Social-ecological Systems Framework Research Articles

The adaptive resilience of living cultural heritage in a tourism destination

This article analyzed a living cultural heritage destination’s adaptive resilience from the perspective of social-ecological systems (SES). The aim was to test the SES framework at Hoi An Ancient Town, a cultural World Heritage Site in central Viet Nam by (1) delineating the adaptive renewal cycle in the historical context of destination development; (2) examining community resilience to spatio-cultural changes induced by mass tourism; and (3) identifying characteristics of tourism systems via the control mechanisms of the panarchy’s cross-scale interactions. Findings from Hoi An extend the conventional SES approach by revealing the complex context of social relationships that typify human-related adaptation in cultural living heritage destinations. Contrary to conventional SES theory that depicts cross-scale interactions as one-way mechanisms, we propose a multidimensional model of twin interactions concurrently characterized by contrasting forces of bottom-up “revolt” and top-down “remember” functions. Findings from historical, contemporary and systematic dimensions shed light on incorporating Indigenous knowledge and practices into heritage conservation as a form of community resilience. Our analysis also extends the continuity notion of a living heritage site in developing countries, applying an SES framework to complex political, social, cultural and economic concerns in order to contextualize tourism development in Hoi An.

Can water systems foster commoning practices? Analysing leverages for self-organization in urban water commons as social–ecological systems

Research into urban commons has gained momentum in recent years. This article concentrates on the concept and analysis of urban water commons as social–ecological systems, which receive a less prominent focus in the literature than other commoning practices. In the light of the distinctive social and ecological values of water for both ecosystem health and human wellbeing and sociability, we argue that the presence of water systems can foster stakeholder engagement and leverage self-organization in urban commons. We test our hypothesis in a dynamically evolving urban water common: the recently restored Geoffrey Jellicoe’s Water Gardens in Hemel Hempstead, England. We apply Ostrom’s multilevel diagnostic tool, the “Social–Ecological System framework”, to analyse the characteristics of the Gardens water system and their impact on the self-organizing process undertaken by the local community. Our application is supported by collection of primary and secondary data, including Jellicoe’s design archived evidence, field observation data, in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, as well as data mining from social media (topic modelling of Facebook posts, review of Facebook user profiles, and Twitter mention-network analysis). Through our results, we identify a broad spectrum of characteristics of the Gardens urban water common that can catalyse the local self-organization dynamics. These include the leadership position of a specific non-governmental stakeholder group with knowledge and expertise on water ecosystems; active engagement of the local population across age groups in recreational activities on the water; community-building through expertise and knowledge-sharing on the peculiar natural and infrastructural components of the Gardens water systems; and, finally, continued online networking and social-media communication among different stakeholder groups on water-related activities.

A probabilistic model that determines the social ecological system (SES) attributes that lead to successful discard management

The social ecological system (SES) framework is used to investigate the success of discard management, by gathering knowledge from worldwide examples of discard management applications. The literature search confirmed that most efforts aiming to reduce discards were implemented under top-down management schemes. For about half of the case studies where management tools were applied, a reduction of discards was achieved. To determine the attributes that influence the discard management success, a probabilistic classifier model (Naive Bayes Classifier) was used. This revealed that commonly used interventions to reduce discards can be ineffective unless advice is given in alternative forms that have societal acceptance. The role of social cohesion and stakeholder enforcement mechanisms is underlined and increases the odds of meeting successfully the recommendations for achieving sustainable fisheries. A successful combination of attributes that can lead to the minimization of discards requires robust social capital along with top-down measures. Overall, the classification algorithm proves the usefulness of the SES framework to describe the fishery response to managerial efforts that aim to reduce discarding. Establishment of links between fishing communities and scientists are the key for enhancing stakeholder engagement, increasing compliance and minimizing discards.

