Abstract
In preview of the special issue on “Environmental Governance for Sustainability”, this manuscript examines three key themes on governance and sustainability. Governance for sustainability, by its nature, requires long-enduring institutional arrangements. Given the complex adaptive systems in which governance decision-making takes place, we explore three key characteristics of successful, long-term governance. The first of these is working across scale. This includes nested institutions as well as communication and coordination both horizontally and vertically between diverse governance groups. Second, we highlight the importance of collaboration. Building on the previous point, we draw on literature from collaborative governance and co-management to emphasize how collaboration can help to build more enduring governance structures. Third, we examine the importance of adaptation and evolution in the resolution of collective action dilemmas in complex systems filled with nonlinearities, unclear causal chains, and environments in which we have less than a full understanding of the ramifications of governance actions.
Highlights
Fifty years ago, Garrett Hardin wrote an article entitled “The Tragedy of the Commons” [1], which became one of the most highly cited articles of all time and a course standard for environmental studies and sciences worldwide
Hardin predicts the tragic demise of natural resources unless the commons are either subdivided into individually managed parcels or the entire commons is controlled by the state
The seminal work by Ostrom [2] figures prominently in the development of the governance approach, and as highlighted by [3], the strength of the institutional design principles approach is that it allows for a complex array of context-specific implementation of such principles; much of its power comes from its ability to generalize while allowing for local-level diversity
Summary
Garrett Hardin wrote an article entitled “The Tragedy of the Commons” [1], which became one of the most highly cited articles of all time and a course standard for environmental studies and sciences worldwide. Since the publication of Dietz et al (2003) [4], “The Struggle to Govern the Commons”, scholars have increasingly focused on the governance challenges inherent in such complex adaptive systems—nonlinearities and tipping points, evolving and dynamic social and ecological agents, and emergent behaviors In dealing with such phenomena in subsequent research, scholars have identified a number of specific challenges in the sustainable governance of SESs, including: (1) working across scale and linking governance decision-makers horizontally and vertically; (2) building collaborative arrangements across political barriers to govern at the scale of the sustainability challenge; and (3) creating institutional arrangements that adapt to maintain robustness and resilience in a dynamic environment. We share our own perspective on each of these challenges
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