Book•
The Science of Sustainable Development: Local Livelihoods and the Global Environment
01 Dec 2003-
TL;DR: Martin this article discusses the challenges of integrating natural resource management in the context of alleviating poverty and conserving the environment, including multiple realities, social learning, adaptive management, and models, knowledge and negotiation.
Abstract: List of figures List of boxes List of tables Foreword Claude Martin Preface Acknowledgements Part I. Integrating Natural Resource Management: 1. The challenge: alleviating poverty and conserving the environment 2. Dealing with complexity 3. Getting into the system: multiple realities, social learning and adaptive management 4. issues of scale 5. Models, knowledge and negotiation Part II. Realities on the Ground: 6. Institutions for managing natural resources in African savannahs 7. Forest margins in Indonesian Borneo 8. Learning by doing on tropical American hillsides Part III. The Research-Management Continuum: 9. The spread of innovations 10. Measuring the performance of natural resource systems 11. Achieving research-based management Bibliography Index.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors draw on the insights from a diverse set of case studies from around the world in which members of the Resilience Alliance have observed or engaged with sustainability problems at regional scales.
Abstract: The sustainability of regional development can be usefully explored through several different lenses. In situations in which uncertainties and change are key features of the ecological landscape and social organization, critical factors for sustainability are resilience, the capacity to cope and adapt, and the conservation of sources of innovation and renewal. However, interventions in social-ecological systems with the aim of altering resilience immediately confront issues of governance. Who decides what should be made resilient to what? For whom is resilience to be managed, and for what purpose? In this paper we draw on the insights from a diverse set of case studies from around the world in which members of the Resilience Alliance have observed or engaged with sustainability problems at regional scales. Our central question is: How do certain attributes of governance function in society to enhance the capacity to manage resilience? Three specific propositions were explored: (1) participation builds trust, and deliberation leads to the shared understanding needed to mobilize and self-organize; (2) polycentric and multilayered institutions improve the fit between knowledge, action, and social-ecological contexts in ways that allow societies to respond more adaptively at appropriate levels; and (3) accountable authorities that also pursue just distributions of benefits and involuntary risks enhance the adaptive capacity of vulnerable groups and society as a whole. Some support was found for parts of all three propositions. In exploring the sustainability of regional social-ecological systems, we are usually faced with a set of ecosystem goods and services that interact with a collection of users with different technologies, interests, and levels of power. In this situation in our roles as analysts, facilitators, change agents, or stakeholders, we not only need to ask: The resilience of what, to what? We must also ask: For whom?
1,265 citations
TL;DR: This research agenda discusses critical questions and key approaches in determining the various aspects of community structure that influence function in real landscapes, especially compensatory community responses that stabilize function, or non-random extinction sequences that rapidly erode it.
Abstract: Human domination of the biosphere has greatly altered ecosystems, often overwhelming their capacity to provide ecosystem services critical to our survival. Yet ecological understanding of ecosystem services is quite limited. Previous work maps the supply and demand for services, assesses threats to them, and estimates economic values, but does not measure the underlying role of biodiversity in providing services. In contrast, experimental studies of biodiversity-function examine communities whose structures often differ markedly from those providing services in real landscapes. A bridge is needed between these two approaches. To develop this research agenda, I discuss critical questions and key approaches in four areas: (1) identifying the important 'ecosystem service providers'; (2) determining the various aspects of community structure that influence function in real landscapes, especially compensatory community responses that stabilize function, or non-random extinction sequences that rapidly erode it; (3) assessing key environmental factors influencing provision of services, and (4) measuring the spatio-temporal scale over which providers and services operate. I show how this research agenda can assist in developing environmental policy and natural resource management plans.
1,190 citations
Cites background from "The Science of Sustainable Developm..."
...Studies of services should ideally be conducted at multiple, nested scales, as environmental effects on them may be uncorrelated across scales (Sayer & Campbell 2004)....
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...This design would provide gains in onthe-ground efficiency and statistical power, permit detection of general patterns within or between scales, and allow assessments of trade-offs between services (Arnqvist & Wooster 1995; Sayer & Campbell 2004)....
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...…as an integrated component of teams comprising a diversity of both scientific disciplines and resource users, would provide a mechanism for broad dissemination of knowledge, and set the stage for adaptive management (e.g. Biggs et al. 2004; see also Sayer & Campbell 2004; Robertson et al. 2005)....
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01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss critical questions and key approaches in four areas: identifying the important ecosystem service providers; determining the various aspects of community structure that influence function in real landscapes, especially compensatory community responses that stabilize function, or non-random extinction sequences that rapidly erode it; assessing key environmental factors influencing provision of services, and measuring the spatio-temporal scale over which providers and services operate.
