ecosystem change; scientists have been involved but not in charge of these adaptive comanagement processes. We conclude that trust building has been the crucial component of EKV’s strategy. Our results indicate that this strategy has increased the social capacity within the municipality to navigate the social-ecological system towards a desirable trajectory. The interplay between informal social networks and formalized local collaboration will be crucial for a successful implementation of the new EU Water Directive.

Kristin Johansson

Papers

Trust-building, Knowledge Generation and Organizational Innovations: The Role of a Bridging Organization for Adaptive Comanagement of a Wetland Landscape around Kristianstad, Sweden

Collaborative learning, organizational innovation, and adaptive co-management: The role of social networks in Kristianstad Wetlands, Sweden.