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Co-management and the co-production of knowledge: Learning to adapt in Canada's Arctic
... Firstly, it enriches scientific understanding with nuanced local knowledge that is often absent in conventional management approaches. For instance, TEK can provide detailed information on species behavior, local ecological changes, and sustainable harvesting techniques, which can enhance the effectiveness of conservation strategies (Armitage et al., 2011). Moreover, the integration of TEK fosters community engagement and stewardship. ...
... Integrating TEK, which is inherently adaptive, with scientific knowledge supports the development of adaptive management practices. Such practices are vital in the face of climate change and other environmental uncertainties, as they allow for flexible and responsive management strategies (Armitage et al., 2011). ...
... Effective integration requires building trust and collaboration between scientists and local communities. This involves respecting indigenous knowledge systems, ensuring open communication, and actively involving community members in research and decision-making processes (Armitage et al., 2011). ...
... This partnership enabled the identification of synergies between governmental policies and community needs, thereby enhancing the program's impact and sustainability. Through regular consultations and joint decision-making processes, regulatory frameworks were adapted to support agro-silvopastoral practices, fostering an enabling environment for long-term agricultural development (Armitage et al., 2008). Moreover, the involvement of local government leaders in program activities helped build institutional capacity and strengthened governance structures at the grassroots level. ...
... Furthermore, the development of tailored protocols contributed to the optimization of resource use and productivity in agro-silvopastoral systems. By addressing specific challenges and opportunities identified during the meetings, farmers were equipped with practical guidelines for efficient management of agricultural and livestock activities (Armitage et al., 2008). The development of tailored maintenance and production procedures through collaborative meetings has enhanced the adaptability and sustainability of agrosilvopastoral systems. ...
... Furthermore, the development of tailored protocols contributed to the optimization of resource use and productivity in agrosilvopastoral systems. By addressing specific challenges and opportunities identified during the meetings, farmers were equipped with practical guidelines for efficient management of agricultural and livestock activities (Armitage et al., 2008). The development of tailored maintenance and production procedures through collaborative meetings has enhanced the adaptability and sustainability of agrosilvopastoral systems. ...
This study explored the implementation and impact of community-based agro-silvopastoral systems integrating forestry, agriculture, and livestock to promote sustainable rural development in forest regions. The program achieved significant milestones through multi-stakeholder coordination, including partnerships with local government and active community engagement. The collaboration facilitated the development of tailored maintenance and production procedures, enhancing local understanding and acceptance of sustainable agro-silvopastoral practices. Key findings highlight the success of operational support initiatives, such as financial and technical assistance, which enabled farmers to adopt and sustain agro-silvopastoral practices. Additionally, enterprise support initiatives, including training and resource access, bolstered the development of diversified agroforestry enterprises, contributing to economic resilience and improved livelihoods. Continuous mentorship and guidance empowered community members with the knowledge and skills needed for sustainable management and expansion of agro-silvopastoral systems. Overall, the program's comprehensive and participatory approach significantly enhanced sustainability, economic resilience, and environmental stewardship in rural communities.
... TEK, rooted in generations of cultural transmission, involves cumulative knowledge, practices, and beliefs regarding nature, based on experimentation, cultural traditions, and collective memories, because it is adaptive and unique for each ethnic group or region that sustains it (Berkes, 2021). Knowledge co-production could strengthen local and scientific knowledge by integrating local and expert perspectives, enabling more holistic and sustainable outcomes, which is essential for fostering integrated solutions for shared problems, enhancing the societal relevance of research, and promoting inclusive, impactful science (Armitage et al., 2011;Berkes, 2021;Molnár et al., 2024). An important aspect of integrating scientific knowledge with local and traditional understandings is the ability to address complex challenges that neither approach can fully resolve on its own (Armitage et al., 2011). ...
... Knowledge co-production could strengthen local and scientific knowledge by integrating local and expert perspectives, enabling more holistic and sustainable outcomes, which is essential for fostering integrated solutions for shared problems, enhancing the societal relevance of research, and promoting inclusive, impactful science (Armitage et al., 2011;Berkes, 2021;Molnár et al., 2024). An important aspect of integrating scientific knowledge with local and traditional understandings is the ability to address complex challenges that neither approach can fully resolve on its own (Armitage et al., 2011). Embedding the three dimensions of Nature's Contributions to People (NCP) within relational values -including Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) -supports a multidimensional understanding of human-nature relationships. ...
This paper assesses the potential of Indigenous youth to conserve their traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and their perceptions of biodiversity conservation. We used the Nature’s Contributions to People framework to explore and co-identify with Indigenous co-authors the contributions that Indigenous youth recognize as related to traditional knowledge. There is a lack of evidence in global south literature regarding Indigenous youth and their relationship with nature, especially within the context of rural–urban mobility when attending universities. We interviewed 11 Indigenous undergraduate students from the Indigenous Lands of Paraná, Brazil, whose territories are affected by socioeconomic pressures and external drivers of deforestation and cultural heritage loss. Indigenous students self-reported that they disseminate and document traditional knowledge through academic projects while living in the city. The situation in their communities diverges from these urban experiences, especially concerning the differences between memories of the traditional practices and the current context. These young people are returning to the communities, developing projects and combining Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge to address local challenges. Yet they remain excluded from local decision-making processes. Through their narratives, we, as researchers, gained insights into sustainable practices that can help address the loss of TEK and its linkages to forest degradation.
... The product developed or research outcomes may be more likely to be used or implemented by stakeholders, leading to a greater impact than a solution "imposed" on stakeholders. Involving stakeholders in the development of policies, support systems or research can support their uptake, use and legitimacy (Armitage et al., 2011;Mann and Schäfer, 2018;Prokopy et al., 2017;Lemos and Morehouse, 2005). Resources produced through coproduction processes are more likely to be used by stakeholder groups (Ryschawy et al., 2019). ...
... • Stakeholder gain knowledge and experience of working with and between different communities and groups (Armitage et al., 2011). • Bringing together stakeholders to work together on an outcome can foster a sense of belonging, leading to groups can remaining in contact after project completion. ...
This report presents the implementation of the coproduction processes. Thus, it outlines the outcomes of the series of consultations with the ENVISION end users in regard to their views and comments on the development of the ENVISION services. Coproduction can support uptake by end users by addressing issues such as ease of use, trust (evidence-based tool), habit and relevance to user, and potentially mitigate issues around lack of expertise in using EO data and remote sensing technologies, supporting the development of a platform accessible to all users and leading them through areas requiring new skills or technical expertise.
... According to a study by Freeman et al. [11], active learning methods outperform traditional lectures in terms of student performance and engagement which emphasizes the need for more interactive approaches. Second, the digital Co-production is "the collaborative process of bringing a plurality of knowledge sources and types together to address a defined problem and build an integrated or system-oriented understanding of the problem" [21]. The co-production framework bridges the connection between science makers and science users to enable better-produced science products and tools to be aidful and used by decision-makers [22,23]. ...
... Benefits of non-traditional science communication & internship courses at a Research Intensive University internship, communication techniques are crucial where most information gathered is relayed to a general audience, highlighting the practical applications of the conducted research. In contrast to conventional science internships that offer practical experience, co-production is a collaborative process that involves diverse knowledge sources to address specific problems [21]. Research co-produced with stakeholders, incorporating knowledge transfer, yields more meaningful and accepted outcomes, benefiting all parties involved [3,27]. ...
Effective science communication and stakeholder engagement are crucial skills for climate scientists, yet formal training in these areas remains limited in graduate education. The National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) at Auburn University (AU) addresses this gap through an innovative program combining science communication training with co-production approaches to enhance climate resiliency of built, natural, and social systems within the Southeastern United States (US). This paper evaluates the effectiveness of two novel graduate-level courses: one focused on science communication for non-technical audiences and another combining co-production methods with practical internship experience. Our research employed a mixed-methods approach, including a comprehensive analysis of course catalogs from 146 research-intensive universities and qualitative assessment of student experiences through surveys and descriptive exemplars. Analysis revealed that AU’s NRT program is unique among peer institutions in offering both specialized science communication training and co-production internship opportunities to graduate students across departments. Survey data from 11 program participants and detailed case studies of three program graduates demonstrated significant professional development benefits. Key outcomes included enhanced stakeholder engagement capabilities, improved science communication skills, and better preparation for both academic and non-academic careers. These findings suggest that integrating structured science communication training with hands-on co-production experience provides valuable preparation for climate scientists. The success of AU’s program model indicates that similar curriculum structures could benefit graduate programs nationwide, particularly in preparing students to effectively communicate complex scientific concepts to diverse audiences and engage with stakeholders in climate resilience efforts.