Which infrastructures for which forest function? Analyzing multifunctionality through the social-ecological system framework

Which infrastructures for which forest function? Analyzing multifunctionality through the social-ecological system framework

Análisis de la actividad apícola desde los sistemas socio-ecológicos complejos

Social-ecological systems are a framework that have been developed last years from different perspectives and scientific disciplines. One of the best renowned frameworks is Ostrom´s framework (2009). Ostrom propose this framework after many years studying the management of common pool resources. Two analytical proposals are made based on the identification of two types of pollination: on the one hand, commercial pollination and on the other, domestic pollination (Skewes et. Al, 2018), from the framework of social-ecological systems proposed by Ostrom (2009). The objective is to analyse how cooperation and environmental sustainability are produced from beekeeping. The methodology consisted of an exhaustive review of articles published in the journal Ecology and Society between 1997 and 2019. It concludes with the importance of studying social capital to analyse cooperation. Also, that it is necessary to recognize the complexity of the context of analysis of beekeeping

Transforming conflict over natural resources: a socio-ecological systems analysis of agricultural drainage

Agricultural drainage is a complicated and often conflict-ridden natural resource management issue, impacting contested ecosystem services related to the retention of wetlands as well as the productivity of farmland. This research identifies opportunities to transform the conflict over agricultural drainage in Saskatchewan, Canada, towards collaboration. We report on ethnographic research informed by a conservation conflict-transformation framework to evaluate the nature of the conflict and whether drivers of the conflict operate principally at the level of disputes over discrete ecosystem services or if they reach deeper into local social circumstances and build on larger unresolved conflict(s) among groups in the region. In addition to the conflict-transformation framework, we apply the Social–Ecological Systems Framework to elicit details regarding the substantive, relational, and material dimensions of this conflict. Our research suggests that processes for governing natural resources, such as those in place for governing drainage in Saskatchewan, need to have mechanisms to facilitate relationship building and shared understandings, need to be adaptable to people’s changing needs and concerns, and should focus on inclusivity and empowerment of actors to address conflict.

Assessment of Ostrom’s social-ecological system framework for the comanagement of small-scale marine fisheries in Colombia: from local fishers’ perspectives

Assessment of Ostrom’s social-ecological system framework for the comanagement of small-scale marine fisheries in Colombia: from local fishers’ perspectives

Operationalizing the social-ecological system framework to assess residential forest structure: a case study in Bloomington, Indiana

Operationalizing the social-ecological system framework to assess residential forest structure: a case study in Bloomington, Indiana

Drivers of innovation in groundwater governance. The links between the social and the ecological systems

Global groundwater overexploitation positions groundwater governance as a critical issue for improving sustainable water management. Evidence of aquifer recovery after overexploitation is scattered, as is the research on the drivers behind recovery. The Fuencaliente Aquifer in Spain faced a tragedy of the commons situation, but after an innovative governance arrangement was implemented, the aquifer is gradually recovering. In this research, we identify the drivers that made possible the emergence and acceptance of such an arrangement using the social-ecological system framework. We identified external drivers such as market incentives and limited enforcement capacity of the water authority as the main factors that led to groundwater depletion, but we also found that these same drivers, under a new regulatory framework that reinforced monitoring and sanctioning capacities, are the basis for the effective recovery of the aquifer. Internal drivers such as the socioeconomic attributes of the users, their limited collective action and the power differences between traditional and commercial farmers are also critical in explaining the acceptance of the new governance arrangement. Even if these drivers are context-specific, we identified innovations that might be transferable and contribute to the literature on good practices in groundwater governance and management.

Crafting Local Institution Using Social-Ecological System Framework for Sustainable Rattan Governance in Lore Lindu National Park

Rattan is the most important non-forest timber product utilized by communities adjacent Lore Lindu National Park (LLNP). The establishment community conservation agreement (CCA) in 2001 was unable to prevent rattan depletion. Then, a local institution called community conservation partnership (CCP) has been recently proposed. Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore how to craft a local institution of CCP for sustainable rattan governance in LLNP using Social-Ecological Systems (SES) Framework. The study was conducted in LLNP area and Ngata Toro, a buffer zone village of LLNP. We conducted rattan inventory and collected social data by interview for analyzing CCP development using SES framework. The results showed that CCP is most likely to be successful in implementing due to several reasons. Firstly, the establishment of constitutional-choice rules made clear the nested enterprise. Secondly, the reallocation of CCP location to the traditional zone increase the boundary clarity. Thirdly, transferring rights to the Ngata Toro community will make effective co-management, increase the legitimacy of rattan utilization, decrease potential conflicts among resource unit users and reducing monitoring cost. Finally, deciding the rattan harvesting quota will ensure the rattan ecological and livelihood sustainability. With the clarity of system boundaries and property rights, we argue that CCP institutions will bring many benefits in many ways. Overall, most variables of SES framework can be used to analyses the readiness of CCP institutional arrangement for sustainable rattan management in LLNP.

