1. Introduc)on to Social-Ecological Systems –
and their governance
Christo Fabricius
Chloé Guerbois

2. Berkes, F. & Folke, C. (eds), 1998.
Linking social and ecological systems.
Cambridge University Press
Gunderson, L.H. & Holling, C.S.(eds.) 2002.
Panarchy. Understanding transforma7ons in
human and natural systems. Island Press,
Washington.
Armitage, D., A.
Charles, and F. Berkes.
2017. Governing the
Coastal Commons:
Communi)es,
Resilience and
Transforma)on. Taylor
& Francis.

3. Authori)es
Resource
users
Researchers
Suppor)ng
services
Food
Human
system
Eco-
system
Ecosystem services
(food, fibre, pollina)on)
Management ac)ons
(harves)ng, conserving) & GOVERNANCE
‘Inter-
face’
Social-ecological systems
Linking together of the ‘human system’ (communi)es, society, economy) and the
‘biophysical system’ in a reciprocal (or two-way) feedback rela)onship.

4. What is the importance of
governance in studies of social-
ecological systems?

6. The role of governance in Social-
Ecological Systems
• Governance: the ways in which communi7es,
socie7es and organisa7ons (e.g. fisher
coopera7ves, government agencies) choose to
organise themselves to make decisions about
use or protec7on of (coastal) resources
• “..include poli7cs; and the way power is
distributed; between different actors in
society, and the way it can be used to leverage
or constrain ac7on” Armitage, Charles & Berkes. 2017. Governing
the Coastal Commons: Communi7es,
Resilience and Transforma7on. Taylor &
Francis.

8. Governance is about rules, organiza)on, decision
making..
Adap)ve
management is about
learning-by-doing - in
a deliberate way –
‘adap)ng behaviour
and overall direc)on
as new informa)on
becomes available’.
Are the goals of governance
and adap2ve management
compa2ble?

9. Can we reconcile governance
and adap)ve management?

10. Adap)ve governance
a form of governance that
relies on adap)ve
management
incorporates formal
ins)tu)ons, informal groups/
networks, and individuals
for purposes of collabora)ve
environmental management
..at mul)ple scales
Fabricius et al 2007. Ecology & Society 12(1): 29.

11. “A social-ecological system does not consist of just one kind of cycle at one scale.
It func)ons as a nested, hierarchical structure, with processes clustered within
subsystems at several scales (e.g. the farm, region and state).
Par)cular aden)on needs to be paid to these cross-scale interac)ons”.
Ostrom & Jansen 2005. Mul)-Level Governance and Resilience of Social-Ecological
Systems, in M. Spoor, (ed). Globalisa7on, Poverty and Conflict. Springer Netherlands,
Dordrecht

12. Why is SCALE so important when we
look at the governance of SES?

13. Scale
1) Geographical scale: local/community level,
municipal/regional
– Na)onal & interna)onal-level drivers
2) Temporal scale: emergence & development
of new management ini)a)ves; history
3) Sociopoli)cal scale: different stakeholders –
community-based organisa)ons; regional
forums

14. Garmestani & Benson 2013. A
Framework for Resilience-based
Governance of Social-Ecological
Systems. Ecology and Society 18.

15. Polycentric governance systems
Mul)ple governance units at mul)ple scales,
with each unit having some capacity to govern
at its scale (Ostrom 2010)
[while influencing governance systems at other
scales]

17. Is community-based governance
enough, to ensure SES
sustainability?

18. Cross-scale governance linkages are
crucial
Community
conserva2on begins
News spreads
“What followed was a rapid
cascading effect on fishing resources
and locally-designed rule compliance.
The island quickly became a free for
all”
Free for all
Poaching
begins
Cudney-Bueno & Basurto. 2009. PLOS ONE.

19. “Once most members of the coopera)ve had
broken some rule, accountability had been
eroded and fishers were no longer willing to
hold their peers accountable for poaching ..”
“coopera)on and strong social capital alone are
not enough..”
Cross-scale governance & recogni2on are
essen2al: incen2ves for CBM
Cudney-Bueno & Basurto. 2009. Lack of Cross-Scale
Linkages Reduces Robustness of Community-Based
Fisheries Management. PLOS ONE.