... Rather than taking a top-down or expert-driven approach to climate adaptation planning, values-based planning approaches encapsulate diverse local perspectives, experiences, and knowledges to better tailor adaptation solutions to specific place-based contexts (O'Brien & Wolf, 2010;Omondi, 2020;Reid et al., 2023). Through participatory processes, community members and decision-makers can engage in the co-production of shared values, new meanings, and nuanced understandings of diverse or conflicting perspectives (Armitage et al., 2011;Sheppard et al., 2011;Cone et al., 2013;Omondi, 2020;Reid et al., 2023). In doing so, CCA strategies can better align with local and institutional contexts, gain social acceptability and community buy-in, and promote equitable and just outcomes through the meaningful inclusion of disproportionately-impacted and historically ...
... disenfranchised groups(O'Brien & Wolf, 2010;Armitage et al., 2011).Living with Water's emphasis on the role of values-based coastal adaptation planning processes prompted the development of internal and public facing values statements in the early project phases.Developed through an iterative and collaborative process, the values statement aims to centre core values and streamline overarching objectives across the project. The central LWW values that informed this research are shown inFigure 6. Living with Water's project-wide core values(LWW, 2022b) ...
Flooding poses significant risks to the safety, well-being, and long-term security of many Canadian communities. In recent years, extreme weather events, as a result of a changing climate, have cost Canadians billions in insured and uninsured losses annually, and such losses do not encapsulate the various social, ecological, and health impacts that are difficult to quantify. In addition to climate change, misaligned land-use planning, intensified development in floodprone areas, fragmented risk governance, gaps in funding and policy, and an over-reliance on protective structures continue to place many Canadians in harm’s way, while creating barriers for proactive adaptations at the watershed scale. Major disasters, like the 2021 atmospheric rivers floods in British Columbia, underscore the need for transformative flood risk management [FRM] policy and governance by highlighting the systemic drivers of flood risk, namely a FRM system that was never designed to withstand the dynamic realities of the present day. Such focusing events—relatively rare, sudden, and impactful events like disasters—are often critical in generating significant public interest around a focal issue, garnering political will to advance policy agendas, and enabling governance actors to advocate for policy reform. In the post-disaster landscape, coalitions of policy actors can seek to leverage these emergent ‘windows of opportunity’ to advance a paradigm shift in how various public issues, like disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, are understood and managed, who is involved in decision-making processes, and what solutions are considered socially-acceptable and politically-feasible. Actors are most likely to be successful in advancing agenda items if enabled by the institutional environments that policy processes are embedded within, and if there is an existing foundation of collaboration among others within the broader policy community. This research, utilizing a case study of a major Canadian flood disaster, evaluates the ways in which policy champions, advocacy coalitions, and institutional actors have sought to leverage existing relationships, prior learnings, and post-disaster momentum to advance shifts in FRM policy and governance at the local, regional, and provincial scales. Semi-structured key informant interviews provide insights into how the disaster manifested as a focusing event, what enabling conditions contributed to the creation of a window of opportunity for policy change, and how recent shifts in British Columbia’s flood governance and policy regimes have been shaped by longer-term institutional developments and interjurisdictional partnerships. This research illustrates the transformational nature of adaptive learning and multi-scalar governance, and is intended to assist FRM decision-makers, policymakers, and practitioners in advancing resilience.
... The recognition that Western species management has often failed to achieve its goals has brought about necessary discourse on shifting species management to center IK and Indigenous management frameworks, led by Indigenous Peoples (17,(21)(22)(23). This discourse has led to increased efforts to recognize the value of IK and IK systems in conservation management (24)(25)(26), recognition of the importance of knowledge coproduction (16,27,28), comanagement (18,29,30), and Indigenous-led conservation (31). ...
... In both Canada and the United States, comanagement organizations represent local or regional priorities, and are linked to local management organizations (e.g., Hunter Trapper Associations in Canada, North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management in Alaska, US) and to federal agencies (e.g., Fisheries and Oceans Canada, National Marine Fisheries Service). Although several comanagement frameworks are in place in many regions (e.g., ref. 29), the final decision on species listings and critical habitat designations still most often sits with federal agencies. For example, in the United States, the ISC has a comanagement agreement in place with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (41), but final decisions regarding the listing and critical habitat designation of ice-associated seals still lie with NMFS (42). ...
While Indigenous Knowledge (IK) contains a wealth of information on the behavior and habitat use of species, it is rarely included in the species–habitat models frequently used by Western species management authorities. As decisions from these authorities can limit access to species that are important culturally and for subsistence, exclusion of IK in conservation and management frameworks can negatively impact both species and Indigenous communities. In partnership with Iñupiat hunters, we developed methods to statistically characterize IK of species–habitat relationships and developed models that rely solely on IK to identify species habitat use and important areas. We provide methods for different types of IK documentation and for dynamic habitat types (e.g., ice concentration). We apply the method to ringed seals (natchiq in Iñupiaq) in Alaskan waters, a stock for which the designated critical habitat has been debated in part due to minimal inclusion of IK. Our work demonstrates that IK of species–habitat relationships, with the inclusion of dynamic habitat types, expands on existing mapping approaches and provides another method to identify species habitat use and important areas. The results of this work provide a straightforward and meaningful approach to include IK in species management, especially through comanagement processes.
... Synthesis is one type of integration and refers to the creation of final integrated outputs and results (Hoffmann, 2024). We argue that focusing on 'integration' in particular, instead of inter-and transdisciplinarity in general, is useful for examining the particular practice and challenge of connecting knowledge systems as well as for fostering learning among the actors involved (Armitage et al., 2011). For this reason, it is important not only to look at the basic conditions for setting up co-production, or inter-and transdisciplinary processes in general, but also at how integration of diverse knowledge systems and actors can be effectively advanced in particular, resulting in novel results (Hoffmann et al., 2022b), AHA! moments (Pearce et al., 2022) and adapted mental models. ...
... Vienni Baptista et al. (2022, p. 4) remind us that if ITD initiatives don't get institutionalized to a certain extent, much resources are spent on reinventing successful set-ups and arrangements. As we expect such cross-organizational initiatives to remain important or even to be given greater priority in the future, we suggest that instead of creating legal and organizational arrangements from scratch each time, one should aim to either harmonize rules, come up with more flexible frames for cross-organizational collaborations, or reduce administrative barriers (Armitage et al., 2011;Kassab et al., 2018). In light of budgetary constraints and cost-saving measures concerning public funds, removing structural barriers in the long-term might allow synergies across institutions to be more effectively utilized. ...
... Environmental governance has traditionally relied heavily on scientific expertise but increasingly embraces participatory approaches to address complex global environmental challenges and enhance societal relevance. Central to this shift is 'knowledge co-production,' a collaborative process involving multiple stakeholders to generate actionable, policy-relevant knowledge (e.g., Armitage et al., 2011;Cornell et al., 2013;Dilling & Lemos, 2011). ...
... In Sustainability Science, knowledge co-production is proposed to create actionable, policy-relevant scientific knowledge for environmental decision-making (Armitage et al., 2011;Cornell et al., 2013;Dilling & Lemos, 2011;Lemos & Morehouse, 2005). It emphasizes inclusivity and iterative collaboration among scientific experts, decision-makers, societal actors, and the private sector (Lemos & Morehouse, 2005). ...
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) plays a critical role in environmental governance by synthesizing knowledge for policy-makers. In this context, the co-production of knowledge among scientists, indigenous knowledge holders, and societal actors is increasingly important. Despite inclusive goals, the organization often overlooks how uneven geographies and power relations shape collaborative knowledge production. Drawing on qualitative interviews with IPBES experts, administrators, and government representatives, we apply Science and Technology Studies perspectives to analyze the co-production of knowledge among geographically diverse scientists in the IPBES global assessment. Our findings indicate that IPBES’s approach to co-production neglects the political and situated nature of knowledge production, inadvertently reinforcing contemporary colonial power dynamics within the organization. These dynamics influence the abilities of member states to participate in IPBES, perpetuate the North/South divide, and reproduce geographical biases within global academia. This has led to an overrepresentation of Western scientists and enhanced their epistemic authority during the global assessment. We highlight a disconnect between IPBES’s ambitions to transcend the traditional dominance of Western perspectives through inclusive approaches and its actual knowledge-making practices. We discuss the interrelations between knowledge, power, and social orders at the science-policy interface from a geographical perspective and propose six measures for a more reflexive and inclusive approach to knowledge co-production. These recommendations emphasize the importance of recognizing the contextual nature of knowledge, thereby strengthening IPBES’s transformative potential.
... This shifting relationship between Science and TEK shows us that diverse worldviews and cultural beliefs are a fundamental to more successful ecological conservation outcomes (Armitage et al. 2011;Kocho-Schellenberg and Berkes 2015). As such, inviting the participation of non-Western knowledge systems (TKs), but discrediting another (TCM) on the grounds that it has discrepancies with Science is a clear difference, and may be counterproductive to addressing IWT. ...
... Tools, and Structures to Address IWT Issues: Wildlife co-management boards have been instrumental as collaborative bodies established to facilitate the involvement of Indigenous communities in the management and decision-making processes related to wildlife conservation and resource use (Snook, Cunsolo, and Morris 2018;Armitage et al. 2011;Berkes 2009b;Butler et al. 2015). The potential of these co-management frameworks extends beyond collaboration, as they offer a structured approach to tackle the multifaceted challenges of IWT by ensuring that diverse stakeholders, including local communities, conservation scientists, TCM practitioners, and others are represented and have active roles in the governance process. ...