Abstract: Human domination of the biosphere has greatly altered ecosystems, often overwhelming their capacity to provide ecosystem services critical to our survival. Yet ecological understanding of ecosystem services is quite limited. Previous work maps the supply and demand for services, assesses threats to them, and estimates economic values, but does not measure the underlying role of biodiversity in providing services. In contrast, experimental studies of biodiversity–function examine communities whose structures often differ markedly from those providing services in real landscapes. A bridge is needed between these two approaches. To develop this research agenda, I discuss critical questions and key approaches in four areas: (1) identifying the important ecosystem service providers; (2) determining the various aspects of community structure that influence function in real landscapes, especially compensatory community responses that stabilize function, or non-random extinction sequences that rapidly erode it; (3) assessing key environmental factors influencing provision of services, and (4) measuring the spatio-temporal scale over which providers and services operate. I show how this research agenda can assist in developing environmental policy and natural resource management plans.
1,137 citations
James Cook University1, Center for International Forestry Research2, Southern Cross University3, Mbarara University of Science and Technology4, University of Queensland5, Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement6, Wageningen University and Research Centre7, Cornell University8
TL;DR: It is found the landscape approach has been refined in response to increasing societal concerns about environment and development tradeoffs and there has been a shift from conservation-orientated perspectives toward increasing integration of poverty alleviation goals.
Abstract: “Landscape approaches” seek to provide tools and concepts for allocating and managing land to achieve social, economic, and environmental objectives in areas where agriculture, mining, and other productive land uses compete with environmental and biodiversity goals. Here we synthesize the current consensus on landscape approaches. This is based on published literature and a consensus-building process to define good practice and is validated by a survey of practitioners. We find the landscape approach has been refined in response to increasing societal concerns about environment and development tradeoffs. Notably, there has been a shift from conservation-orientated perspectives toward increasing integration of poverty alleviation goals. We provide 10 summary principles to support implementation of a landscape approach as it is currently interpreted. These principles emphasize adaptive management, stakeholder involvement, and multiple objectives. Various constraints are recognized, with institutional and governance concerns identified as the most severe obstacles to implementation. We discuss how these principles differ from more traditional sectoral and project-based approaches. Although no panacea, we see few alternatives that are likely to address landscape challenges more effectively than an approach circumscribed by the principles outlined here.
1,004 citations
TL;DR: The background and limitations of win–win approaches to conservation and human well-being are explored, the prospect of approaching conservation challenges in terms of trade-offs and hard choices are discussed, and a set of guiding principles are presented that can serve to orient strategic analysis and communication regardingTrade-offs.
781 citations
Cites background from "The Science of Sustainable Developm..."
...…and costs of conservation, creating management or incentive systems based on this framework seems unlikely to result in ‘win–win’ outcomes any more than ICDPs or other approaches have (Sayer and Campbell, 2004; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005; Naeem et al., 2009; Redford and Adams, 2009)....
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...…being unable to provide the range of income-generating, labor-intensive activities that satisfy the livelihood needs of local people (Ferraro, 2001; Sayer and Campbell, 2004); for a failure to distribute benefits effectively, with benefits disproportionately going to more powerful interests rather…...
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...There are no panaceas or one-size fits all solutions (Ostrom, 2007), nor are there necessarily solutions with long-term staying power (Sayer and Campbell, 2004): decisions and strategies will have to be revisited as new knowledge emerges, and as the social, political, economic, and ecological…...
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...There are no panaceas or one-size fits all solutions (Ostrom, 2007), nor are there necessarily solutions with long-term staying power (Sayer and Campbell, 2004): decisions and...
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...On the human well-being side of the equation, attempts to link economic benefits to conservation and development initiatives have been criticized for not being extensive enough or quick enough in arriving; for being unable to provide the range of income-generating, labor-intensive activities that satisfy the livelihood needs of local people (Ferraro, 2001; Sayer and Campbell, 2004); for a failure to distribute benefits effectively, with benefits disproportionately going to more powerful interests rather than the poorest groups or others that actually use or rely on the natural resource in question; and for coming into conflict with existing livelihood strategies (Wells et al....
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References
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Book•
01 Jan 1990TL;DR: Douglass C. North as discussed by the authors developed an analytical framework for explaining the ways in which institutions and institutional change affect the performance of economies, both at a given time and over time.
