Common Resource Management Research Articles

Meta-Analysis of Randomized Bivariate Effects of Governance on Common Resource Management

In the context of sustainable development, governance of water resources turns out to be a management model that would include factors relating to beliefs, attitudes, values, norms, perceptions, skills, knowledge, decisions and actions-oriented water availability and consumption of 200 standard liters per day. However, studies on the psychology of sustainability warn that availability is not only mediated cognitive dimensions but are also determined by the relationship between local authorities and users of municipal services. In this sense, the present work is proposed to specify the relationship between cognitive factors to establish a model for the study of policies tandem as an effect of the surrounding information in the media about drought, natural disasters, environmental disasters or water conflicts. To this end, a review was conducted in databases with registration ISBN and DOI considering the above constructs. Referring to the state of knowledge, the model specification was discussed.

A conceptual method to research in social systems focused to informal waste pickers

The viability of society depends on its ability to manage and maintain its common resources. It is important to find strategies that harmonize their use and access in order to maintain an optimum rate of combined extraction and consumption of resources, as well as to fortify social capital under a variability of cultural and social contexts. Three scenarios have been proposed with regard to the management of common resources; we propose there are differentiated by characteristics that demarcate the grade of conservation of the resources. With respect to the management of byproducts from urban solid wastes that informal waste pickers make in the dumps, throughout 20 years working on the subject, we concluded that the appropriation of materials in these social systems follow the same patterns as in natural systems. So we propose to use the theory of access to common resources, since we consider it is possible to utilize this methodology to model management scenarios that contribute to the understanding of the appropriation of materials at dumps, as well to propose strategies in order to improve the management of solid wastes and the welfare of the informal waste pickers. Under the premise that the handling and appropriation of solid wastes, which is done by the informal waste pickers is characteristic to the use of resources of common property, the theoretical integration of the investigation should undertake why solid wastes should be considered as resources and in what general conditions is the handling of these resources that are found in all countries where informal waste pickers occur.

Community Governance of forest conservation in San Miguel Topilejo, Tlalpan, CDMX

The communal governance is a process of agreement building and taking decision over common use resources, which takes intoaccount norms that regulate access, use and management of territory, and rights and responsibilities of resource owners. The leveland type of governance generated in every community depends on the degree of participation of its members to generate agreementssupporting decision and collective actions on their territory. The objective of this study is to know the level of communitygovernance on forest conservation in San Miguel Topilejo. A survey was applied to a sample of 58 de community members. Thelevel of governance was determined by criteria and indicators about social capital, collective action and local organization of thiscommunity. The main findings show that this community have low level of governance for forest management and conservation.The social capital generated is low because it does not allow cohesion of its members. Collective action show lack of cooperationand coordination to decision making process for enforcement of norms and sanctions. Level of community organization is elementalthe structure of positions and roles in the participation of forest management. The conclusion is this community show low level ofgovernance because the lack of clear objectives, lack of well-established norms and sanctions and lack of involvement of comunerosin decision making processes and management of common use resources.

Adapting Common Resource Management to Under-Use Contexts: The Case of Common Pasture Organizations in the Black Forest Biosphere Reserve

Commonly used pastures have provided great socio-cultural, economic and ecological values across European mountain ranges. Since the last century, under-use is threatening these socio-ecological systems. Preserving common pastures as an integral part of cultural landscapes is the principal objective of the recently established Black Forest Biosphere Reserve in south-western Germany. We use the example of Black Forest common pasture organizations to scrutinize organisational arrangements, challenges and support of common resource sustenance in under-use contexts by drawing on Ostrom’s Design Principles, the Socio-Ecological-Systems Framework and resilience theory. To this end, we use mixed methods for data collection (semi-structured interviews, expert survey, focus group discussion) rooted in qualitative empirical social-ecological science. The suggested tripartite framework offers insights for conceptual and theoretical advancements in under-use contexts. As such, this research shows that design principles for under-use should (1) consider broader social boundaries to include all actors benefiting from the resources, (2) achieve congruence of provision, appropriation and local conditions that focus on sufficient levels of landscape stewardship services involving new beneficiaries for burden sharing, (3) match appropriators’ rights and duties as well as incentives for and motivations of pasture management. Concerning practical aspects, measures to support common pasture organizations’ adaptation need to incorporate multi-level governance and to increase connectivity.