... Braiding is another useful conceptualization for how knowledge systems can come together in complementary and ethical ways (Kimmerer 2013). Knowledge co-production is another way to conceptualize how Western and Indigenous modes of inquiry can be complementary for enhanced learning (Armitage et al. 2011, Yua et al. 2022. ...
... jurisdictions across the Mojave Desert. Knowledge co-production is "the collaborative process of bringing a plurality of knowledge sources and types together to address a defined problem and build an integrated or systems-oriented understanding of that problem" (Armitage et al., 2011). It can address management challenges, particularly in situations with high spatial, temporal, jurisdictional, and context complexities (Beier et al., 2017), and allows science producers and users to share their knowledge, learn from each other, and build relationships to collaboratively develop solutions. ...
Considerable progress has been made in understanding the effects of stressors on Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) populations, yet information about how stressors may vary across jurisdictions, space, and time is lacking. We engaged in knowledge‐sharing interviews and a workshop with natural resource managers from multiple jurisdictions located throughout the tortoise's range. This knowledge co‐production approach allowed us to learn managers' perceptions of which local to range‐wide stressors, synergistic interactions, and important actions impact tortoise populations. We co‐produced a list of priority stressors that included Common Raven (Corvus corax) predation, roads, climate change/drought, wildfires, and off‐highway vehicle routes. Yet, some temporal, spatial, and organizational differences existed in priority stressors. Participants identified important interactions between (1) climate change/drought, invasive plants, and wildfire and (2) human presence and predation from human‐subsidized predators. Key actions for tortoise recovery included invasive plant removal, education and outreach, surveys, and habitat restoration, which did not always address prioritized stressors, partially because of logistical and monetary constraints. A co‐production approach was vital to learning which stressors managers perceived as most important and varying over space and time, and the logistical constraints associated with managing these stressors.
... A coprodução do conhecimento pode ser uma aliada na gestão adequada das atividades produtivas, uma vez que une o conhecimento científico ao conhecimento tradicional, contribuindo para a elaboração de protocolo de monitoramento que atenda às necessidades do local, considerando todas as suas complexidades [20] [21]. A junção do conhecimento técnico-científico com o conhecimento tradicional foi fundamental para a construção do monitoramento participativo da pesca de Tarituba, Rio de Janeiro, por proporcionar entender as complexidades das questões que envolvem a conservação e a produção pesqueira do local [19], corrobo-rando com os dados apresentados no presente estudo de caso. ...
A pesca artesanal é uma das atividades produtivas mais tradicionais e importantes do Brasil, no entanto informações sobre essa atividade são incipientes. O monitoramento participativo da pesca consiste em realizar um acompanhamento da produção em parceria com a própria comunidade, buscando gerar informação qualificada para um gerenciamento pesqueiro adequado. Diante disso, o objetivo do presente estudo é descrever o processo de construção do monitoramento da pesca na Reserva Extrativista Marinha Lagoa do Jequiá, Alagoas. Inicialmente foram definidos os objetos de monitoramento e adaptação dos protocolos, bem como georreferenciamento dos pesqueiros, validação dos formulários e treinamento da equipe. Foram selecionadas como alvo de monitoramento as pescarias de maior intensidade em ambos os ambientes, marinho e lagunar. Dados referentes à jornada de trabalho e ao esforço pesqueiro também foram considerados no momento da construção do caderno de monitoramento da pesca. Informações de cunho social e econômicos são importantes para que seja possível buscar políticas públicas adequadas para o setor pesqueiro, de forma que toda a comunidade seja beneficiada.
... Knowledge co-production is considered a powerful approach for enabling collective learning through the exchange, production, and application of knowledge [53,54]. Collective learning through inter-and transdisciplinary processes is essential for climate change adaptation as it can support the integration of differing perceptions and needs [20,[55][56][57]. ...
... Reflexivity should be seen as a methodological principle to foster adaptive management (Phase 3) in the research process. When applied in a transdisciplinary research project, the adaptive management of science information to stakeholders' needs encompasses the phase wherein it becomes evident that efforts must pivot towards realigning scientific research objectives, methodologies, and findings with the specific interests and requirements of stakeholder (Carlsson and Berkes, 2005;Armitage et al. 2011). ...
This research paper presents the findings and lessons from the international CLIMAX project—Climate Services Through Knowledge Co-production: A Euro-South American Initiative for Strengthening Societal Adaptation Response to Extreme Events. The project, engaging with the Brazilian National Electric System Operator (ONS), explores co-production as a method to implement climate services in the context of Brazil, particularly within the country’s hydroelectric power sector. Through interactive research and transdisciplinary collaboration, the CLIMAX project evaluates both the implementation of climate services and the concept of utility in knowledge co-production. The research identifies inherent diversity and “utility paradoxes” within the co-production process. These paradoxes involve the perceived relevance of climate information versus its integration into systems, and its instrumental use versus its justification for decisions. The study highlights the significance of stakeholder engagement, close and meaningful communication, and adaptability to context-specific needs. By sharing experiences from a five-year interactive research initiative, it offers insights into improving practices for future co-production endeavors. This entails recognizing varied research contexts, managing co-design processes with an awareness of time and resources, and encouraging flexibility and personal transformation within co-design.
... Reflexivity should be seen as a methodological principle to foster adaptive management (Phase 3) in the research process. When applied in a transdisciplinary research project, the adaptive management of science information to stakeholders' needs encompasses the phase wherein it becomes evident that efforts must pivot towards realigning scientific research objectives, methodologies, and findings with the specific interests and requirements of stakeholder (Carlsson and Berkes, 2005;Armitage et al. 2011). ...
Extreme Events. The project, engaging with the Brazilian National Electric System Operator (ONS), explores co-production as a method to implement climate services in the context of Brazil, particularly within the country's hydroelectric power sector. Through interactive research and transdisciplinary collaboration, the CLIMAX project evaluates both the implementation of climate services and the concept of utility in knowledge co-production. The research identifies inherent diversity and "utility paradoxes" within the co-production process. These paradoxes involve the perceived relevance of climate information versus its integration into systems, and its instrumental use versus its justification for decisions. The study highlights the significance of stakeholder engagement, close and meaningful communication, and adaptability to context-specific needs. By sharing experiences from a five-year interactive research initiative, it offers insights into improving practices for future co-production endeavors. This entails recognizing varied research contexts, managing co-design processes with an awareness of time and resources, and encouraging flexibility and personal transformation within co-design. Practical implications chapter In this paper, we explore how a collaborative process of research as part of the CLIMAX project called Climate Services Through Knowledge Co-production has been used to help Brazil's electricity sector improve its climate products and services. Co-production means that scientists, electricity sector professionals, decision-makers, and other key players work together from the start, ensuring that the services developed meet real needs and can be used effectively in decision-making. The focus of this approach is not just on the final product but on the ongoing process of collaboration, learning, and adjustment. One of the key lessons we learned is the importance of involving all stakeholders early in the process. By doing so, we ensure that the resulting services are more useful and practical, especially for major users like Brazil's National Electric System Operator (ONS). This approach allows the services to better reflect the realities of the electricity sector and to be tailored to specific operational needs. Another major finding was the need for ongoing training and capacity building. For climate information to be useful, electricity sector professionals need the skills to interpret and apply it. Meanwhile, climate scientists need to be flexible and willing to adjust their research to better meet the practical demands of the sector. This kind of two-way exchange, where both sides adapt and learn from each other, helps make the climate services more effective. We also highlight some challenges faced during the co-production effort. For example, projects like this, where multiple actors need to collaborate, share knowledge, and make decisions together, often require more time and flexibility than traditional research models. Institutional barriers, such as rigid organizational structures and funding constraints, can also limit the full implementation of these services. Additionally, we encountered what we call the "utility paradox": sometimes the information produced In summary, the research showed that co-production, while challenging, offers many benefits. It brings people together from different fields, helps build relationships of trust, and ensures that climate services are designed with the end users in mind. The results can also offer practical advice for policymakers and professionals involved in similar collaborative projects.
... This literature has noted several benefits of co-production for fisheries governance, including improved relevance of evidence for decision-making (Cooke et al., 2021;Hamelin et al., 2023) and improved the uptake of fisheries research into decision-making (Soomai, 2017a). Additionally, Armitage et al. (2011) analyzed the role of institutions in guiding co-production in the Arctic and found that co-production established by institutions can act as a trigger to generate learning and adaptive management during socioecological change. In the marine conservation literature, DiFranco et al. (2020) concluded that co-production can improve support for, and effectiveness of, marine protected areas. ...
