Governance Of Common-pool Resources Research Articles

Decentralized project delivery on the crypto commons: Conceptualization, governance mechanisms, and future research directions

This paper presents a first conceptualization for decentralized project delivery through the combination of blockchain technology and common pool resource governance theory, also known as the ”crypto commons”. While previous literature on project delivery models identifies the use of decentralized governance, there is not yet a holistic conceptualization nor a specific overview of governance applications that can be applied. To develop the concept, we use a literature review to synthesize fourteen blockchain governance mechanisms useful for managing the crypto-commons. Subsequently, we use systematic combining to identify twenty-two specific applications for decentralized project delivery in the construction industry, one of the largest project-based industries. Each application is briefly reviewed, and examples of their relevance to realize decentralized project delivery models are provided. We discuss the potential for novel forms of project delivery, but also the need for future research on the applications, as well as on the system level implications, the system design challenges, and the implementation barriers in the specific context of the construction industry. Overall, the concepts and mechanisms presented provide a theoretical foundation upon which future researchers can use to design novel decentralized project delivery models.

The Robustness of Common-Pool Resource Governance in the Gulf of Mottama Ramsar Wetland, Myanmar under Pre- and Post-Political Crisis Conditions

This study examines the role of communities, local institutions, conservation organizations and government agencies in the governance of large-scale common-pool resources (CPR) at the Gulf of Mottama Ramsar wetland, Myanmar before and one year after the 2021 coup d’état. The research employed a mixed method approach in two villages in the GOM on common alluvial land, waterbirds, and fisheries CPRs. The robustness of CPR governance is evaluated with Ostrom’s eight design principles. We found that pre-coup the formation of local user associations, livelihood incentive strategies, and co-management approaches were increasingly effective to conserve fisheries and waterbirds CPRs, while land conflicts over new common alluvial land persisted. One year following the coup, offshore fisheries especially faced challenges from illegal practices by outsiders, due to significantly weakened co-management practices and accountability of local authorities and large-scale commercial fishers to the fishing communities.

Legal pluralism, ideology, and institutional change: the evolution of institutions for coastal resource governance in Ghana

Abstract Co-management regimes are institutional innovations that hold the promise of achieving sustainable common-pool resource governance. However, the transition to such institutional regimes in coastal resource systems has faced challenges in many countries. This article examines the processes and outcomes of such institutional changes in coastal fisheries in Ghana, where the transition to co-management was unsuccessful. Combining theoretical perspectives from legal pluralism in legal anthropology and ideational theories of institutional change within institutional economics, the paper uses process tracing to examine the role of ideology and historical institutional dynamics of the resource context in the institutionalization and failure of co-management arrangements for governing coastal fisheries. The study finds that ideological conflicts and historical legacies of legal pluralism hindered the practice and outcomes of coastal fisheries co-management in Ghana. The article argues for particular attention to the historical institutional dimensions and underlying worldviews of the resource context in institutional interventions for sustainability in coastal resource systems.

Geographical Indications and Sustainable Viticulture: Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives

Wine production faces numerous sustainability challenges. The backbone of European wine regulations is the framework for Geographical Indications (GIs), which is currently being reformed as part of the EU’s Farm-to-Fork Agenda. An important aspect of the reform is to strengthen the sustainability performance of GIs by allowing the integration of “sustainability undertakings” in GI product specifications. Our paper evaluates this policy approach based on the assessments of stakeholders from the German wine region Franconia and the Italian region of South Tyrol. We use a mixed-methods approach, combining semi-structured interviews and a quantitative survey among wine producers. We interpret our findings through the analytical lens of Elinor Ostrom’s Design Principles for the sustainable governance of common-pool resources. Our results show that localized “bottom—up” regulation in the framework of GIs corresponds to many practical and theoretical demands regarding sustainability governance. However, GIs seem to address certain sustainability aspects better than others. Sustainability undertakings in GIs should also avoid adding administrative burden to the already quite rigid GI regime and must be sufficiently inclusive and gradual. Overall, sustainability undertakings in GIs can only be considered as part of a broader policy mix.