Factors Influencing the Adoption of Sujala III Watershed Interventions and Constraints Faced by Farmers

The study aims to identify factors associated with the adoption of Sujala III watershed interventions and document the constraints faced by the farmers in adoption watershed interventions. An ex post facto research design was employed in the study. The study was conducted in Dindur sub watershed which belongs to Gadag and Bedwatti sub watershed of Koppal district of Karnataka. A sample of 90 farmers representing each two sub watersheds was selected by simple random procedure making a total sample size of 180. The respondents were interviewed personally using pre tested interview schedule and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistical tools. The study observed that, there was a strong positive and significant relationship between independent variables like land holding, resource base, cropping intensity, scientific orientation, risk orientation and the adoption of Sujala III watershed interventions at one per cent. Therefore the extension agencies and policy makers should formulate programmes and extension activities by focussing on these factors which accelerate the adoption process. With respect to constraints in adoption, the highly ranked problem during planning stage was farmers consent was not taken (254). Lack of transparency (288) was the top most problem followed by favorability towards big farmers (231) with second rank faced at implementation stage. The major constraint faced in maintenance was the waste weir damage (174). As of technical issues were concerned, lack of guidance during post project (293) was the major problem followed by lack of knowledge about the management of common properties resources (256). Among the compatibility problems, top ranked problem was the fragmentation of land into unconventional shape (221) and low maintenance by committee (317) was the top ranked community related problem. It is of utmost importance to follow participatory approach in planning and implementation and post project maintenance.

Urban commons in the techno-economic paradigm shift: An information and communication technology-enabled climate-resilient solutions review

The commons concept has evolved in multiple ways after the publication of Ostrom’s seminal work in 1990, which emphasized the evolution of resource management institutions and the usefulness of self-governance. As we move into the 21st century, one of the institutional transformations is catalyzed by the emergence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a techno-economic paradigm shift and the epochal creation of a new online social structure. However, there is a lack of understanding about the impact of ICT on common resource management, particularly in urban settings, that is urban commons. This study presents a systematic literature review of ICT-enabled urban commons with particular attention to its application to climate-related issues such as climate mitigation/adaptation in order to improve our collective ability to leverage ICT for building a more sustainable and resilient city. A total of 66 pieces of literature were included in our qualitative synthesis. We analyzed the geographical, categorical, and climate relevance. Subsequently, we used the coupled infrastructure system framework as a system thinking approach to dissect distinct usefulness of ICT-enabled commons in the building of relationships between resource system, resource user, infrastructure, and infrastructure provider to tackle climate-related issues. Our findings identified three key contributions of ICT to innovate climate-resilient solutions: 1) to redefine role of resource user as co-producer, co-designer, and co-monitor; 2) to enable real-time data-driven urban planning; 3) to improve resource efficiency and effectiveness. In other words, in a time of insufficient and limited public resources, the public sector can leverage the power of technology to harness public support and engage non-traditional stakeholders to make cities more sustainable and resilient while allowing policy-making to be big data-driven to tackle new urban problems that cannot be otherwise uncovered without the aid of ICT. The results provide directions to rethink the city based on collective action to diversity modes to govern common resources.

Common Resources Management in Anti-Commons Situation, Case of Marine Resources in Morocco (French Version)

Common Resources Management in Anti-Commons Situation, Case of Marine Resources in Morocco (French Version)

Long-Term Common Resources Management and Resilience in a Local Community:

Long-Term Common Resources Management and Resilience in a Local Community:

Can Geographical Indications promote sustainable shellfish farming? The example of Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel mussels

This paper investigates the potential of Geographical Indications to enhance the environmental sustainability of bivalve aquaculture, with a focus on the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) granted to the bouchot mussel of the bay of Mont Saint-Michel (BMSM). First, a retrospective analysis of the PDO application process was carried out to provide insight into specific environmental and regulatory issues facing mussel farming in the BMSM (e.g. common resource management). Second, further assessment relied on a comparative analysis with other public labelling strategies developed by mussel farmers, notably emerging organic certification. This involved setting up an ad-hoc analysis grid to evaluate different dimensions of sustainability, namely economic, environmental and governance. The discussion then addresses the potential of PDO to promote sustainable mussel farming with respect to the current trends in food/mussel labelling in the market and to the increasing demand for environmental preservation in marine and coastal areas. It also emphasises the overlap between different EU labelling schemes that questions their consistency and legibility, particularly for bivalve aquaculture. In conclusion, the system of quality linked to origin has provided an appropriate framework for supporting the implementation of sustainable bouchot mussel farming in the BMSM, thanks to the relevance and inclusiveness of the PDO labelling process and institutional support. Next, to strengthen the legitimacy of the PDO to guarantee the environmental sustainability of farming methods and increase protection on the market, more adaptive management of the PDO label is recommended.