Knowledge co‐production is a collaborative approach to research that seeks to enable transformative societal change and improve outcomes in natural resource management and sustainable development. Instituting knowledge co‐production requires that researchers, decision‐makers, and stakeholders be willing to work together towards shared goals. In the context of fisheries management, co‐production represents a significant departure from the technocratic discourses and governance practices that have characterized decision‐making for decades. Moreover, some fisheries contexts have been plagued by persistent and seemingly intractable epistemological conflicts between stakeholders and decision‐makers. Such situations complicate the implementation of co‐production and raise questions about the extent to which researchers can achieve the aims of co‐production in situations of distrust, amenity, and entrenched positions. We use the case study of Northern Cod, a stock of Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) governance in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, a case of long‐standing conflict between the regulator, fishers, Indigenous peoples, and industry parties, to explore whether and how co‐production can enable collaborative research leading to “transformative societal change.” We find five factors complicating uptake of co‐production in the governance of Northern Cod: (i) competing perspectives exist regarding the relative worth of different types of knowledge; (ii) links between epistemic preferences and interests; (iii) barriers related to access and inclusion in governance spaces; (iv) barriers related to institutional design; and, (v) conflict‐ridden stakeholder relations. In a context of persistent epistemological conflict and distrust, we propose that knowledge co‐production focus on diplomacy through science with an aim to repair relationships rather than produce new knowledge that can serve as evidence in decision‐making as the primary goal of the co‐production process.
... This effort led to a fruitful information exchange process, resulting in regional-specific knowledge that could be used to prioritise drivers of change and adaptive mechanisms. Therefore, this knowledge might be useful to effectively tackle both present and future challenges (Armitage et al. 2011). Moreover, this working method has facilitated a dialogue among stakeholders that did not exist before, leading to the creation of networks and interactions among the participants. ...
Mountain ranges are complex socio-ecological systems recognised as the ''undervalued ecological backbone'' of Europe as they provided essential ecosystem services and goods. However, we lack a deep understanding on their vulnerability to both environmental and social drivers. We carried out a stakeholder-based study assessing the vulnerability of 23 land-use systems supporting a wide range of value chains in European mountain regions. In total, 513 stakeholders participated in the evaluation of vulnerability, providing estimates for importance, exposure and sensitivity to the drivers and an assessment of 160 adaptation mechanisms. Vulnerability was calculated per region, factoring the impact of each driver and the potential reduction by adaptation mechanisms. The analysis highlighted the dominance of climate-related drivers, followed by demographic changes. Most of the adaptation mechanisms demonstrated strong social and environmental feasibility but moderate economic feasibility. Many mechanisms have shown limited implementation but offer valuable insights to reduce vulnerability in European mountain regions.
... Community resilience, here understood as "existence, development and engagement of community resources by community members to thrive in an environment characterized by change, uncertainty, unpredictability and surprise" [25] (p. 410), can be built through the promotion and engagement of the ability to thrive in a changing environment [26,27]. Despite its appeal and widespread use, there is limited evidence on how to promote and achieve community resilience [28]. ...
One of the most critical impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic was on food security. Food insecurity increased in many communities, with some showing signs of resilience through autonomously creating community kitchens that enhanced food security and built support networks. These initiatives filled gaps left by government programmes and provided a critical lifeline for vulnerable communities during the pandemic, fostering community solidarity. This paper aims to investigate the experiences and perceptions of community kitchen managers in addressing food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic by using a town in South Africa in 2020–2022 as a case study. Using arts-based participatory approaches, researchers interviewed 11 community kitchen managers representing 10 community kitchens in four sessions between June and November 2021. The results showed that a lack of jobs and food insecurity were identified as the main threats, whereas COVID-19 was not even identified as a threat by all of the community kitchen managers. Lacking support from the local government, these initiatives depended on individuals and community-based organisations for backing. However, this support decreased in 2021 and 2022, raising concerns about the sustainability of these efforts.
... In many existing attempts to define knowledge co-creation, we observed some recognition of the diversity or ecology of knowledge. For instance, some papers reviewed [130][131][132][133] (p. 996) definition of knowledge co-creation as "the collaborative process of bringing a plurality of knowledge sources and types together to address a defined problem and build an integrated or systems-oriented understanding of that problem". ...
The extant literature is rich with references to co-creation in research and knowledge initiatives. However, there is a pressing need for clarity regarding the definition of knowledge co-creation and its application in sustainable development research. To fill these gaps, we conducted a systematic review of 42 articles that met the selection criteria. The findings revealed the disciplinarity in the studies, geographical collaboration patterns, and varying interpretations of knowledge co-creation. This study also identified key engagement methods and stages essential for the knowledge co-creation process in the context of sustainable development. The implications for practice highlight the importance for researchers, and possibly policy-makers, to consider not only the various definitions of knowledge co-creation attempted—often lacking consensus—but also guiding principles. Strengthening knowledge co-creation in transdisciplinary studies, fostering robust global partnerships, ensuring equitable regional representation, facilitating the active participation of diverse stakeholders, and maintaining balanced power dynamics rooted in trust and relationality are crucial for achieving positive sustainable development outcomes. The intersection of research, knowledge co-creation, sustainable development, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), along with the elements proposed for future consideration, which has not been extensively explored in previous studies, underscores the originality of this study, which carries significant theoretical, methodological, and global policy implications.
... As highlighted earlier, boundary spanners were regularly cited among the case studies to enable KE work (e.g., Berglund & Aradottir, 2015;Cadman & Soomai, 2020;Cohen & Mills, 2012;Coleman & Stern, 2018;Holzer et al., 2019), which is consistent with the broad literature suggesting that they play a key role in collaborating, facilitating, and exchanging context-specific knowledge with diverse knowledge users (Armitage et al., 2011;Bednarek et al., 2018;Karcher et al., 2021;Posner & Cvitanovic, 2019). It is necessary for boundary spanners to possess sufficient background knowledge and expertise of the knowledge they are exchanging (Michaels, 2009;Saarela & Söderman, 2015). ...
A gap exists in the literature on how to implement theories of knowledge exchange (KE) into practice within an environmental management context. To support the improved practice of KE, we conducted a scoping literature review evaluating 56 empirical case studies globally to identify enabling conditions for implementing effective KE. Identified enabling conditions were organized into a core capacities framework, which highlighted essential elements of effective KE from organizational, individual, financial, material, practical, political, and social capacity dimensions. Results show that major enablers to effective KE relate to practitioners' individual and organizational capacity including the ability of practitioners (often boundary spanners) to establish trust with relevant actors through their interpersonal relationships and possessing sufficient background knowledge and skills to facilitate collaborations across disciplines and sectors. We also identified main challenges to engaging in KE (e.g., insufficient long‐ term funding for projects, lack of interpersonal skills for KE practitioners to build relationships and network, and inadequate background knowledge for practitioners to exchange knowledge in an accessible manner), and the outcomes and impacts that can emerge from effective KE work. We find that practitioners often perform quantitative evaluations that provide instantaneous and measurable impacts for the effectiveness of KE, but do not capture the impact of interpersonal relationships and trust that are best achieved through qualitative approaches. Lastly, the synthesis of enablers, challenges, outcomes, and impacts presented in this paper can be a resource for practitioners to identify what enablers may be missing from their KE strategies and in what capacity the KE work can be strengthened.
... Validation of TEK by science alone, extraction and integration of decontextualized TEK ('distilled TEK artefacts', Nadasdy, 1999) into science, and neglecting TEK in management decisions and in reviews of ecological phenomena where it is highly relevant may easily become disrespectful and lead to misinterpretations (Molnár et al., 2023;Roué & Nakashima, 2018). Fortunately, for working together, diverse ways of mutually beneficial and respectful cooperation have been suggested and used, among others the Two-Eyed Seeing (viewing the world through both knowledge systems; Abu et al., 2019;Bartlett et al., 2012), knowledge coproduction (Armitage et al., 2011) and the weaving of knowledge systems using the Multiple Evidence Base (MEB) approach (Tengö et al., 2014). Furthermore, detailed research protocols developed by Indigenous Peoples are available to help respectful collaborations across knowledge systems (Hayward et al., 2021). ...
Evidence‐based conservation can benefit substantially from multiple knowledge sources and different knowledge systems. While traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and collaborative research are increasingly acknowledged, detailed cross‐knowledge system reviews are scarce and their methodology underdeveloped. We have two objectives: to prepare such a review and to discuss the benefits and challenges of such reviews.
We review pig keeping in forests and marshes, a historically widespread but nowadays almost extinct practice in Europe, but one with high potential for organic farming, conservation and restoration. We focus on what, when and how free‐ranging pigs forage in the wild. We review five knowledge sources: living and archived TEK, pig and wild boar scientific literature, and the authors' observations of foraging.
Unexpectedly, given the amount of available information, archived TEK differed considerably from living TEK of svinjars (Serbian: traditional pig keepers), and scientific knowledge on pig and boar foraging from TEK. Svinjars deeply understood the consumption and avoidance behaviour of pigs towards 98 and 56 plant taxa, and 42 and 17 animal taxa, respectively. Our review showed that pigs are gourmet omnivores, optimizing and switching between foraging on earthworms, acorns, grasses and corn. Discrepancies between knowledge sources were rare, for example on the consumption of woody roots, earthworms, mushrooms and snakes/lizards. Sources were also complementary, filling each other's knowledge gaps.