Application of Ostrom’s Social-Ecological Systems Framework in Nature Reserves: Hybrid Psycho-Economic Model of Collective Forest Management

Nature reserves (NRs) are complex social-ecological systems (SESs). In China, many collective forests (CFs), owned by villagers, are bound within NRs. This paper aimed at carrying out a dynamic analysis of three case studies of CF management based on Ostrom’s SES conceptual framework. The hybrid psycho-economic model is designed within this context and tested. Results indicate that CF management is determined jointly by the interaction of all levels of governance based on subsystem characteristics (i.e., resource system, resource units, and actor system) specific to the local social, economic, and political settings. Use of the hybrid psycho-economic model compares one classified harmonious NR scenario with two conflictual ones. The model indicated the scenario with the harmonious NR as having less CF value at the resource level, less dependence on villagers for CF resources, stronger environmental awareness, lower levels of involvement from new actors, overarching governance control (i.e., by the NR administration), greater levels of self-organization (i.e., within villages), and augmented economic compensation and regulation from outside influences. The conflict-oriented NRs mostly revealed opposite sets of interaction. Different public policies, including the ecosystem service payment, are recommended for improving management of CFs in NRs.

Implementing a social-ecological systems framework for conservation monitoring: lessons from a multi-country coral reef program

Multi-scale social-ecological systems (SES) approaches to conservation and commons management are needed to address the complex challenges of the Anthropocene. Although SES approaches to monitoring and evaluation are advocated in global science and policy arenas, real-world applications remain scarce. Here, we describe the first operationalization and implementation of Ostrom’s influential SES framework for monitoring practice across multiple countries. Designed to inform management aimed at sustaining coral reefs and the people that depend on them, we developed our SES monitoring framework through a transdisciplinary process involving academics and practitioners with expertise in social and ecological sciences. We describe the SES monitroing framework, including how it operationalizes key insights from the SES and program evaluation literatures, and demonstrate how insights from its implementation in more than 85 communities in four countries (Fiji, Indonesia, Kenya and Madagascar) are informing decision-making at multiple levels. Responding to repeated calls for guidance on applying SES approaches to monitoring and management practice, we outline the key steps of the transdisciplinary development of the framework and lessons learnt. Therefore, our work contributes to bridging the gap between SES science and commons management practice through not only providing an SES monitoring framework that can be readily applied to coral reefs and other commons, but also through demonstrating how to operationalize SES approaches for real-world monitoring and management practice.

Perspectives on agriculturally used drained peat soils: Comparison of the socioeconomic and ecological business environments of six European regions

In Northern, Eastern and Central European countries, peat soils drained for agriculture are a considerable source of greenhouse gas emissions. Since emissions from this source have high mitigation potential, they will likely be a focus of the European Union’s future climate goals.We describe and compare the similarities and differences in the socioeconomic and ecological business environment that policy makers, planners and farmers are confronted with when developing tailored proposals for low emission land use alternatives on peat land. The analysis is based on interviews with 33 typical farmers cultivating organic soils and on expert group discussions held in six different Northern, Eastern and Central European regions.Based on the Social-Ecological System Framework we identify and cluster important variables. Our results show that mainly hard economic variables determine preferred land use alternatives: the productivity of resource systems, the economic value of land and market incentives. Other variables, such as the heterogeneity of users and conflicts among them, are more important with respect to the implementation of alternatives. We point out possibilities to transfer solutions between regions and discuss an institutional framework for European Union, national and regional levels for facilitating implementation potential.

Livestock Farming at the Expense of Water Resources? The Water–Energy–Food Nexus in Regions with Intensive Livestock Farming

Policymaking in the water–energy–food nexus is characterized by complex ecological, social, and economic interdependencies. Nexus research assumes these interactions to be overseen in the respective resource governance resulting in sectoral perspectives contributing to unsustainable outcomes. In Germany, the political priority given to the formation of an internationally competitive livestock sector by means of intensification, specialization and regional concentration has exerted sustained pressure on water and soil resources. The expansion of bioenergy plants promoted by the renewable energy act has exacerbated the situation. Despite the persistency of the ecological challenges, German policymakers only reacted when the European Commission referred Germany to the European Court of Justice. Current policy efforts to tackle the ecological problems are now provoking disruptions in the agrarian sector in regions with high nitrate concentrations in water resources. By combining the social-ecological systems framework with hypotheses derived from nexus research, we explore the interactions between food, water and energy systems and aim at understanding the unsustainable outcomes. We argue that the non-consideration of the complex interdependencies between the agricultural, the water and the energy system in policymaking and the divergence of policy goals constitute a major cause of unsustainable governance.