Creating Commons: Reflections on Creating Natural Resource Management Regimes in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Thirteen years ago, PAYOPAYO Peasant School Network, an Indonesian community organizing network based in Sulawesi, facilitated Participatory Action Research (PAR) that eventually culminated in a creation of a common resource management regime around an irrigation system for agricultural use in Tompobulu, a village within a national park in upland South Sulawesi. This note from the field presents a reflection on collective action experiences of a community in building the commons in 2008 to 2009, and revisits the extent to which the commons has been managed, how management regimes changed over time, and how it survives as a commons today. The initial factors allowing for establishment of the commons, understood here as a social practice toward common goals, were a shared need for water (local needs & conditions), and the success to make use of the irrigation commons as a means to initiate other collective actions. Drawing from concerted engagement and analysis conducted in 2021, this note revisits the key factors and highlights different ways the commons continues to persist, namely due to the distinct benefits felt by participants, the existence of institutions that regulate the use and maintenance of the commons, the existence of a monitoring system among members, participation of members in formulating and modifying the rules, and the recognition of National Park authorities on the commons and its rules.

Blue revitalization or dispossession? Reform of common resource management in Japanese small‐scale fisheries

AbstractBased on in‐depth anthropological field research in rural Japan, this paper analyses the ongoing reform of Japanese fishery governance and its social and environmental justice implications, as globally proliferating discourses on the ‘blue economy’ and ‘blue growth’ are driving the enclosure of one of the last vestiges of natural resource commons in small‐scale fisheries. Coastal fisheries in Japan are often idealized as one of the last bastions of resource co‐management in an industrialized country, with local cooperatives collectively controlling territorial fishing rights. However, demographic change, declining profitability, and dwindling resource stocks are challenging their viability. Reform of the fishery law, designed to stimulate new growth and industrialization – particularly in aquaculture – includes the opening up of coastal fishery resources to corporate investors, the strengthening of top‐down regulation, and the introduction of individual fishing quotas (IQ). The desire to boost domestic seafood production also has to be seen within the context of the double anxiety of high dependency on international trade for foodstuff and of Japan's vanishing rurality. This emphasis on private capital and presupposed economic and scientific rationality builds on the same rationale of blue economy and blue growth discourses, which promise financial along with ecological returns on large‐scale investments in sustainable ocean economies. Growth‐oriented reform in Japan now imperils successful resource co‐management in coastal small‐scale fisheries. Its analysis therefore offers deeper insights into the transformative as well as dispossessive potential of the global paradigmatic shift towards an intensified industrial exploitation of the oceans. The question of social and environmental justice is central in the re‐allocation of access rights to ocean spaces and resources and the re‐arrangement of decision‐making processes in fishery governance, as local fishing communities face a very real threat of dispossession and disempowerment.

Invasive Chinook Salmon in Chile: Stakeholder Perceptions and Management Conflicts around a New Common-use Resource.

Since the last decade, the Chinook salmon has become an invasive species in southern Chilean rivers, affecting their environment and displacing native species due to predation and competition. The socioeconomic valuation of this species is complex, due to its high economic, touristic, and culinary value. The tourism industry and artisanal fishing groups see the salmon as a new common-use resource to be regulated. The Chilean regulatory framework, in turn, has made the presence, danger, and economic importance of the species invisible. This document analyzes the social construction of salmonids according to different interest groups and their interaction with the legal invisibility of this species. Our study delves into a particular group: the artisanal fishermen of La Barra del Toltén, in the Araucania Region, whose main economic activity has been illegal Chinook salmon fishing, pressing for their legalization. This case raises reflections on the perennially complex relationship between nature and society, as well as the management of common problems and common resources.