Common pool resource governance in strong-government context: A case study of caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The common pool resource (CPR) theory has inspired the recognition of community self-governance in natural resource management. However, many CPR literature treated government as an external variable to community, without sufficiently considering the close interaction between the two, especially in strong-government context. In this paper, we applied two case villages on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China with different governance systems for caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis), a CPR with lucrative values, to study the effects of the different government interventions on the local social conditions and rangeland ecosystem. One village interacted with facilitative local government that helped to develop a pro-community self-governance institution, while the other faced a forceful government that substituted the community self-governance. Furthermore, we explored the underlying mechanism from the view of the congruence between the government actions to achieve administrative objectives and the community demands for self-governance. We found that the better outcomes occurred in the village with the facilitative government involvement, because the government actions were congruent with the community demands. The model with facilitative government involvement presents a possible approach, when CPR appropriator boundary became semi-opened to outsiders, by which the community self-governance institution could function well with government help in institution design, monitoring and sanction. Our findings enrich the applications of CPR governance theory, particularly in the aspect that how government-community interacts to develop a self-governance institution in strong-government context.

Ecological restoration in Tibet optimises the cognitive structures of stakeholders on social‐ecological systems

Abstract Facing the dual threats of climate and socioeconomic changes, how Tibet can seize the opportunity for ecological restoration to enhance environmental quality while improving the relationship between humans and nature is of great significance for regional sustainable development. Situated in an ecologically vulnerable area, the cognitive structure of Tibetan residents regarding resources and policies is a crucial reference for evaluating whether environmental governance is sustainable. We aimed to detect what impact ecological restoration in Tibet had on the cognitive structures of stakeholders. We distributed questionnaires to Tibetan residents, distinguished experimental groups (EG, n = 325) and control groups (CG, n = 165) by the implementation of ecological restoration projects or not, used a network approach to construct indicators of overall connectivity and evenness for assessing the cognitive structure and explored the influencing factors on cognitive structures. We found that interviewees in areas where ecological restoration was implemented had more positive perceptions of the importance of ecosystem services, the relationship between ecological conservation and well‐being, attitudes towards ecological restoration, and the impact of governance measures. The overall connectivity and evenness of the EG were significantly higher than those of the CG. It showed an increase in positive stakeholder perceptions about policy and nature and a greater emphasis on the balance between environmental protection and productive life. The implementation of ecological restoration enhanced the connection between local people and the environment. Elevation and annual precipitation were the geographic influencing factors that dominated overall connectivity. Based on the cognitive structure of Tibetan residents, the implementation of ecological restoration enhanced connections in social‐ecological systems elements, played a positive role in the human–nature relationship and promoted collective governance of common pool resources. Safeguarding and improving residents' livelihoods and enhancing the regional low‐connectivity cognitive structure under different geographical contexts are important for future governance. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Nonlinear model reference adaptive control approach for governance of the commons in a feedback-evolving game

The governance of common-pool resources has vital importance for sustainability. However, in the realistic management systems of common-pool resources, the institutions do not necessarily execute the management policies completely, which will induce that the real implementation intensity is uncertain. In this paper, we consider a feedback-evolving game model with the inspection for investigating the management of renewable resource and assume that there exists the implementation uncertainty of inspection. Furthermore, we use the nonlinear model reference adaptive control approach to handle this uncertainty. We accordingly design a protocol, which is an update law of adjusting the institutional inspection intensity. We obtain a sufficient condition under which the update law can drive the actual system to reach the expected outcome. In addition, we provide several numerical examples, which can confirm our theoretical results. Our work presents a novel approach to address the implementation uncertainty in the feedback-evolving games and thus our results can be helpful for effectively managing the common-pool resources in the human social systems.

Blockchain and regenerative finance: charting a path toward regeneration

The Regenerative Finance (ReFi) movement aims to fundamentally transform the governance of global common pool resources (CPRs), such as the atmosphere, which are being degraded despite international efforts. The ReFi movement seeks to achieve this by utilizing digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (D-MRV); tokenization of assets; and decentralized governance approaches. However, there is currently a lack of a clear path forward to create and implement models that actually drive the “Re-” in ReFi beyond perpetuating the existing extractive economics and toward actual regeneration. In addition, ReFi suffers from growing pains, lacking a common interoperability framework and definition for determining what a ReFi project is and how the individual components align toward the grand ambition. This paper provides a definition of the ReFi stack of interconnected components and examines how it can address limitations in climate change accounting, finance and markets, and governance. The authors also examine the theory of regenerative economics and CPRs to encourage further discussions and advancements in the ReFi space. The crucial question remains if and how ReFi can drive a change in paradigm toward the effective regeneration of global CPRs.