Coastal Livelihood Sustainability Analysis of Migration Activity at Tanjung Luar and Salura Island Indonesia

Coastal Livelihood Sustainability Analysis (CLSA) concept is one form of SES (Social Ecological System) framework. CLSA is developed from the coastal and ocean resource management framework, where social structures are always linked to ecological or natural systems. The purpose of this research is to analyze the interaction or connectivity of the functional systematic relationship. This is based on humans always utilizing the ecological services of a functional system relationship. This CLSA approach is a systematic approach that is influenced by temporal spatial aspects. The interaction results of social and ecological systems can be seen from the existence of assets (human made capital), which is an aspect of the material resources used by humans to carry out activities. There are several types of human made capital, which are described as physical, human, economic and social assets. All these assets are necessary to achieve the objectives of resource sustainability. The sustainability of the livelihood management of migrant fishing communities, which have high livelihood vulnerabilities. The sustainability of livelihoods is supported by five major livelihood sources that will be enabled to develop life as a capital asset. The main sources of livelihood are the assets or natural capital, human capital, financial capital, physical capital and social capital. The success of sustainable livelihood is strongly influenced by the condition of all capitals that is how value of service flowing from stock of capital owned. CLSA in this research is the identification to livelihood assets of migrant fishermen at origin and destination area in migration activity. There are different condition between destination and an origin area of migration. This research can be improved of capital assets. By knowing the status of resources and capital assets of livelihood at Tanjung Luar and Salura, it can be determined alternative livelihoods. Alternative livelihoods can be created in order to improve the welfare of coastal communities. The method in this research is a survey research method. The analysis conducted is quantitative descriptive analysis using the CLSA framework of Emertoon. Stages and steps in the data analysis were to assess the status and owned of livelihood assets, that consists are natural resources assets, human assets, economic assets, social assets, and also physical assets. The result of this research is determined that Salura Island as a destination area only has the high of natural resources assets. This means that the main livelihood assets of the Salura Island are natural resources assets. Usually the assets of resources, human, financial, physical and social assets are mostly better in the destination area of migration, but the results of the research have determined that different with concept of migration. The result also shows that Salura Island as a migration destination with higher asset resource existence can be used as a source of livelihood by squid migrant fish to continue the sustainability of livelihood.

Critical Commons Scholarship: A Typology

Common-pool resource theory (CPR theory) emerged to understand the limitations of the tragedy of the commons narrative, and the theory of human behavior underlying it. Over time, diverse critiques of CPR theory have also emerged. Prominent critiques include inattention to power and coercion, assumptions that institutions can be crafted, and analyses that exclude history and context, among others. We label this literature critical commons scholarship. In this review paper, we define a typology of five types of critical commons scholarship. The functionalist critique (type 1) argues that a narrow focus on institutions that excludes history, context, and contingencies causes erroneous conclusions about the causes of resource sustainability. The apolitical management critique (type 2) argues that a focus on resource sustainability causes commons scholars to ignore how power is used to create and maintain inequalities through rules and norms structuring resource access. The methodological critique (type 3) argues that methodological incompatibilities, such as CPR theory’s dependence on general, abstract models, necessarily prevent these scholars from responding to type 1 and type 2 critiques. The project of government critique (type 4) argues that common-pool resource theory is used to support neoliberal and hegemonic practices. Finally, the ethical critique (type 5) argues that common-pool resource theory is premised on problematic north-south relationships where expert scholars in the global north provide information to be consumed by “commoners” in the global south. Mainstream CPR theory has been limited in engaging with critical commons scholarship, but there are new tools (such as the social-ecological systems framework and the critical institutionalism approach) for addressing each type of critique. Our goal in developing this typology is to make critiques of CPR theory legible and potentially actionable, while acknowledging the challenges associated with addressing them.