Elite Status, Market Linkages, and Contributions to Collective Goods: Evidence from a Survey and Public Goods Experiments

Cooperation is particularly important in the management of common resources where the user rights of individuals are collective. We used a one-shot public goods experiment to construct a measure of social capital, based on ‘multilateral’ cooperative behaviour, where each participant had free-riding incentives. This study was conducted in four rural villages of Odisha in India in the course of a project studying irrigation. Participants were male farmers from different social groups. Combining survey data with the artefactual field experiments, we examined how an individual’s willingness to contribute to the collective good was affected by social and economic characteristics, and political connections to the local administrative unit. The results suggest interesting differences in cooperation: in the less remote villages, farmers were less cooperative on average compared to farmers living in more remote villages. Furthermore, we found that wealthy and influential farmers invested less in the provision of a public good, reducing the likelihood of successful collective action. The findings are relevant both to the ‘collective action in the commons’ discourse and the literature on using experimental methods to deal with an individual’s true preferences for a public good.

Relational quality and uncertainty in common pool\xa0water management: an exploratory lab experiment

If there is one certainty for the sustainable management of water resources is that facing uncertainty is an unavoidable matter. A concern that, in addition to the best available scientific knowledge and models, requires deep insights about the socio relational processes that underlie decision-making. Our objective here is to better understand if and how the socio relational environment in which decisions are made shapes decision-making under uncertainty in common pool water resource management. Our goal is twofold: methodological and analytical. It consists in designing experiments for carrying out uncertainty analysis to explore the influence that the relationships established among decision actors have in making decision choices under uncertainty in management processes. To this end, we developed one experimental game protocol, representing a typical water management scenario: irrigation, which we use to test two different conjectures about the combined effects of uncertainty and relationships. In doing so, we play close attention to the quality of relationships developed among players (acting as water managers), and how these relationships are structured and organized. Initial tests confirmed the importance that the relationships established among players have for coping with uncertainty in managing water resources.

An iterative algorithm for groundwater pumping energy cost minimization

This article presents an algorithm for solving a very common water resources management problem. This involves finding the optimal solution to the problem of minimizing the cost of energy consumed during pumping and transporting water from a group of wells to a reservoir to satisfy the water needs of a residential area. This algorithm addresses the problem of minimizing the cost of the energy consumed by pumping groundwater through an iterative process. The results of the algorithm are verified by solving the same problem with the generalized reduced gradient algorithm, which is integrated into the Microsoft Excel Solver add-in. It is found that the algorithm accurately calculates the optimal solution of the problem, while the results of the solutions of similar mathematical programming problems with this algorithm can be used as guides for other more complicated problems.

A longer‐term perspective on soil moisture, groundwater and stream flow response to the 2018 drought in an experimental catchment in the Scottish Highlands

AbstractThe drought of summer 2018, which affected much of Northern Europe, resulted in low river flows, biodiversity loss and threats to water supplies. In some regions, like the Scottish Highlands, the summer drought followed two consecutive, anomalously dry, winter periods. Here, we examine how the drought, and its antecedent conditions, affected soil moisture, groundwater storage, and low flows in the Bruntland Burn; a sub‐catchment of the Girnock Burn long‐term observatory in the Scottish Cairngorm Mountains. Fifty years of rainfall‐runoff observations and long‐term modelling studies in the Girnock provided unique contextualisation of this extreme event in relation to more usual summer storage dynamics. Whilst summer precipitation in 2018 was only 63% of the long‐term mean, soil moisture storage across much of the catchment were less than half of their summer average and seasonal groundwater levels were 0.5 m lower than normal. Hydrometric and isotopic observations showed that ~100 mm of river flows during the summer (May‐Sept) were sustained almost entirely by groundwater drainage, representing ~30% of evapotranspiration that occurred over the same period. A key reason that the summer drought was so severe was because the preceding two winters were also dry and failed to adequately replenish catchment soil moisture and groundwater stores. As a result, the drought had the biggest catchment storage deficits for over a decade, and likely since 1975–1976. Despite this, recovery was rapid in autumn/winter 2018, with soil and groundwater stores returning to normal winter values, along with stream flows. The study emphasizes how long‐term data from experimental sites are key to understanding the non‐linear flux‐storage interactions in catchments and the “memory effects” that govern the evolution of, and recovery from, droughts. This is invaluable both in terms of (a) giving insights into hydrological behaviours that will become more common water resource management problems in the future under climate change and (b) providing extreme data to challenge hydrological models.