Abstract: Continuing his groundbreaking analysis of economic structures, Douglass North develops an analytical framework for explaining the ways in which institutions and institutional change affect the performance of economies, both at a given time and over time. Institutions exist, he argues, due to the uncertainties involved in human interaction; they are the constraints devised to structure that interaction. Yet, institutions vary widely in their consequences for economic performance; some economies develop institutions that produce growth and development, while others develop institutions that produce stagnation. North first explores the nature of institutions and explains the role of transaction and production costs in their development. The second part of the book deals with institutional change. Institutions create the incentive structure in an economy, and organisations will be created to take advantage of the opportunities provided within a given institutional framework. North argues that the kinds of skills and knowledge fostered by the structure of an economy will shape the direction of change and gradually alter the institutional framework. He then explains how institutional development may lead to a path-dependent pattern of development. In the final part of the book, North explains the implications of this analysis for economic theory and economic history. He indicates how institutional analysis must be incorporated into neo-classical theory and explores the potential for the construction of a dynamic theory of long-term economic change. Douglass C. North is Director of the Center of Political Economy and Professor of Economics and History at Washington University in St. Louis. He is a past president of the Economic History Association and Western Economics Association and a Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has written over sixty articles for a variety of journals and is the author of The Rise of the Western World: A New Economic History (CUP, 1973, with R.P. Thomas) and Structure and Change in Economic History (Norton, 1981). Professor North is included in Great Economists Since Keynes edited by M. Blaug (CUP, 1988 paperback ed.)
27,080 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the role that institutions, defined as the humanly devised constraints that shape human interaction, play in economic performance and how those institutions change and how a model of dynamic institutions explains the differential performance of economies through time.
Abstract: Examines the role that institutions, defined as the humanly devised constraints that shape human interaction, play in economic performance and how those institutions change and how a model of dynamic institutions explains the differential performance of economies through time. Institutions are separate from organizations, which are assemblages of people directed to strategically operating within institutional constraints. Institutions affect the economy by influencing, together with technology, transaction and production costs. They do this by reducing uncertainty in human interaction, albeit not always efficiently. Entrepreneurs accomplish incremental changes in institutions by perceiving opportunities to do better through altering the institutional framework of political and economic organizations. Importantly, the ability to perceive these opportunities depends on both the completeness of information and the mental constructs used to process that information. Thus, institutions and entrepreneurs stand in a symbiotic relationship where each gives feedback to the other. Neoclassical economics suggests that inefficient institutions ought to be rapidly replaced. This symbiotic relationship helps explain why this theoretical consequence is often not observed: while this relationship allows growth, it also allows inefficient institutions to persist. The author identifies changes in relative prices and prevailing ideas as the source of institutional alterations. Transaction costs, however, may keep relative price changes from being fully exploited. Transaction costs are influenced by institutions and institutional development is accordingly path-dependent. (CAR)
26,011 citations
Book•
01 Jun 1980
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an analysis of knowledge in everyday life in the context of a theory of society as a dialectical process between objective and subjective reality, focusing particularly on that common-sense knowledge which constitutes the reality of everyday life for the ordinary member of society.
Abstract: A general and systematic account of the role of knowledge in society aimed to stimulate both critical discussion and empirical investigations. This book is concerned with the sociology of 'everything that passes for knowledge in society'. It focuses particularly on that 'common-sense knowledge' which constitutes the reality of everyday life for the ordinary member of society. The authors are concerned to present an analysis of knowledge in everyday life in the context of a theory of society as a dialectical process between objective and subjective reality. Their development of a theory of institutions, legitimations and socializations has implications beyond the discipline of sociology, and their 'humanistic' approach has considerable relevance for other social scientists, historians, philosophers and anthropologists.
16,935 citations
TL;DR: Senge's Fifth Discipline is a set of principles for building a "learning organization" as discussed by the authors, where people expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nutured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are contually learning together.
Abstract: Peter Senge, founder and director of the Society for Organisational Learning and senior lecturer at MIT, has found the means of creating a 'learning organisation'. In The Fifth Discipline, he draws the blueprints for an organisation where people expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nutured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are contually learning together. The Fifth Discipline fuses these features together into a coherent body of theory and practice, making the whole of an organisation more effective than the sum of its parts. Mastering the disciplines will: *Reignite the spark of learning, driven by people focused on what truly matters to them. *Bridge teamwork into macro-creativity. *Free you from confining assumptions and mind-sets. *Teach you to see the forest and the trees. *End the struggle between work and family time. The Fifth Discipline is a remarkable book that draws on science, spiritual values, psychology, the cutting edge of management thought and Senge's work with leading companies which employ Fifth Discipline methods. Reading it provides a searching personal experience and a dramatic professional shift of mind. This edition contains more than 100 pages of new material about how companies are actually using and benefiting from Fifth Discipline practices, as well as a new foreword from Peter Senge about his work with the Fifth Discipline over the last 15 years.
16,386 citations
7,342 citations