Topics where the cross‐knowledge system review was most fruitful were acorn foraging, browsing, earthworm and mushroom consumption. Differences in the contributions of the knowledge sources to the enriched picture resulted from the diverging interests and methodologies of the knowledge generators.
We identified and discussed both the benefits (different approaches of knowledge generation; expanded time scales; complementarity; novel cause–effect explanations; identification of knowledge gaps; and biases) and the challenges (how to identify relevant publications and knowledgeable TEK holders; how to collate knowledge and verify its reliability; and how to conduct a culturally respectful synthesis) of cross‐knowledge system reviewing.
Synthesis and applications. Cross‐knowledge system reviews help overcome limitations in ecological understanding and may provide a shared understanding among collaborating partners, build trust and foster acceptance of each other's knowledge as legitimate.
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... Several scholars also stress the importance of KCC being an iterative process rather than a one-shot operation (Armitage et al. 2011). In addition, De Vente et al. (2016 point at the need for not just iterativity, but also adaptiveness: the process should be adjusted to participants' language and location. ...
... Knowledge exchange, interpretation of complicated data, and application of information are all interactive processes in the adaptive management model that rely on mutual respect and confidence [39]. When other forms of mediation are emerging to build trust and communication, it makes more sense for actors to accommodate each other's views rather than contradict them [40]. ...
... Value should be placed on all forms of knowledge: experiential and local alongside scientific and technical knowledge (Armitage et al., 2011). While researchers are responsible for synthesising and interpreting the data generated, the management of gaps and differences within co-produced knowledge is crucial in producing fair and equitable outputs; thus, the whole process must be transparent. ...
Achieving successful multi-stakeholder collaboration for sustainable outcomes is complex. This paper provides key principles for future co-design projects aimed at fostering an inclusive approach to research. These have been developed based on a novel methodology that co-designed the essential components of a long-term, collaborative agreement for a nature recovery scheme in England. Using an assortment of iterative, deliberative participatory methods, this research engaged a wide variety of stakeholders to produce a template agreement for an agri-environmental policy. We demonstrate that a flexible, highly reflective approach resulted in positive engagement with previously marginalised stakeholders. The approach also successfully navigated the unequal power dynamics seen both within and between groups. Finally, multiple feedback loops allowed participants to continually build on previous interactions as they developed and reviewed the agreement. By drawing out the complexities of the co-design process, this paper explains how co-design efforts can produce potentially transformative outputs. We hope that the principles introduced here offer a useful starting point for those planning to undertake multi-stakeholder co-design.
... Similarly, the resilience of a community can be developed in climate change extremity by implementing updated, innovative and old technology and knowledge combinedly (Ellen, 2007). Moreover, it is widely recognized throughout the world that the collaboration and integration of tribal and local knowledge with technology and science can contribute to make an effective strategy to combat climate change induced hazards (Mercer et al., 2010;Mercer et al., 2009) and climate change resilience and adaptation strategies (Armitage et al., 2011;Speranza et al., 2010). Along with local knowledge, the latest technology and scientific assessment, can provide indigenous community and policy makers a comprehensive knowledge that can enable them to make resilience and adaptation in climate change extremity. ...
... CPK is analogous to cross-disciplinary research between 2 scientific fields where both forms of knowledge have equal value. In a co-production of knowledge research model, Indigenous ways of knowing and non-Indigenous scientific approaches have equal value and new knowledge is produced through cooperation to address a shared issue or goal [36]. Within a CPK framework, data collected through research should reflect the wants and needs of the Indigenous community, such as in the development of climate adaptation plans [21]. ...
... Among the frameworks proposed for projects using multiple-knowledge systems, a major recurring theme is project co-development, which we define as developing a re-search agenda to meet objectives determined with explicit reference to the needs and interests of community collaborators (Reed et al. 2023;Armitage et al. 2011;Norström et al. 2020). Co-development helps to ensure that the information generated by a project is "relevant" (Tsosie et al. 2022; and has "meaningful benefits for communities" (Reed et al. 2023). ...
Indigenous-driven and community-partnered research projects seeking to develop salient, legitimate, and credible knowledge bases for environmental decision-making require a multiple knowledge systems approach. When involving partners in addition to communities, diverging perspectives and priorities may arise, making the pathways to engaging in principled research while generating actionable knowledge unclear to disciplinarily-trained natural science researchers. Here, we share insights from the Eeyou Coastal Habitat Comprehensive Research Project (CHCRP), an interdisciplinary, Cree-driven community-academic partnership. This project brought together Cree community members, regional organizations, industry (Hydro-Québec), and academics from seven universities across Canada to address the unprecedented loss of seagrass Zostera marina (eelgrass), the concurrent decline in migratory Canada geese and its impact on fall goose harvest activities in Eeyou Istchee. After describing the history and context of the project, we discuss the challenges, complexities, and benefits of the collaborative approach balancing saliency, legitimacy, and credibility of the knowledge produced. We suggest the paper may be of use to researchers and partners seeking to engage in principled and actionable research related to environmental change including impacts of past development.
... Indigenous communities across Canada have always refused some colonial policies and pursued multiple avenues to assert their presence, rights, responsibilities, and decision-making authority over their territories in land use management. Conservation is one area where Crown institutions have evolved to respect Indigenous rights and responsibilities to their lands [45][46][47][48][49]. Examples of these changes include roles created for Indigenous Peoples on advisory boards, provisions in conservation legislation that protect Aboriginal 3 or treaty rights, and cooperative management agreements [50]. ...
Indigenous Peoples throughout the world have been displaced from their ancestral territories through colonial land use management. Indigenous Peoples have pushed settler-colonial governments to shift their policy frameworks to better support Indigenous rights and leadership across land management, but particularly in conservation. In Canada, this has recently involved the development of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. Combined with pressure from international organizations, Canada’s Federal Government has dedicated substantial funds to support the establishment of these areas and to achieve conservation and reconciliatory goals. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Māori groups have shaped new legislation that recognizes legal personality status for natural features, which contrasts with Western understandings of land ownership. Indigenous-led conservation in Canada faces many interrelated barriers grounded in colonial histories that complicate land jurisdictions, reconciliation, and protected area networks. This research reveals some of this complexity by examining how Indigenous-led conservation can contribute to more equitable and consensus-based decision-making frameworks in land use management. Policy and legal analyses of Canadian, Aotearoa New Zealand, and international conservation and human rights documents inform our results. We affirm that Indigenous-led conservation can foster relationships between Indigenous Nations and Crown governments. They can also provide steps towards reconciling colonial injustices, supporting Indigenous self-determination, and advancing more sustainable land use systems.
Incidental catch of seabirds (bycatch) in fisheries has been identified as a major threat to the conservation of seabird populations. Acquiring accurate, detailed data on seabird bycatch is an ongoing challenge to effective integrated ecosystem management of commercial fisheries. To collect detailed data on seabird bycatch in the Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides Walbaum, 1792) fishery in northern Canada, we applied two voluntary effort methods with industry partners that asked for additional, detailed information about the nature of the interactions between seabirds and the fishing gear than the data standardly reported in the fishery. We found that the amount of bird bycatch reported in both enhanced datasheets completed by at-sea observers (ASOs) and carcass collections yielded different results when compared to the typical seabird bycatch reporting in the fisheries ASO database. Across three years of data collection (2016, 2018, and 2019), the number of seabirds reported using the enhanced data collection methods were 0.5–11-fold the number from typical ASO database values. We then used these data to model how the differences between data sources may fluctuate across years. These large discrepancies between the methods highlight the challenges with obtaining accurate seabird bycatch data needed to implement a meaningful ecosystem approach to the management.
Each community across Inuit Nunaat has specific histories, geography, and cultural norms or practices when it comes to beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) harvesting. These coastal communities across Inuit Nunaat range over vast distances but share some similarities. Wildlife samples obtained from Inuit harvesters provide much of the data for current scientific literature in the Arctic. We use beluga as a case study to demonstrate the importance and value of including local contexts in wildlife research by focusing on Arviat, NU and Tuktoyaktuk, NT and their local cultural contexts of beluga harvesting and sampling. Local harvesters were interviewed about beluga to characterize the beluga hunting season, beluga harvest preference and selection, which cuts are preferred, how to examine beluga health, and research priorities. There were marked differences in all these areas between communities, except for how harvesters assess beluga health, which were similar. We also highlight potential research directions raised during the interviews. These findings confirm that there are cultural differences in beluga harvesting between these two communities. These harvest preferences should be accounted for in scientific interpretations of the data, which are often entirely derived from hunter-harvested animals. It follows then that local cultural preferences can result in biases for certain animals (size, colour), as we have shown, illustrating the importance of considering local contexts when conducting wildlife research.