Formation trend analysis and gender inclusion in community forests of Nepal

The community forests of Nepal are a showcase of participatory forest management models to the global communities. However, the scenario of formation trend and their future formation potential is unknown. This paper presents 40 years of community forests (CF) formation trend in Nepal and discusses its potential formation scenario. The researchers have used updated data (mid-July, 2020) for trend analysis using Mann-Kendall and Sen's slope coefficient test. The policy provision of women participation and their actual involvement in the executive committee (EC) of community forests users' group (CFUG) has also been compared. The analysis showed 22,519 CF with an area of 2,312,545 hectares of national forests being managed by 3,088,259 households (HH). This constitutes 15.67% of the total land area, 34.98% of total forested area, 56.90% of total HH, and 62.68% of the total population of Nepal being involved in CF. Though the formation trend of CF and their respective area, HH involvement, EC members, and participation of women in EC was in increasing trend in the late 1990s to early 2000s, these variables are now decreasing. Although not statistically significant (p>0.05), the overall annual growth shows a negative trend, indicating the CF formation near the saturation point. Result reveals efforts and time to be invested in the management of CF rather than investing in a new formation. Moreover, results evident that CF ensures and obtains more than 50% women involvement both in policy and practice in the decision-making process for participatory common resource management in Nepal. Results would be a reference to policy guidance related to sustainable CF management and gender-inclusive participatory common resource management. This, again, would be a good example of a gender-inclusive natural resource management model to the other sectors in Nepal and to the global community.

Characterization of Rural Organizations in a Forest-Based Economy: A Socio-Institutional Approach

We used a socio-institutional approach to characterize rural organizations in forest-based communities in North West Tunisia. This approach builds on the imperatives of a social system, the conservation of rural capital, and the role of social capital. The resulting model was used to characterize rural organizations based on key socio-institutional attributes. The paper used a Participatory Rural Appraisal (focus groups mainly) to conduct in-depth analysis in nine forest communities. Results reveal the following : 1) in Development Committees there is a strong belief in state intervention and moderate natural capital appropriation, weak conflict management, weak capacity to sanction, and low trust in the organization; 2) in active Agricultural Development Groups there exists a strong potential for conflict management, trust in the organization, and natural capital appropriation, but a lower level of degradation responsibility and capacity to sanction; and 3) in the Inactive Agricultural Development Groups there is the strongest perception of state intervention and overall weak performances in terms of conflict management, trust in organization, and degradation responsibility. These features indicate the organization’s attributes for sustainable local development and specifically for common forest resources management.

Strategic human resource management in primary and secondary schools. An explorative study in Flanders (Belgium)

Although internationally there is a growing interest in strategic human resource management (SHRM) in the educational context, few studies explored SHRM in schools. This qualitative study explores if five common human resource management (HRM) practices (i.e. recruitment and selection, assignment, evaluation, rewards, and development) are aligned with schools’ strategic planning and individual teacher needs. The analysis is based on 194 semi-structured interviews with school leaders and school team members in 24 schools in Flanders (Belgium). After a within-case analysis, a classification was made for each school for each HRM practice under investigation based on a classification scheme indicating the strategic focus per HRM practice. The cross-case analysis shows that for some HRM practices the alignment with school’s strategic planning and individual teacher needs is identified in more schools (e.g. for ‘professional development’) than for other practices (e.g. for ‘rewards’). The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of SHRM within the education sector and provide schools with tools to invest in SHRM.

Cascading Defections from Cooperation Triggered by Present-Biased Behaviors in the Commons

This work shows that defective behaviors from the cooperative equilibrium in the management of common resources can be fueled and triggered by the presence of agents with myopic behaviors. The behavior implemented by naive agents, even if performed with cooperative intent, can activate a dynamic of cascading defections from the cooperative strategy within the harvesters’ group. This paper demonstrates and discusses that the apparent and detectable decay of the cooperative choices in the dilemmas of common resources is not an exclusive and indisputable signal of an escalation in free-riding intentions but also an outcome of the present-biased preferences and myopic behaviors of the cooperative agents. Notably, within the context populated by conditional cooperators with a heterogeneous myopic discount factor, in the absence of information on agents’ intentions, the present-biased preferences can trigger a strategy that directs the community to excessively increase its harvesting level, even in presence of the other-regarding motives. Therefore, lowering cooperative behaviors can also be the effect of the absence of coordination instruments in response to the cognitive bias that influences human behaviors.