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Panarchy and Law in the Anthropocene
Citation:
Kundis Craig, R., B. Cosens, A. Garmestani, AND J. Ruhl. Panarchy and Law in the Anthropocene. Chapter 9, Applied Panarchy. Island Press, Chicago, IL, , 181-201, (2022).
Impact/Purpose:
· This study advances understanding of how to improve environmental governance for 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 (e.g., coral reefs), with particular interest for Regions (2,4), communities (Puerto Rico, USVI, Florida Keys) and the general public.
Description:
Panarchy describes the discontinuous scaled structure of complex systems and the reality that social-ecological systems continually adapt and change in response to disturbances and cross-scale interactions (both temporal and spatial). In the Anthropocene, stressors such as climate change, pervasive pollution and loss of biodiversity provide constant disturbance and change. Law, however, has as its ultimate goal social stability. Achieving this goal over time requires a nuanced balance of legal predictability and legal flexibility that can and should vary by context: Law has to adapt to social-ecological changes, but it cannot be so continually and pervasively in flux that it becomes an impediment to social and economic investment and security.