Ecosystems, Adaptive Management - Ecological Systems - page 138

successful for environmental management [ 43 ]. Leadership has been well established
as a critical factor in facilitating good environmental management. Leaders develop
and facilitate a vision for environmental management, incorporating local knowledge
and information from social networks [ 43 ].
Olsson et al. [ 44 ] studied adaptive comanagement in Sweden and Canada and
concluded that this form of management of ecological systems was most effective
when there was: leadership with vision for the system of interest; legislation that
created the environment for adaptive management; funds for adaptive management;
monitoring of the ecological system; information flow (i.e., cross-scale linkages);
combination of a variety of sources knowledge; and venue for collaboration. Olsson
et al. [ 44 ] contend that these factors are critical to building resilience in social-
ecological systems, as they help to protect the system from the failure of manage-
ment decisions under uncertainty (i.e., imperfect information). Further, they assert
that adaptive comanagement is necessary to facilitate adaptive governance. In turn,
adaptive governance is facilitated by informal networks and leadership, which
creates the capacity for development of novel ideas for environmental management
[ 43 ]. These informal networks have the capacity to generate political, financial, and
legal support for novel environmental management [ 43 ]. Further, adaptive gover-
nance is dependent upon polycentric institutions that are redundant (e.g., scale-
specific) and are quasi-autonomous [ 45 ]. Olsson et al. [ 45 ] compared five case
studies from around the world and concluded that in order for a social-ecological
system to transition to adaptive governance, it must undergo a preparation and
a transformation phase, linked by a window of opportunity.
In a well-cited example (Kristianstads Vattenrike) from Sweden, Olsson et al.
[ 45 ] report the transition to adaptive governance was preceded by the development
of a social network of parties interested in the management of the social-ecological
system. The network consisted of members from local groups (environmental
groups, farmers' associations), local government (municipality of Kristianstad,
the County Administrative Board), and national scale (World Wildlife Fund,
National Museum of Natural History, National Research Council). In case studies
that have not resulted in a successful transition to adaptive governance, the social
networks needed to help facilitate the transition were not well developed, and this
hindered the changes needed for good environmental management [ 45 ].
The role of leadership has also been cited as critical to a transition to adaptive
governance, and Olsson et al. [ 45 ] provide an example of leadership from
Kristianstads Vattenrike. A key individual acted as a catalyst to social network
formation, setting the research agenda, and mobilizing support at multiple scales for
“new” environmental management. Critical to setting an agenda is defining how an
issue becomes perceived as a “public problem because if most individuals accept
a particular condition, negative feedback works to maintain public opinion in that
particular regime” [ 46 ]. However, if the individuals in the regime develop a “critical
mass” of distaste for a particular issue, public opinion can cross a threshold and
reorganize into an alternative regime. Importantly, interest groups, the media, and
other agents can have an effect on agenda setting and creating the “climate” necessary
for a shift in public opinion [ 46 ]. There are critical roles to be played by individual