You are here:
Legal and Institutional Foundations of Adaptive Environmental Governance
Citation:
DeCaro, D., B. Chaffin, E. Schlager, A. Garmestani, AND J. Ruhl. Legal and Institutional Foundations of Adaptive Environmental Governance. Ecology and Society. Resilience Alliance Publications, Waterloo, Canada, 22(1):32, (2017). https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09036-220132
Impact/Purpose:
Adaptation typically emerges organically among multiple centers of agency and authority in society as a relatively self-organized, or autonomous process marked by innovation, social learning, and political deliberation. This self-directed and emergent process is difficult to create in an exogenous, top-down fashion. However, traditional centers of authority may establish enabling conditions for adaptation using a suite of legal, economic, and democratic tools to legitimize and facilitate self-organization, coordination, and collaboration across scales. The principles outlined here provide preliminary legal and institutional foundations for adaptive environmental governance, which may inform institutional design and guide future scholarship. This information is of interest to Regional and Program Office decision makers, States, and local affected communities.
Description:
Legal and institutional structures fundamentally shape opportunities for adaptive governance of environmental resources at multiple ecological and societal scales. Properties of adaptive governance are widely studied. However, these studies have not resulted in consolidated frameworks for legal and institutional design, limiting our ability to promote adaptation and social-ecological resilience. We develop an overarching framework that describes the current and potential role of law in enabling adaptation. We apply this framework to different social-ecological settings, centers of activity, and scales, illustrating the multidimensional and polycentric nature of water governance. Adaptation typically emerges organically among multiple centers of agency and authority in society as a relatively self-organized or autonomous process marked by innovation, social learning, and political deliberation. This self-directed and emergent process is difficult to create in an exogenous, top-down fashion. However, traditional centers of authority may establish enabling conditions for adaptation using a suite of legal, economic, and democratic tools to legitimize and facilitate self-organization, coordination, and collaboration across scales. The principles outlined here provide preliminary legal and institutional foundations for adaptive environmental governance, which may inform institutional design and guide future scholarship.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Legal and Institutional Foundations of Adaptive Environmental Governance
Legal and Insti Fd of Adaptive Environ Gov
Free access through PubMed Central