Governance of interdependent ecosystem services and common-pool resources

Environmental governance is recognized as a key issue in many natural and social sciences. It is highly relevant for ecosystem services and common-pool resources as well. Both fields overlap yet have typically been studied separately. Therefore, this study aimed a) to examine the emerging body of literature that incorporates concepts from both fields of research and considers governance challenges, and b) to identify policy tools and recommendations presented for addressing those challenges. The analysis of thirty-nine selected peer-review papers revealed the multiplicity of interacting governance challenges with three major categories: environmental, socioeconomic, and problems of governance itself. Governance is impeded by institutional mismatches, exclusion of local actors, corruption, and perverse policies. The proposed policy recommendations most often suggest changes in institutional arrangements and increasing scientific understanding. Meeting human needs, and increasing social equity and justice were recognized broadly as integral for improving governance, yet correlations among governance problems and solutions appear elusive. These findings extend theoretical reasoning, while carrying practical implications for policy, governance and environmental stewardship. The analysis implies that policies to improve human conditions will be key for improved environmental governance, but more research is needed to learn which types of policy recommendations prove successful given diverse local contexts.

Collective action by community groups: solutions for climate change or different players in the same game?

ABSTRACT Community groups are taking initiatives to adapt to a changing climate. These organizations differ from businesses and governments by being non-profit, often informal, resource limited, and reliant on volunteer labor. How these organizations facilitate collective action is not well known, especially since they do not necessarily solve common pool resource governance, but rather improve common pool resources through collective action. In fact, at first glance, community groups seem to not have the means for solving collective action problems used routinely in industry and government, such as paying people for cooperation or punishing them for lack of it. This article investigates how community groups solve collective action problems though data gathered across 25 organizations in three sites – Sitka, Alaska, USA; Toco, Trinidad; and a global site of distributed citizen science organizations. We found that community groups used positive reinforcement methods common to industry and used little punishment. Groups also engaged in mechanisms for collective action, such as relying on altruistic contributions by few individuals, that generally are not considered commonplace in businesses and governments. We conclude by discussing implications from this study for collective action theory and for how policymakers might learn from community groups to address climate change.

How Do Game Design, Gender, and Players’ Backgrounds Affect Behavior in Framed Field Experiments? Evidence from Community Forestry in India

Framed field experiments (experimental games) are widely used to assess factors affecting cooperation in management of the commons. However, there is relatively little attention to how details of the games affect experimental results. This paper presents qualitative and quantitative results from a framed field experiment in which participants make decisions about extraction of a common-pool resource, a community forest. The experiment was conducted in 2017–2018 with 120 groups of resource users (split by gender) from 60 habitations in two Indian states, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. We test whether within-subject treatments (non-communication, communication, and optional election of institutional arrangements (rules)), remuneration methods, and design of the game board affect harvest behavior and groups’ tendency to cooperate. We also examine how characteristics of the community and players affect players’ choices in the game, with special attention to gender differences. Results reveal participants harvested substantially less than the Nash prediction even in the absence of communication, with men extracting less than women in both states. For male groups in both states, both communication and optional rule election were associated with lower group harvest per round, as compared to the reference non-communication game. For female groups in both states communication itself did not significantly slow resource depletion; but introduction of optional rule election did reduce harvest amounts. For both men and women in Andhra Pradesh and men in Rajasthan, incentivized payments to individual participants significantly lowered group harvest, relative to community flat payment, suggesting such payments stimulated deliberation among game players. Findings have methodological and practical implications for designing behavioral intervention programs to improve common-pool resource governance.

The emergence of cooperation from shared goals in the governance of common-pool resources

The emergence of cooperation from shared goals in the governance of common-pool resources

Governing the commons in Mexico's Mixteca Alta: Linking Ostrom's design principles and comunalidad

Elinor Ostrom demonstrated the inadequacy of the “tragedy of the commons” thesis, according to which natural resources are depleted in common-property systems because individuals have few incentives to limit their consumption, leading to the idea that privatization or government intervention are needed. Ostrom showed that the tragedy of the commons can be avoided by the users of a common-pool resource themselves through self-organized and self-governed arrangements. She also proposed a series of “design principles” that would favor a successful governance of common-pool resources. In this paper, we use Ostrom's design principles as a framework to study the governance of wooded areas and grazing lands in 10 communities of Mexico's Mixteca Alta region. Based on interviews with local authorities, we corroborate that Ostrom's design principles are key factors that help explain a successful governance of common-pool resources. Furthermore, we argue that this success is also rooted in the characteristics of local governance systems, which are based on indigenous uses and customs and an ethos of communality (comunalidad), and have been formalized by the Mexican State. By showing the links between Ostrom's design principles and comunalidad, we highlight the importance of taking into consideration the local context and social capital to explain the successful governance of common-pool resources.

