A case for using adaptive platforms in the development and implementation of urban-centred adaptive management plans

Abstract

The recurring challenges in developing and coordinating social frameworks for the effective adaptive management of environmental resources in urban environments may be addressed by developing platforms, similar to those promoted by collective action in the management of common pool resources. This paper compares how these two frameworks perceive and foster social organization vis-a-vis management action, particularly at the local scale of resource use. The significant potential for incorporation of platforms into the adaptive management framework is discussed, based on a set of issues identified in collective action research as important in the development of platforms. An urban-centred case study, the Las Vegas Wash Comprehensive Adaptive Management Plan, illustrates how an adaptive management framework, when its social components come together in a mutually supportive, heuristic way, begins to generate what in collective action is called a platform. The paper further explores how platforms may be more explicitly incorporated into the adaptive management framework to address some of the more persistent social organization difficulties for which adaptive management has been faulted, especially regarding scale issues and the urban context. A revised adaptive management model including a platform is provided, and suggestions made about issues that may be studied using this model.