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Transformation in social-ecological systems
Citation:
Garmestani, A. Transformation in social-ecological systems. Presentation at University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, AUSTRALIA, November 08, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
This study advances understanding of how to improve environmental governance for linked social-ecological systems, which has critical ramifications for improving environmental outcomes. This paper moves the research on environmental governance forward by analyzing the issue, and providing guidance for moving forward. In the long-term, improving environmental governance has broad-scale implications for the environment in the United States, with particular interest for Regions, communities and the general public.
Description:
Transformation in social-ecological systems begins at small spatial scales with the potential to scale up, if transformation manifests at small scales. Transformation can occur via transformative governance (drawing from adaptive governance). A central aspect of adaptive governance is a learning process that can help communities achieve environmental objectives. Adaptive governance is a framework for managing social-ecological systems, and is the precursor to transformative governance. Adaptive governance accounts for spatial and temporal scale in order to minimize cross-scale effects of management actions, and can manifest into transformative governance if environmental conditions necessitate transformation. Transformative governance has the capacity to accommodate tradeoffs between stakeholders and scale, and foster transformation of social-ecological systems to more desirable conditions. In this presentation, I will discuss a case study on transformation in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. In Cleveland, a convergence of water quality issues (associated with sewage) and an abundance of vacant lots (due to decades of population decline) manifested into a push for urban green transformation. In particular, many different entities in Cleveland pursued urban transformation with various types of green infrastructure (e.g., rain gardens, urban agriculture). While more research is needed, transformative governance has tremendous potential for social-ecological systems.