Ecological Literacy - Agri-culture: Reconnecting People, Land and Nature - page 165

Bruce Frank of the University of Queensland and I developed a model
to describe how changes in the renewable assets base (natural, social and
human capital) affect the performance of managed natural systems, such
as farms, forests or fisheries, or regional systems such as watersheds or river
basins. 39 Assets can be in one of two states: either in a positive state (and
therefore maintained or accumulated), or in a negative state (and therefore
degraded). Systems may be producing high levels of desirable outputs,
but are doing so by degrading the asset base - for example, because capital
is being converted into income, fewer assets remain for future generations.
Such systems are productive but, inevitably, unsustainable. Alternatively,
systems may have a positive performance or output, but with assets being
accumulated. This equates to the more sustainable sector, where systems
produce desirable outputs by not degrading renewable assets. We proposed
that groups can be found along a continuum characterized by three phases
called:

reactive dependence;

realization independence; and

awareness independence.

When groups form, they do so to achieve a desired outcome. This is likely
to be in reaction to a threat or crisis, or as a result of the prompting of
an external agency. They tend, at this stage, to be looking back, trying to
make sense of what has happened. There is some recognition that the
group has value; but rules and norms tend to be externally imposed or
borrowed. Individuals are still looking for external solutions, and therefore
tend to be dependent upon external facilitators. There is an inherent fear
of change; members would really like things to return to the way things
were before the crisis arose, and before the need to form a group arose.
For those groups concerned with the development of more sustainable
technologies, the tendency at this stage is to focus on eco-efficiency by
reducing costs and damage. In agriculture, for example, this will mean
adopting reduced-dose pesticides and targeted inputs, but not yet the use
of regenerative components.
The second phase sees growing independence, combined with a
realization of newly emerging capabilities. Individuals and groups tend
to look inwards more often, and are beginning to make sense of their new
reality. Members are increasingly willing to invest their time in the group
itself, as trust grows. Groups at this stage begin to develop their own rules
and norms, and start to look outwards. They develop horizontal links with
other groups and realize that information flowing upwards and outwards
to external agencies can be beneficial for the group. With the growing