Climate change requires managers to bolster long-term resilience of fisheries and concurrently improve short-term responsiveness of management systems to prevailing ecological conditions, all while avoiding unintended harm to stocks in a highly uncertain context. There has been substantial effort dedicated to developing the scientific information and tools needed to inform climate-ready fisheries, yet implementation of these approaches has been limited in the United States management system. Meanwhile, climate impacts on fisheries are already occurring, making fish and fishing communities highly vulnerable to sudden, and often detrimental, changes. There is a need to accelerate adaptation efforts, and near-term action is critical even without the full complement of information and tools in hand. Here, existing climate-ready approaches were compiled and synthesized to offer a comprehensive and structured perspective on priority actions that can be taken in the next 1-2 years to increase the resilience and adaptability of fish stocks and communities that rely on them. From the review there are three main findings: 1) 45% of the management actions can be implemented in this short timeframe, 2) Nearly all actions identified can be implemented in the current fishery and regulatory framework, and 3) While new approaches are needed, managers should proceed with caution to avoid maladaptation and choose a no- or low- maladaptation risk approach wherever possible.
Communication of research related to climate change in a way that is meaningful and respectful to Indigenous Peoples is challenging. While engagement with Indigenous communities is now increasingly incorporated into the expected standard of research processes in academia, early career researchers face challenges such as funding limitations, extensive regulatory processes, and timeframes that exceed the duration of a normal graduate-level degree. To better understand the obstacles that early career researchers are faced with, and subsequently provide some guidance on how these barriers can be mitigated, six interviews with practitioners of knowledge mobilization in the Canadian Arctic were conducted. Participants suggested that, while communicating knowledge purposefully depends largely on the research context and communities involved, researchers are encouraged to be well-informed, resourceful, and flexible in their research approaches. By applying these recommendations outlined by experienced practitioners, and reviewing academic literature, early career researchers can mitigate logistical and cultural barriers and communicate knowledge in a more culturally sensitive manner. More community-based research is needed to continue to enhance the understanding of how to mobilize knowledge on climate change in a meaningful way, to create more informed guidelines and support systems, and to make them widely accessible to researchers at all stages of their careers.
Adaptation to climate impacts will be necessary for small-scale fisheries and fishers (SSFs) to safeguard their food security, livelihoods, and cultural heritage. SSFs are often vulnerable to environmental impacts due to the place-based, multi-scale and direct dependencies on local ecosystems, and generally fewer resources or abilities for relocation, diversification, and modification of their fishing practices. Strategic adaptation is therefore essential. This study emphasizes the timelines, requirements, and burdens of implementing existing and proposed adaptations, e.g., who pays, who does the work, and how long would it take? To categorize possible actions (tools) for analysis, we adapt the FAO climate adaptation framework and propose five areas of action: Institutional, Communication, Livelihood, Risk Resilience, and Science. Our results highlight two interconnected trends; first, the burdens and benefits of proposed climate adaptations are unevenly distributed, usually against fishers themselves. Second, there is a general lack of research focusing on the equity implications of current governance structures that de-emphasize fisher’s needs. This creates a lack of understanding among policy makers about the adaptation priorities of SSFs, and what resources or support they would need to implement them. We applied this framework to a case study involving octopus SSFs in Yucatán, Mexico. Interview results reinforce the finding that adaptation strategies that fishers thought would be most important for them (e.g. changes in policies/regulations to improve healthcare, reduce excess capacity, or reinforce fishing laws) were actions they could not often realize without external support; conversely, tools often proposed as “easier” by non-fishers (e.g. changing jobs, fishing gears, or going further out to sea) were not seen as particularly viable to fishers. Due to these mismatches, we argue there is a need to go beyond the classical focus on quantifying climate vulnerability towards a stronger emphasis on prioritizing adaptation strategies to meet the goals of fisherfolk themselves and aligning organizational and governance structures accordingly. The toolbox organization framework we propose can serve as an initial guidance for many fishing communities, decision makers and other stakeholders to anticipate implementation needs and find the right tools to adapt to future climatic conditions and prevent negative socioeconomic and ecological impacts.
We co-created visions of desirable futures for Arctic biodiversity during a workshop which included representatives from academia, Indigenous Peoples, business and policy-making. Appreciating our diverse perspectives, we identified key actions that would enable the positive outcomes shared in our visions: boosting education, rethinking Arctic biodiversity governance, elevating the voices of Indigenous Peoples and the voices of local communities, developing scalable monitoring systems, and evaluating impacts of policies and economic activities.
One step forward from chapter three, this chapter focuses on cultural heritage and climate change impact by investigating meaningful gaps that hide failures and opportunities to achieve success in tackling the impact of climate change on cultural heritage on diverse scales. Like the previous chapter, it tracks the gaps in four categories. However, more predominantly, significant institutional/organizational/managerial and technical gaps are under investigation, concentrating on the climate change debates in the heritage framework. In particular, this chapter delves into the notion of adaptation to climate change, looking into the typologies of its opportunities, constraints, and limits. At the same time, the section dedicated to practical considerations informs us about the way to move forward, from strengthening systemic, swifter, and faster adaptation actions to improving scientific and narrative-based knowledge, managing uncertainties, and having effective integration of indigenous and local knowledge systems. The final section of this chapter provides us with a rational understanding of the barriers in the adaptation process. Considering the characteristics of climate adaptation barriers regarding cultural heritage, this section explores the principles of effective adaptation strategies.
Rural and northern Indigenous communities across Canada are pursuing new Indigenous-led conservation partnerships with Crown governments as critical alternatives to Western conservation and extractive industries regimes. Colonial conservation policies and industrial development continue to displace Indigenous Peoples from their ancestral territories, with great consequences to land-based economies, food security, and knowledges. Indigenous-led conservation is an umbrella term used to describe a variety of initiatives that includes Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. Indigenous communities lead the creation, management, and stewardship of these protected areas, which are guided by localized knowledge and priorities. This creates unique opportunities to build new and bolster existing tourism businesses with sustainable socio-economic, cultural, and environmental outcomes. Our research examines Indigenous-led conservation and tourism in the Dene/Métis community of Fort Providence, Northwest Territories, located adjacent to Canada's first official Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area, Edéhzhíe. Guided by Indigenous methodologies and collaborative approaches, this paper presents the analysis of 23 semi-structured interviews with Elders, knowledgeable land users, and community members. While tourism development in the community is currently limited, our results indicate that participants are hopeful about the contributions of Edéhzhíe and tourism to sustainable economies, cultural resurgence, and environmental stewardship in the surrounding communities. Participants demonstrate that Indigenous-led conservation and tourism have the potential to challenge existing colonial, capitalist land use regimes and foster Indigenous governance, reconciliatory processes, and environmental resiliency. Our findings can be used by other Indigenous communities to inform conservation and sustainable development goals related to regional tourism economies.
Many conservation problems remain intractable because of conflicting views between policymakers, managers, researchers, conservationists and community stakeholders. Novel approaches to resolving these conflicts are required to achieve conservation outcomes that are more broadly acceptable. The conservation and management of K'gari wongari (Fraser Island's Dingoes) is emblematic of such a situation. Here we describe the successful implementation of a novel approach to advancing one such formerly intractable issue – assessing the genetic health and status of the island's Dingoes to resolve latent conflicts and assist protected area managers with their conservation activities. We developed a participatory, independent approach centred on community workshops to identify research priorities, expert workshops to identify appropriate research methods, then the commissioning of independent scientific research to address community priorities in accordance with the experts' suggested methods. The overall aim of the project was to provide managers with robust and policy‐ready information on the genetic health and status of the Dingoes – information that also met community expectations and was widely supported by subject matter experts. The participatory approach of the project achieved this aim and was completed successfully and satisfactorily for all involved despite the occurrence of some expected challenges and necessary compromises. Here we describe the background to the problem, how the project was designed, the key challenges the project faced during implementation, and the key learnings from the exercise, thereby highlighting its innovative features as a participatory conflict resolution process. This process could be applied to advance other conservation problems hampered by conflicting stakeholder views.
Celebrated as one of the necessary solutions to more sustainable ocean governance by the UN Ocean Decade for Sustainable Development, transdisciplinarity, co-design, co-production, and co-creation of knowledge continue to be praised by a variety of scholars for their opportunities for impactful and socially significant research. However, despite increased recognition as necessary to respond to complex sustainability challenges, including transformative ocean governance, there are sustained differences in how people and scholars define and conceptualize transdisciplinarity and how people operationalize and apply transdisciplinary research. This perspective is not about what transdisciplinary research entails but is rather asking whether transdisciplinary research is always the appropriate approach. Without a clear understanding of what ethical and equitable transdisciplinarity entails, how do we ensure this does not negatively impact non-academic collaborators such as fishing communities? How do we make sure transdisciplinarity does not become yet another extractive research practice? The paper discusses the difference between partial and comprehensive transdisciplinarity, addresses coloniality of co-design, and reflects on who we cite and why as researchers. Finally, the paper considers how we can advance transdisciplinarity as an epistemology for more ethical engagements with fishing communities and invite fellow marine researchers to ask critical questions.