Local Stakeholders Understand Recreational Fisheries as Social-Ecological Systems but Do Not View Governance Systems as Influential for System Dynamics

Recognition that there are often social and ecological components to problems that arise from management of shared resources has led to a dominant paradigm among academics that natural resource management should consider coupled social-ecological systems. For academic theory to have real-world impact it must be understood and acted upon by stakeholders at a local scale. However, it is unclear if stakeholders view their systems as coupled social-ecological systems. We interviewed key stakeholders in an inland recreational fishery to solicit their mental models of system dynamics in the context of Ostrom‘s Social-Ecological Systems Framework (SESF). We found that stakeholders in aggregate considered all components of the SESF (actors, resource systems, environmental settings, and governance systems) in their view of recreational fisheries. However, researchers viewed governance system and environmental setting components as less diverse than actor and resource system components, while anglers and managers viewed the actor component as more diverse than all other components. In addition, all stakeholders viewed governance system and environmental setting components as less influential than actor and resource system components. Given strong empirical evidence of positive relationships between the number and diversity of governance system attributes and successful fisheries outcomes, our results suggest that governance systems that prevent free riding, enforce rules through graduated sanctions, and address large scale problems at the local scale through nested institutions could improve social-ecological outcomes in inland recreational fisheries.

Strengthening the institution-behavior link in the SES Framework to facilitate comparative analysis of environmental public goods dilemmas

Many great environmental challenges take the form of environmental public goods dilemmas, including climate change, water quality deterioration and biodiversity loss. There is a great need for comparative analysis of these challenges to inform the design of governance institutions for sustainable resource management. The Social-ecological Systems (SES) framework provides a foundational structure for analyzing the sustainability of complex, multi-scale SES. However, in application, the SES framework has struggled to facilitate analysis of SES beyond common-pool resource regimes and the emergence of community-based collective action governance institutions. In this paper, I propose to expand the focus of the SES framework on the link between institution and behavior in order to facilitate the application of the SES Framework to environmental public goods dilemmas and the study of diverse institutional arrangements. First, I examine attributes of environmental public goods dilemmas that differentiate them from CPR regimes: the lack of a behavior-reinforcing link, multi-actor and multi-resource system dynamics, higher levels of uncertainty and complexity, and lack of built-in social capital. Then I suggest that these same attributes increase the need to study a broader suite of governance institutions in these systems. I propose that one way to address both of these challenges to the application of the SES framework is to increase the focus on the institution-behavior link within the framework by incorporating variables to investigate the psychological drivers of individual behavior and decision-making. I link the attributes of environmental public goods with the need for an increased focus on actor decision making and behavior. Then I explore psychological and behavioral concepts that show potential to improve our understanding of system dynamics within environmental public goods dilemmas. Finally, I propose revisions to the SES Framework to facilitate this increased focus on the institution-behavior link. Incorporating psychological and behavioral theory into the SES framework to strengthen the institution-behavior link is a promising approach to allow for comparative study of institutional interventions for environmental public goods. Ultimately, a better understanding of which institutions promote behavior change within and across environmental public goods regimes can improve the sustainability of these systems.so

Building Resilience in Trans-boundary Social-Ecological Systems: Adaptive Governance in the Lake Champlain Richelieu River Basin

Addressing the management of water bodies that cross political, cultural, and ecological boundaries entails working with a level of complexity that requires creative, adaptive management strategies that build resilience throughout the system and allow for increased capacity in the face of disturbance. To characterize the extent to which such complexity can be managed, this paper explores the application of the social-ecological systems framework, proposed by Brian Walker and David Salt, for assessing and managing resilience. Elements of this framework will be utilized with respect to the Lake Champlain Richelieu River Basin, which is a freshwater basin that exists between the United States and Canada, in Vermont, New York, and Quebec. The paper will end with considerations regarding how adaptive management and adaptive governance can be employed as tools to build resilience in this region.

Smart technology needs smarter management: Disentangling the dynamics of digitalism in the governance of shared solar energy in Australia

This article argues that the need for a better understanding of socio-technical interactions in shared renewable energy systems (SRESs) is exacerbated by the relevance of digital technologies to their governance. Addressing the question of how the use of digital technology affects system governance, this study applies the social-ecological system framework to a case study in Perth, Western Australia. The analysis finds that although the digital element enables the sharing of energy in the case study, it also increases the complexity of the social subsystem. While technology is often heralded as the solution, successful governance of digitally enabled SRESs may be more dependent on recognizing the importance and complexity of social interactions needed to manage the technology. The findings of the study are useful in developing and implementing appropriate governance mechanisms for SRESs in Australia and other parts of the world.