scholarly journals Adaptive environmental governance of changing social-ecological systems: Empirical insights from the Okavango Delta, Botswana

2016 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 50-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie E. Shinn
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Okavango Delta ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological

scholarly journals Untapped capacity for resilience in environmental law

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (40) ◽  
pp. 19899-19904 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahjond Garmestani ◽  
J. B. Ruhl ◽  
Brian C. Chaffin ◽  
Robin K. Craig ◽  
Helena F. M. W. van Rijswick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Legal Reform ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Ecological Resilience ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological

Over the past several decades, environmental governance has made substantial progress in addressing environmental change, but emerging environmental problems require new innovations in law, policy, and governance. While expansive legal reform is unlikely to occur soon, there is untapped potential in existing laws to address environmental change, both by leveraging adaptive and transformative capacities within the law itself to enhance social-ecological resilience and by using those laws to allow social-ecological systems to adapt and transform. Legal and policy research to date has largely overlooked this potential, even though it offers a more expedient approach to addressing environmental change than waiting for full-scale environmental law reform. We highlight examples from the United States and the European Union of untapped capacity in existing laws for fostering resilience in social-ecological systems. We show that governments and other governance agents can make substantial advances in addressing environmental change in the short term—without major legal reform—by exploiting those untapped capacities, and we offer principles and strategies to guide such initiatives.

scholarly journals Shock and Conflict in Social-Ecological Systems: Implications for Environmental Governance

2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 610
Author(s):  
Kristof Van Assche ◽  
Monica Gruezmacher ◽  
Raoul Beunen
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Adaptive Governance ◽  
Evolutionary Patterns ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Path Creation ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Governance Theory

In this paper, we present a framework for the analysis of shock and conflict in social-ecological systems and investigate the implications of this perspective for the understanding of environmental governance, particularly its evolutionary patterns and drivers. We dwell on the distinction between shock and conflict. In mapping the relation between shock and conflict, we invoke a different potentiality for altering rigidity and flexibility in governance; different possibilities for recall, revival and trauma; and different pathways for restructuring the relation between governance, community and environment. Shock and conflict can be both productive and eroding, and for each, one can observe that productivity can be positive or negative. These different effects in governance can be analyzed in terms of object and subject creation, path creation and in terms of the dependencies recognized by evolutionary governance theory: path, inter-, goal and material dependencies. Thus, shock and conflict are mapped in their potential consequences to not only shift a path of governance, but also to transform the pattern of self-transformation in such path. Finally, we reflect on what this means for the interpretation of adaptive governance of social-ecological systems.

Undam It? Klamath Tribes, Social Ecological Systems, and Economic Impacts of River Restoration

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 25-54
Author(s):  
Oral Saulters
Keyword(s):  
River Restoration ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Benefit Cost Analysis ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Governance Institutions

This study explores the complex cultural, environmental, and economic forces that converge in the United States' Klamath River Basin, also addressing potential solutions. With watershed modifications and construction of dams in the early-twentieth century, ecosystems have been adversely impacted, creating significant challenges for tribes and wildlife, including fish populations. Competing interests and shifting policy priorities have contributed to a highly contested landscape that may be moving toward more sustainable development. Indigenous communities are playing a central role in moving away from long-term conflict among diverse stakeholders over fish and water resources and toward more recent collaborative efforts in planning one of the largest dam removals in history. Two crucial questions are addressed in this paper: (1) What key factors influence environmental governance? and (2) How might proposed dam removal impact socioeconomic conditions? After a brief literature review regarding spatiotemporal conditions, I employ the Social Ecological Systems (SES) framework developed by Ostrom, together with a general economic evaluation, to provide an important preliminary step toward characterizing the multifaceted and interdependent issues. Meaningful variables are identified by unpacking the interactions of governance institutions, actors, and resources within nested settings. Findings from the benefit-cost analysis suggest that the net economic benefits from deconstruction and river restoration may be between $14 to $82 billion. Finally, I recommend further research and use of the Integrative Dam Assessment Modeling (IDAM) tool.

scholarly journals Operationalizing the social-ecological systems framework to assess sustainability

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (19) ◽  
pp. 5979-5984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather M. Leslie ◽  
Xavier Basurto ◽  
Mateja Nenadovic ◽  
Leila Sievanen ◽  
Kyle C. Cavanaugh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Coupled System ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Aspects

Environmental governance is more effective when the scales of ecological processes are well matched with the human institutions charged with managing human–environment interactions. The social-ecological systems (SESs) framework provides guidance on how to assess the social and ecological dimensions that contribute to sustainable resource use and management, but rarely if ever has been operationalized for multiple localities in a spatially explicit, quantitative manner. Here, we use the case of small-scale fisheries in Baja California Sur, Mexico, to identify distinct SES regions and test key aspects of coupled SESs theory. Regions that exhibit greater potential for social-ecological sustainability in one dimension do not necessarily exhibit it in others, highlighting the importance of integrative, coupled system analyses when implementing spatial planning and other ecosystem-based strategies.

Systems theories

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc J. Stern
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Real World ◽  
Common Pool Resources ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Effective Governance ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Real World Problem

This chapter covers systems theories relevant to understanding and working to enhance the resilience of social-ecological systems. Social-ecological systems contain natural resources, users of those resources, and the interactions between each. The theories in the chapter share lessons about how to build effective governance structures for common pool resources, how to facilitate the spread of worthwhile ideas across social networks, and how to promote collaboration for greater collective impacts than any one organization alone could achieve. Each theory is summarized succinctly and followed by guidance on how to apply it to real world problem solving.

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