Este estudo analisa inovações em zoneamento e ordenamento territorial costeiro, focando em experiências na Baía de Paraty, Baía de Acaraú (Brasil) e Ria Formosa (Portugal). Através de uma metodologia qualitativa e comparativa, examina-se a evolução de abordagens de planejamento, integração terra-mar, participação de stakeholders e uso de tecnologias inovadoras. Os resultados revelam uma transição para modelos mais integrados, adaptativos e participativos, com ênfase em abordagens ecossistêmicas e co-produção de conhecimento. Destacam-se inovações como mapeamento participativo, modelagem ecossistêmica e uso de SIG colaborativos. Desafios persistentes incluem fragmentação institucional, equidade na participação e operacionalização de conceitos complexos. O estudo conclui que, apesar dos avanços significativos, a realização plena do potencial dessas inovações exige esforços contínuos para superar barreiras e promover uma verdadeira integração entre ciência, política e prática na governança costeira. As implicações deste estudo são relevantes para pesquisadores, gestores e formuladores de políticas engajados na busca por uma gestão costeira mais sustentável e resiliente.
Ecosystems are subjected to increasing exposure to multiple anthropogenic drivers. This has led to the development of national and international accounting systems describing the condition of ecosystems, often based on few, highly aggregated indicators. Such accounting systems would benefit from a stronger theoretical and empirical underpinning of ecosystem dynamics. Operational tools for ecosystem management require understanding of natural ecosystem dynamics, consideration of uncertainty at all levels, means for quantifying driver-response relationships behind observed and anticipated future trajectories of change, and an efficient and transparent synthesis to inform knowledge-driven decision processes. There is hence a gap between highly aggregated indicator-based accounting tools and the need for explicit understanding and assessment of the links between multiple drivers and ecosystem condition as a foundation for informed and adaptive ecosystem management. We describe here an approach termed PAEC (Panel-based Assessment of Ecosystem Condition) for combining quantitative and qualitative elements of evidence and uncertainties into an integrated assessment of ecosystem condition at spatial scales relevant to management and monitoring. The PAEC protocol is founded on explicit predictions, termed phenomena, of how components of ecosystem structure and functions are changing as a result of acting drivers. The protocol tests these predictions with observations and combines these tests to assess the change in the condition of the ecosystem as a whole. PAEC includes explicit, quantitative or qualitative, assessments of uncertainty at different levels and integrates these in the final assessment. As proofs-of-concept we summarize the application of the PAEC protocol to a marine and a terrestrial ecosystem in Norway.
In applied research, there is an expectation that knowledge generators will produce information that can be acted upon by knowledge end users (i.e., actionable knowledge); however, this is not always the case, resulting in a knowledge-action gap. Currently, there is no literature directly targeted at fisheries knowledge generators (e.g., researchers) to guide them in producing knowledge that could be readily used to inform fisheries management and conservation. To that end, this paper provides evidence-based recommendations for researchers to produce actionable knowledge. Key recommendations include the following: (1) embrace co-production; (2) prioritize capacity building; (3) include Indigenous and local knowledge systems; (4) diversify forms of knowledge exchange; (5) participate in interdisciplinary research; and (6) provide training for early-career researchers on producing actionable knowledge. We also analyze challenges to producing actionable knowledge, such as trust imbalances, costs of engaging in highly collaborative work, and difficulties related to effective knowledge exchange with fast-moving research timeframes, funding restrictions, and lack of institutional support. Using several case studies, we examine how knowledge generators overcome such challenges to successfully implement the key recommendations. It is our hope these recommendations will encourage and facilitate actionable research, contributing to more effective fisheries management and conservation.
Western Canada is increasingly experiencing impactful and complex wildfire seasons. In response, there are urgent calls to implement prescribed and cultural fire as a key solution to this complex challenge. Unfortunately, there has been limited investment in individuals and organizations that can navigate this complexity and work to implement collaborative solutions across physical, cognitive, and social boundaries. In the wildfire context, these boundaries manifest as jurisdictional silos, a lack of respect for certain forms of knowledge, and a disconnect between knowledge and practice. Here, we highlight the important role of “boundary spanners” in building trust, relationships, and capacity to enable collaboration, including through five case studies from western Canada. As individuals and organizations who actively work across and bridge boundaries between diverse actors and knowledge systems, we believe that boundary spanners can play a key role in supporting proactive wildfire management. Boundary spanning activities include: convening workshops, hosting joint training exercises, supporting knowledge exchange and communities of practice, and creating communication tools and resources. These activities can help overcome unevenly valued knowledge, lack of trust, and outdated policies. We need collaborative approaches to implement prescribed and cultural fire, including a strong foundation for the establishment of boundary spanning individuals and organizations.
Building trust through collaboration, institutional development, and social learning enhances efforts to foster
ecosystem management and resolve multi-scale society–environment dilemmas. One emerging approach
aimed at addressing these dilemmas is adaptive co-management. This method draws explicit attention to the
learning (experiential and experimental) and collaboration (vertical and horizontal) functions necessary to
improve our understanding of, and ability to respond to, complex social–ecological systems. Here, we identify
and outline the core features of adaptive co-management, which include innovative institutional arrangements
and incentives across spatiotemporal scales and levels, learning through complexity and change, monitoring
and assessment of interventions, the role of power, and opportunities to link science with policy.
Social learning is increasingly becoming a normative goal in natural resource management and policy. However, there remains little consensus over its meaning or theoretical basis. There are still considerable differences in understanding of the concept in the literature, including a number of articles published in Ecology & Society. Social learning is often conflated with other concepts such as participation and proenvironmental behavior, and there is often little distinction made between individual and wider social learning. Many unsubstantiated claims for social learning exist, and there is frequently confusion between the concept itself and its potential outcomes. This lack of conceptual clarity has limited our capacity to assess whether social learning has occurred, and if so, what kind of learning has taken place, to what extent, between whom, when, and how. This response attempts to provide greater clarity on the conceptual basis for social learning. We argue that to be considered social learning, a process must: (1) demonstrate that a change in understanding has taken place in the individuals involved; (2) demonstrate that this change goes beyond the individual and becomes situated within wider social units or communities of practice; and (3) occur through social interactions and processes between actors within a social network. A clearer picture of what we mean by social learning could enhance our ability to critically evaluate outcomes and better understand the processes through which social learning occurs. In this way, it may be possible to better facilitate the desired outcomes of social learning processes.
Many adaptation strategies focus on improving short-term capacities to cope with environmental change, but
ignore the possibility that they might inadvertently increase vulnerability to unforeseen changes in the future. To
help develop more effective long-term strategies, we present a conceptual framework of adaptation. The framework
emphasizes that in order to ensure that existing problems are not exacerbated, adaptation must: (1) address
both human-induced and biophysical drivers of undesired ecological change; (2) maintain a diversity of future
response options; and (3) nurture the kinds of human capacities that enable the uptake of those response options.
These requirements are often not met when adaptation strategies rely on technological fixes, which tend to concentrate
on coping with the biophysical symptoms of problems rather than addressing human behavioral causes.
Furthermore, to develop effective, long-term adaptation, greater emphasis is needed on strategies that enhance,
rather than erode, the human values, skills, and behaviors conducive to sustainable activities. Participatory
approaches to environmental stewardship are part of the solution to this problem.
Building trust through collaboration, institutional development, and social learning enhances efforts to foster ecosystem management and resolve multi-scale society-environment dilemmas. One emerging approach aimed at addressing these dilemmas is adaptive co-management. This method draws explicit attention to the learning ( experiential and experimental) and collaboration ( vertical and horizontal) functions necessary to improve our understanding of, and ability to respond to, complex social-ecological systems. Here, we identify and outline the core features of adaptive co-management, which include innovative institutional arrangements and incentives across spatiotemporal scales and levels, learning through complexity and change, monitoring and assessment of interventions, the role of power, and opportunities to link science with policy.
Relations between external researchers and indigenous communities have been increasingly strained by differences in understanding and in expectation about the relevance of research. In the field of resource management, the potential for conflict over research is increased by the politics surrounding control over the resource management decision making processes. In this article, we propose the creation of dialogic networks that engage researchers and indigenous people as collaborators in a process of knowledge production. Such an applied research process can produce context-specific knowledge networks that support management and planning decisions by indigenous people; these networks we refer to as place-based learning communities. We present a researcher's perspective on this approach through our experience with the Shoal Lake Resource Institute of Iskatewizaagegan No. 39 Independent First Nation located in northwestern Ontario.
Co-production of knowledge between academic and non-academic communities is a prerequisite for research aiming at more sustainable
development paths. Sustainability researchers face three challenges in such co-production: (a) addressing power relations;
(b) interrelating different perspectives on the issues at stake; and (c) promoting a previously negotiated orientation towards
sustainable development. A systematic comparison of four sustainability research projects in Kenya (vulnerability to drought),
Switzerland (soil protection), Bolivia and Nepal (conservation vs. development) shows how the researchers intuitively adopted
three different roles to face these challenges: the roles of reflective scientist, intermediary, and facilitator of a joint
learning process. From this systematized and iterative self-reflection on the roles that a researcher can assume in the indeterminate
social space where knowledge is co-produced, we draw conclusions regarding training.
