Abstract
This paper proposes and articulates a social relationships perspective of collaboration in the management of social–ecological systems (SESs). It provides a conceptual premise for understanding the dynamics of long-term social relationships that underlie collaborative processes. We argue that a resilience approach offers a better perspective for the study of change in long-term relationships. A conceptual framework based on the theories of resilience and social relationships is developed for analyzing the evolution of collaborative schemes. The essence of the framework is to facilitate understanding and building of resilient social relationships for effective collaboration through interpreting and managing relational change. We suggest that an analysis of resilient social relationships requires an understanding of the complexity and extent of relational change. The elements of a behavioral approach to relationships theory are discussed as a foundation for resilient social relationships. By incorporating the models of Holling (1995) and Cousins (2002) into a behavioral approach to relationships theory, the framework we propose can be used to determine the potential for change based on the amount of relational capital and the degree of relational connectedness in long-term social relationships.
Highlights
Collaborative strategies are increasingly being promoted as a means of addressing problems associated with the management of social– ecological systems (SESs) (Folke et al 2002, Walker et al 2002, Berkes et al 2003)
We are aware that change in long-term relationships can be initiated by either of the parties involved or by contextual factors, for the purposes of this paper we suggest that the potential for change is largely mediated by the amount of relational capital and degree of relational connectedness
We have provided a conceptual premise for understanding the dynamics of long-term social relationships that underlie collaborative processes
Summary
Collaborative strategies are increasingly being promoted as a means of addressing problems associated with the management of social– ecological systems (SESs) (Folke et al 2002, Walker et al 2002, Berkes et al 2003). For the purposes of this paper, we conceive collaboration as a behavioral process that involves different actors working together to create more benefits than could be produced in unilateral settings (Hall 1995, Imperial and Kauneckis 2003, Kinnaman and Bleich 2004, Imperial 2005) This process is founded on longterm relationships through which actors influence each others’ behavior over a period of time to advance common and individual interests (Ostrom 1998, Cousins 2002). Fully understand the behavioral style of an actor without an understanding of how it is linked to relational change
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