Functionality of Rural Community Water Supply Systems and Collective Action: a Case of Guras Rural Municipality, Karnali Province

Ensuring the long-term functionality of community-managed rural water supply systems has been a persistent development challenge. It is well established that the technicalities of keeping the systems going are impacted by complex political, social, financial, and institutional challenges. While the shift to federal, three-tiered governance allocates concurrent responsibility for drinking water management to the local government with federal and provincial governments, water and sanitation user groups continue to shoulder the management of local supply systems voluntarily. All three levels have jurisdiction over water-related services resulting in confusion of roles. This study focuses on the local level, where community management of water and sanitation decentralisation is the key approach in this complex tangle of diverse institutions with different actors managing and governing water. User Groups and their Committees in the Guras Rural Municipality of Dailekh district, Karnali province, in West Nepal, provided the case study, which was analysed using Ostrom's well-recognised Eight Principles for Sustainable Governance of Common-Pool Resources. The community-based model, established formally through the Water Resource Act 1992 (2049 BS), is critically analysed in light of the changing socio- economic context through the intervening years. The results highlight the need for stronger collaboration between the rural municipality and users to achieve good water supplies and the risks of losing access and voice in water management for women and marginalised people when inactive user groups are replaced by private or group interests taking control of the water access.

Which attributes of fishing opportunities are linked to sustainable fishing?

AbstractTo prevent the overfishing of marine fish populations, governments often limit fishing access through the allocation of fishing opportunities. While some studies have linked particular systems of fishing opportunities to sustainable outcomes (particularly individual transferable quota), it remains unclear whether it is the use of exclusive access (individual allocation), the use of a market (tradability), the duration of this access or the quota limits themselves that drive the sustainable outcomes. To determine which attributes of fishing opportunities are associated with sustainable fishing, we developed a novel method to systematically classify how fishing opportunities are allocated for 443 global fish stocks from 1990 to 2018 to produce the longest and most comprehensive dataset and longitudinal study of its kind. Our results revealed that quota limits and individual allocation are linked to a reduced probability of overfishing, with the most robust result for quota limits. No attributes were robustly linked to a reduced probability of overfished biomass. Whereas some previous studies have found that systems with market‐based features or strong property rights (i.e. a long duration) were linked to sustainable fishing, these benefits were found to be small or not significant once proper controls for other system attributes were introduced. These results highlight the importance of considering all attributes of institutional design in the governance of common pool resources.

Using the Constitutionality Framework to Understand Alliances, Collective Action, and Divisions Between Indigenous and Peasant Communities in the Chaco Salteño

This article analyzes bottom-up institution-building processes in a region considered deforestation and environmental degradation hotspot. Utilizing the constitutionality approach developed by Haller, Acciaioli, and Rist (2016), we examine two recent cases of bottom-up institution-building in the department of Rivadavia, Chaco Salteño, Argentina. We highlight the similarities and differences between both constitutionality processes and identify various weaknesses in the two cases. We argue that constitutionality, understood as a process, has occurred to different (incomplete) degrees in each case. Finally, we show that external catalyzing agents play a decisive role in enabling or hampering the constitutionality process. Our study contributes to the literature on common-pool resource governance by highlighting how collective action can lead to participatory-development processes.

Food, Energy and Water Nexus: An Urban Living Laboratory Development for Sustainable Systems Transition

From a climate change perspective, the governance of natural common-pool resources—the commons—is a key point in the challenge of transitioning to sustainability. This paper presents the main strategic advances of the São Paulo Urban Living Laboratory (ULL) regarding Food, Energy and Water (FEW Nexus) analysis and modelling at the border of a high biodiverse forest in a peri-urban region in southeast Brazil. It is a replicable and scalable method concerning FEW governance. The FEW Nexus is an analytical guide to actions that will enable a colossal set of innovative processes that the transition to sustainability presupposes. Sustainable governance of the FEW dimensions, seen as an innovation-based process, is approached by a decision making tool to understand the past and future dynamics of the system. The governance framework is based on a multi-criteria and multi-attribute set of sustainability-relevant factors used as indicators to model complex system dynamics (SD) and the stakeholders’ future expectations through a Delphi approach. Based on the three main dimensions of the Ecosystem Services Approach—Physical and Material Conditions, Attributes of Communities, and Rules-in-Use—the tool comprises thirteen specific sustainability indicators such as water and carbon footprints, land use social development, payment for ecosystem services, and land use gain indices. Its development was designed to generate a long-term network of socioenvironmental stakeholders’ decision making processes and collective learning about a higher level of sustainable systems. System Dynamics modelling demonstrates the associations between sustainability indicators and the impacts of payment for ecosystem services on the land use social development index, or on the trophic state index. The Delphi foresight approach, using the Promethee-Gaia method, allows us to understand the positions of multiple agents regarding the transition process. In this context, decision making tools can be very useful and effective in answering the “how to” questions of ULLs and paving the way for transition, providing collective planning and decision support frameworks for sustainability transition management.

