Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
roles and responsibilities, and differential access to information based on position
within the hierarchy (Casagrande 2004). In addition, hierarchies often value exclusiv-
ity, social distinction, and the status quo (Crumley 2001).
Heterarchies and hierarchies should not be viewed as antagonists—we need them
both, with hierarchies providing matter and energy, and heterarchies providing infor-
mation to the human ecosystem. In fact, heterarchical networks often exist within or
among hierarchical structures, where they provide the necessary level of information
(i.e., participation) that keeps information-controlled hierarchical organizations from
becoming rigid and nonresilient. Case studies in this topic detailing where participa-
tory collaboratives are working with federal and state agencies on large-scale restora-
tion efforts (Abrams, Baker and Quinn-Davidson, Christoffersen, Hardigg) illustrate
this point. Other studies examine how a small, nonprofit organization (Whitney) and
a college-level education program (Ewing and Gold) have successfully used networks
and partnerships to navigate the hierarchical power contexts they reside within.
Meanwhile, Buckley and Niemi's discussion about the effect climate change will
have on restoration planning serves as a timely reminder that our hierarchical and het-
erarchical power structures will need to be jointly engaged to grapple with our uncer-
tain future.
There are various chapters within this topic where authors have come face to face
with the rigid and unresponsive decision-making processes of hierarchical organiza-
tions, notably Javier Escalera Reyes in his report about a restoration effort along the
Guadiamar River in Seville, Spain; Allegra Newman's case study of racialized minori-
ties in Toronto; and James Blignaut and his colleagues' study from South Africa. In
each of these cases, governmental bodies made decisions within their own framework
of information and without much, if any, participation from the people who actually
live in and use the areas being restored. We might also argue that the education-
focused chapters (McCann, Hall and Bauer-Armstrong) aim to break through the hi-
erarchically organized American K-12 educational system. Finally, eco-artist Lillian
Ball demonstrates how she successfully navigated various hierarchical government
bureaucracies during her restoration/art installations.
Power and Social Justice
Ever since the Indigenous Peoples Network emerged in 1995 at the Society for Eco-
logical Restoration Conference in Seattle, Washington, the role of ecological restora-
tion as an agent for social justice has been gaining momentum. While restoration al-
ways had a small element of advocacy for social change, the idea of social justice was
not the main interest of people more concerned with restoring plants and animals
than improving conditions of degraded or damaged human communities. Chapters in
this topic (Blignaut and colleagues, Newman, Kimmerer, Stevens, and Ball) demon-
strate how that perspective is changing. Perhaps not surprisingly, interest in social jus-
tice is coming from indigenous people, urbanites, minorities, people concerned about
the well-being of underdeveloped countries, and artists. As a result of their efforts, they
are expanding not only the role, but the definition, of ecological restoration by high-
