Using cultural consensus analysis to measure diversity in social-ecological knowledge for inclusive climate adaptation planning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine D. MILLER HESED ◽  
Michael PAOLISSO ◽  
Elizabeth R. VAN DOLAH ◽  
Katherine J. JOHNSON
Keyword(s):  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Cultural Consensus ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Government Employees ◽  
Consensus Analysis ◽  
Cultural Consensus Analysis ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Local Residents

AbstractClimate adaptation is context specific and inclusion of diverse forms of knowledge is crucial for developing resilient social-ecological systems. Emphasis on local inclusion is increasing, yet participatory approaches often fall short of facilitating meaningful engagement of diverse forms of knowledge. A central challenge is the lack of a comprehensive and comparative understanding of the social-ecological knowledge that various stakeholders use to inform adaptation decisions. We employed cultural consensus analysis to quantitatively measure and compare social-ecological knowledge within and across three stakeholder groups - government employees, researchers, and local residents in rural coastal Maryland. The results show that 1) local residents placed more emphasis on addressing socio-economic and cultural changes than researchers and government employees, and 2) that the greatest variation in social-ecological knowledge was found among local residents. These insights yielded by cultural consensus analysis are beneficial for facilitating more inclusive adaptation planning for resilient social-ecological systems.

scholarly journals Risks Without Borders: A Cultural Consensus Model of Risks to Sustainability in Rapidly Changing Social–Ecological Systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Berill Blair ◽  
Amy Lovecraft
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Cultural Consensus ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Consensus Analysis ◽  
Cultural Consensus Analysis ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Adaptation Action ◽  
Northern Alaska ◽  
Shared Understandings

Global sustainability goals cannot realistically be achieved without strategies that build on multiscale definitions of risks to wellbeing. Particularly in geographic contexts experiencing rapid and complex social and environmental changes, there is a growing need to empower communities to realize self-identified adaptation goals that address self-identified risks. Meeting this demand requires tools that can help assess shared understandings about the needs for, and barriers to, positive change. This study explores consensus about risks and uncertainties in adjacent boroughs grappling with rapid social–ecological transformations in northern Alaska. The Northwest Arctic and North Slope boroughs, like the rest of the Arctic, are coping with a climate that is warming twice as fast as in other regions. The boroughs are predominantly inhabited by Iñupiat people, for whom the region is ancestral grounds, whose livelihoods are still supported by subsistence activities, and whose traditional tribal governance has been weakened through multiple levels of governing bodies and institutions. Drawing on extensive workshop discussions and survey experiments conducted with residents of the two boroughs, we developed a model of the northern Alaska region’s social–ecological system and its drivers of change. Using cultural consensus analysis, we gauged the extent of consensus across the boroughs about what key risks threaten the sustainability of their communities. Though both boroughs occupy vast swaths of land, each with their own resource, leadership, and management challenges, we found strong consensus around how risks that impact the sustainability of communities are evaluated and prioritized. Our results further confirmed that rapid and complex changes are creating high levels of uncertainties for community planners in both boroughs. We discuss the mobilizing potential of risk consensus toward collective adaptation action in the civic process of policy making. We note the contribution of cultural consensus analysis as a tool for cross-scale learning in areas coping with rapid environmental changes and complex social challenges.

scholarly journals Interdisciplinary progress in approaches to address social-ecological and ecocultural systems

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
JULES PRETTY
Keyword(s):  
Local Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Central Component ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Optimal Outcomes ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Scientific Institutions ◽  
Governance Institutions

SUMMARYThe emergent human cultures have shaped, and in turn been shaped by, local ecosystems. Yet humanity's intense modification of the environment has resulted in dramatic worldwide declines in natural and cultural capital. Social-ecological systems are becoming more vulnerable through the disruption of livelihoods, governance, institutions, resources and cultural traditions. This paper reviews the environmental sub-disciplines that have emerged to seek solutions for conservation and maintenance of the resilience of social-ecological systems. It shows that a central component is engagement with the knowledges of people within their contexts. Local knowledges of nature (traditional, indigenous, local ecological knowledge and ecoliteracy) are used by place-based cultures to guide actions towards nature. The importance of new engagements between different knowledges is now becoming more widely recognized by scientific institutions. Yet there still exist many false dualisms (for example local knowledge versus science) which tend to emphasize a superiority of one over the other. Ecocultures retain or strive to regain their connections with the environment, and thus improve their own resilience. Revitalization projects offer ways to connect knowledge with action to produce optimal outcomes for both nature and culture, suggesting that systems can be redesigned by emphasis on incorporation of local and traditional knowledge systems.

Engaging Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in Environmental Management Could Alleviate Scale Mismatches in Social–Ecological Systems

BioScience ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (8) ◽  
pp. 699-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark R Herse ◽  
Phil O’B Lyver ◽  
Nigel Scott ◽  
Angus R McIntosh ◽  
Simon C Coats ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Adaptive Responses ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Ecological Feedbacks ◽  
Fine Resolution

Abstract Scale mismatches in social–ecological systems constrain conservation by obscuring signals of environmental change, which could otherwise feed back to inform adaptive responses and solutions. We argue that engaging indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLC) in place-based environmental management could generate the fine-resolution information and workforce needed to alleviate scale mismatches. We illustrate our argument using a case study initiated by Māori in Aotearoa/New Zealand and demonstrate that the current broad scales of hunting regulation and assessment in black swan (kakī anau, Cygnus atratus) management could obscure local ecological drivers of populations. Many IPLC can facilitate adaptive place-based management by continually monitoring ecological feedbacks (e.g., population numbers, habitat conditions) at fine resolutions through customary resource use and observations. However, disregard for IPLC rights, scepticism of traditional ecological knowledge, restricted opportunity to connect with resources, compartmentalization of resource management, and insufficient funding limit IPLC engagement and must be overcome to alleviate scale mismatches.

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.

scholarly journals Invasion landscapes as social‐ecological systems: Role of social factors in invasive plant species control

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Yletyinen ◽  
George L. W. Perry ◽  
Olivia R. Burge ◽  
Norman W. H. Mason ◽  
Philip Stahlmann‐Brown
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Invasive Plant Species ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological
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