Groundwater governance through institutional bricolage? Participation in Morocco’s Chtouka aquifer contract

ABSTRACT Controlling groundwater use has become one of the most urgent and difficult issues in common-pool resource governance. This article analyses an aquifer contract in Morocco as an innovative, participatory approach to the problem. Cleaver’s concept of institutional bricolage allows us to understand how its implementation affected and interacted with existing social institutional arrangements for water use. The findings confirm that an awareness of insufficient rules is a precondition for new governance arrangements. They reveal how power relations and social institutions influenced the implementation of the aquifer contract. Finally, they show how social and cultural affiliations shape the implementation.

The Role of Forest Resource and Resource Users’ Boundaries in Improving the Livelihoods of Communities Adjacent to Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve, Kenya

The role of forest resource and resource users’ boundaries in improving the livelihood of forest adjacent communities has been of great concern in current literature. Studies have shown that there is likelihood that forest adjacent communities can draw significant benefits from the forest resource use and users’ boundaries. But is not clear the extent to which this can happen. Thus this study focuses on examining the role of forest resource and resource users’ boundaries in improving the livelihood of forest adjacent communities in Kenya using the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve as a case study. To fill this gap the study used a sample size of 220 households, including 100 households participating in the Arabuko-Sokoke forest management arrangement, 90 non-participating households in the Arabuko-Sokoke forest management arrangement and 30 key informants. It then used both primary and secondary sources of data. Primary data collection involved administering semi-structured questionnaires to the participating and non-participating forest management households and key informants, while the secondary data involved a review of relevant and reliable materials on forest resource management, browsing from both internet sources as well as from books, daily newspapers, and published articles. Data analysis was done through coding responses from the different interview categories namely the participating and non-participating households and key informants and grouping them into similar themes in order to answer the study objectives. It is concluded in the study that successful governance of Common Pool Resources requires well established forest resource use and users’ boundaries, and that well established boundaries for resource use and resource users’ can improve community livelihood. It is recommended that, governments should develop forest resource use and users’ boundaries to enhance forest conservation and improved livelihoods of forest dependent households.

Markets and misfits in adaptive water governance: how agricultural markets shape water conflict and cooperation

Agricultural trade poses dilemmas for adaptive water governance as farmers and irrigation systems become integrated into global food value chains and are affected by their ongoing dynamics. The benefits and risks of agricultural trade and agrarian transitions are unevenly distributed, giving rise to complex interdependencies and externalities. Despite these growing linkages, the understanding of agricultural markets and their influence on water conflict and cooperation remains limited and dependent on context, which can lead to seemingly contradictory evidence. Progress has been hampered by boundary problems, disputed concepts, measurement issues, and divergent normative perspectives. Addressing these challenges will require that water governance scholars account more explicitly for agricultural trade when diagnosing collective action problems and assessing different modes of adaptive water governance. Drawing on the common-pool resource governance literature, we distinguish three separate, but interrelated, conceptual perspectives examining agricultural trade as an external factor in water governance: (1) market integration as a disturbance, (2) market integration as an opportunity, and (3) agricultural trade as a form of telecoupling with nested externalities. We compare these perspectives in terms of the externalities involved, their major claims about the relationship between market integration and collective action in the context of irrigation governance, and the broader implications for adaptive water governance. The comparison demonstrates the prevalence of institutional misfits and the common struggle of boundary shifting, i.e., matching water governance to the expanding problem-shed associated with agricultural markets. Institutional fit offers one important lens through which to consider the shifting boundaries (and actors) relevant for water governance, the scope and limits for strengthening fit through social learning, and the importance of nested governance to address nested externalities. These insights point the way for an agenda of research that examines the evolution of agricultural trade and adaptive water governance and pays explicit attention to the politics and power relations that shape who wins and loses and the different levers and entry points to improve management of the associated transitions and trade-offs. We conclude by arguing that future research should identify and examine pathways of adaptive water governance that strengthen processes of social learning and institutional nesting to address the external pressures and opportunities created by global food value chains.