20. How can governance systems be ‘reformed’ – -
to be able to be more in tune with ecosystem
dynamics?
Can we develop some proposi7ons about
reforming governance systems?
[Group work]

22. Dimensions of governance
(for group exercise)
Governance
Networks &
linkages
Flexibility,
adaptability
Par)cipa)on
Learning
Knowledge
Leadership
Ecosystem
stewardship

23. Proposi)on 1. Networks and linkages
Governance arrangements that involve interac)ve
networks and linkages across mul)ple levels
with ver)cal and horizontal links among ins)tu)ons
that are responsive to changes in local social-
ecological systems over )me, and
sensi)ve to local context
create new opportuni2es for decision-making and
collabora2on that catalyse transforma2ons.

24. Proposi)on 2. Adaptability and
flexibility through diversity
An adap)ve and flexible governance system is required
in which
uncertainty is recognised and addressed by
policy
a diverse porqolio of management op)ons
suitable ins)tu)onal arrangements
outcomes and feedback of interven)ons are monitored
a wide range of actors is collabora)vely engaged, and
diverse sources and types of knowledge are incorporated

25. Proposi)on 3. Par)cipa)on
Delibera)on and informed par)cipa)on
mul)-level collabora)on
mul)-party par)cipatory processes
helps to bring together mul2ple actors and
perspec2ves
to build social capital needed for las2ng
partnerships and collabora2ve rela2onships

26. Proposi)on 4. Learning
Social learning provides an important
founda)on for adap)ve governance

27. Proposi)on 5. Knowledge
Knowledge pluralism and co-produc)on must
recognize the value of mul)ple sources of
knowledge
to build a holis)c, integrated understanding of
complex coastal systems, and in
to generate new knowledge, and methods for
engagement, collec)vely

28. Proposi)on 6. Leadership
Leadership and capacity building is crucial, where the
importance of leadership is recognised for
– media)on
– building trust
– sense making
– managing conflict
– compiling and genera)ng knowledge
– fostering entrepreneurial ac)vi)es (e.g. income and livelihood
diversifica)on)
Recognising that leaders come in many forms – facilitators,
entrepreneurs, bridging and boundary organisa)ons

29. Proposi)on 7: Ecosystem stewardship

30. What about the role of individuals,
e.g. values, percep)ons, attudes,
cogni)ons, world views?
A community is a collec)on of
harmonized individuals – right?

31. Connectedness & Place Adachment
Connectedness -> Caring -> Commitment = inclusion.
Schultz, W. P. 2002. Inclusion with Nature: The Psychology Of Human-Nature. In: The
Psychology of Sustainable Development. Kluwer Academic Publishers, New York.

32. Conserva)on psychology
(Schultz et al.
2002)

33. Place Adachment
Raymond et al. 2010. Journal of Environmental Psychology 30:422–434.

34. Do place adachment and iden)ty make an SES
more resilient?

35. “Survey data from 88% of peanut farmers in
Queensland show a strong nega7ve correla)on
between transforma)onal capacity and both
place adachment and occupa)onal adachment,
sugges)ng that whilst these factors may be
important posi)ve influences on the capacity to
adapt to incremental change, they act as
barriers to transforma7onal change”
Marshall et al. 2012. Environmental Research Leders 7:34022.

36. Equity
Distribu2on
• Who gets
benefits?
• Who incurs
costs?
Procedure
• How are
decisions
made?
• By whom?
EQUITY
Recogni2on
• Status
• Iden)ty
• Legi)macy of
rights
Dawson, N., in press. Assessing
Equity in Protected Area
Governance: Approaches to
Promote Just and Effec)ve
Conserva)on. Conserva7on
LePers
Challenges to poli2cal ecologists..
• ??

37. Schreckenberg K., et al.
(2016) Unpacking
equity for protected
area
conserva)on. Parks 22,
11-26.

38. Monitoring governance in SES
hdp://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss1/art15/

39. Social capital
Governance
Social Capital
Social bonds or
norms (Pretty 2003)
• Trust
• Common rules or
norms
• common interest
• Support from higher
levels
• Security of tenure
Self organisation
Ability to mobilise
collectively (Olsson et
al 2004)
• Enabling legislation
• Funding
• information flow and
social networks
• Arenas for
collaborative learning
Adaptive capacity
Ability to evolve to
cope with
perturbations (Adger
2006)
Willingness to:
• Learn from mistakes
• Engage in
collaborative decision
making
• Accept a diversity of
institutions
Folke et al 2003;
Armitage 2005)
Process
LivelihoodsNatural
resources
Governance