Processes of decentralization characterize much of the developing world's natural resource sectors (e.g., forestry). At the heart of decentralization processes lies the question of power, given that most decentralization efforts involve some transfer of authority from a central agency to downwardly accountable groups, or some claim to “empower” local-level actors. These processes often involve organizations such as the state, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and local communities, who may have divergent interests. The question thus arises, how is power reflected in various approaches to natural resources conservation and management? In this article, we trace some theoretical understandings of the concept of power from disciplines such as critical theory, adult education, and development sociology. We then illustrate these conceptions of power with various examples from the field of natural resources. Our purpose is to shed light on how power can be understood with the aim of informing more deliberate, and perhaps more democratic, professional practice.
Adaptation is a process of deliberate change in anticipation of or in reaction to external stimuli and stress. The dominant research tradition on adaptation to environmental change primarily takes an actor-centered view, focusing on the agency of social actors to respond to specific environmental stimuli and emphasizing the reduction of vulnerabilities. The resilience approach is systems orientated, takes a more dynamic view, and sees adaptive capacity as a core feature of resilient social-ecological systems. The two approaches converge in identifying necessary components of adaptation. We argue that resilience provides a useful framework to analyze adaptation processes and to identify appropriate policy responses. We distinguish between incremental adjustments and transformative action and demonstrate that the sources of resilience for taking adaptive action are common across scales. These are the inherent system characteristics that absorb perturbations without losing function, networks and social capital that allow autonomous action, and resources that promote institutional learning.
This paper reviews scientific and gray literature addressing climate change vulnerability and adaptation in the Inuvialuit
Settlement Region (ISR) in the western Canadian Arctic. The review is structured using a vulnerability framework, and 420
documents related directly or indirectly to climate change are analyzed to provide insights on the current state of knowledge
on climate change vulnerability in the ISR as a basis for supporting future research and long-term adaptation planning in
the region. The literature documents evidence of climate change in the ISR which is compromising food security and health
status, limiting transportation access and travel routes to hunting grounds, and damaging municipal infrastructure. Adaptations
are being employed to manage changing conditions; however, many of the adaptations being undertaken are short term, ad-hoc,
and reactive in nature. Limited long-term strategic planning for climate change is being undertaken. Current climate change
risks are expected to continue in the future with further implications for communities but less is known about the adaptive
capacity of communities. This review identifies the importance of targeted vulnerability research that works closely with
community members and decision makers to understand the interactions between current and projected climate change and the
factors which condition vulnerability and influence adaptation. Research gaps are identified, and recommendations for advancing
adaptation planning are outlined.
KeywordsClimate change–Vulnerability–Adaptation–Arctic–Inuvialuit Settlement Region–Inuvialuit–Review–Critique
"This paper is a methodological contribution to emerging debates on the role of learning,particularly forward-looking (anticipatory) learning, as a key element for adaptation and resilience in the context of climate change. First, we describe two major challenges: understanding adaptation as a process and recognizing the inadequacy of existing learning tools, with a specific focus on high poverty contexts and complex livelihood-vulnerability risks. Then, the article examines learning processes from a dynamic systems perspective, comparing theoretical aspects and conceptual advances in resilience thinking and action research/learning (AR/AL). Particular attention is paid to learning loops (cycles), critical reflection, spaces for learning, and power. Finally, we outline a methodological framework to facilitate iterative learning processes and adaptive decision making in practice. We stress memory, monitoring of key drivers of change, scenario planning, and measuring anticipatory capacity as crucial ingredients. Our aim is to identify opportunities and obstacles for forward-looking learning processes at the intersection of climatic uncertainty and development challenges in Africa, with the overarching objective to enhance adaptation and resilient livelihood pathways, rather than learning by shock."
"Collaborative and adaptive approaches to environmental management have captured the attention of administrators, resource users, and scholars. Adaptive co-management builds upon these approaches to create a novel governance strategy. This paper investigates the dynamics of the adaptive comanagement process and the variables that influence it. The investigation begins by summarizing analytical and causal models relevant to the adaptive co-management process. Variables that influence this process are then synthesized from diverse literatures, categorized as being exogenous or endogenous, and developed into respective analytical frameworks. In identifying commonalities among models of the adaptive comanagement process and discerning influential variables, this paper provides initial insights into understanding the dynamic social process of adaptive co-management. From these insights conjectures for future inquires are offered in the conclusion."
"Climate change is upon us. The fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change clearly describes the evidence of a changing climate (IPCC 2007a,b). Although scientists disagree about the extent to which these changes will happen, they do agree that there have been and will be changes in average climatic conditions, there will be changes in the frequency and intensity of weather hazards, already variable climates will become less predictable, and there is considerable uncertainty about the distribution and impact of these changes. Actions to reduce the human contribution to the changing climate are slowly happening, but they so far seem too few and too limited to make a significant difference to the climate change scientists predict. What has become clear is that people from all countries, from all income levels, and irrespective of capacity to do so, will have to adapt to these changes. The development and climate research communities have much to learn from each other in helping people with these adaptations."
"Developing the capacity for individuals to learn effectively from their experiences is an important part of building the knowledge and skills in organizations to do good adaptive management. This paper reviews some of the research from cognitive psychology and phenomenography to present a way of thinking about learning to assist individuals to make better use of their personal experiences to develop understanding of environmental systems. We suggest that adaptive expertise (an individual's ability to deal flexibly with new situations) is particularly relevant for environmental researchers and practitioners. To develop adaptive expertise, individuals need to: (1) vary and reflect on their experiences and become adept at seeking out and taking different perspectives; and (2) become proficient at making balanced judgements about how or if an experience will change their current perspective or working representation of a social, economic, and biophysical system by applying principles of 'good thinking.' Such principles include those that assist individuals to be open to the possibility of changing their current way of thinking (e.g., the disposition to be adventurous) and those that reduce the likelihood of making erroneous interpretations (e.g., the disposition to be intellectually careful). An example of applying some of the principles to assist individuals develop their understanding of a dynamically complex wetland system (the Macquarie Marshes in Australia) is provided. The broader implications of individual learning are also discussed in relation to organizational learning, the role of experiential knowledge for conservation, and for achieving greater awareness of the need for ecologically sustainable activity."
Recent UK government policy on climate change, and wider policy movement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, emphasise the building of adaptive capacity. But what are the institutional constraints that shape capacity to build adaptive organisations? The authors synthesise theory from social learning and institutional aspects of multilevel environmental governance to help unpack the patterns of individual and collective action within organisations that can enhance or restrict organisational adaptive capacity in the face of abrupt climate change. Theoretical synthesis is grounded by empirical work with a local dairy farmers group and two supporting public sector bodies that are both local actors in their own rights and which also shape the operating environment for other local actors (the Environment Agency and the Welsh Assembly and Assembly-sponsored public bodies). Providing space within and between local organisations for individuals to develop private as well as officially sanctioned social relationships is supported as a pathway to enable social learning. It is also a resource for adaptation that requires little financial investment but does call for a rethinking of the personal skills and working routines that are incentivised within organisations.
Ecosystems are complex adaptive systems that require flexible governance with the ability to respond to environmental feedback. We present, through examples from Sweden and Canada, the development of adaptive comanagement systems, showing how local groups self-organize, learn, and actively adapt to and shape change with social networks that connect institutions and organizations across levels and scales and that facilitate information flows. The development took place through a sequence of responses to environmental events that widened the scope of local management from a particular issue or resource to a broad set of issues related to ecosystem processes across scales and from individual actors, to group of actors to multiple-actor processes. The results suggest that the institutional and organizational landscapes should be approached as carefully as the ecological in order to clarify features that contribute to the resilience of social-ecological systems. These include the following: vision, leadership, and trust; enabling legislation that creates social space for ecosystem management; funds for responding to environmental change and for remedial action; capacity for monitoring and responding to environmental feedback; information flow through social networks; the combination of various sources of information and knowledge; and sense-making and arenas of collaborative learning for ecosystem management. We propose that the self-organizing process of adaptive comanagement development, facilitated by rules and incentives of higher levels, has the potential to expand desirable stability domains of a region and make social-ecological systems more robust to change.
We review seven Arctic and four subarctic marine mammal species, their habitat requirements, and evidence for biological and demographic responses to climate change. We then describe a pan-Arctic quantitative index of species sensitivity to climate change based on population size, geographic range, habitat specificity, diet diversity, migration, site fidelity, sensitivity to changes in sea ice, sensitivity to changes in the trophic web, and maximum population growth potential (R(max)). The index suggests three types of sensitivity based on: (1) narrowness of distribution and specialization in feeding, (2) seasonal dependence on ice, and (3) reliance on sea ice as a structure for access to prey and predator avoidance. Based on the index, the hooded seal, the polar bear, and the narwhal appear to be the three most sensitive Arctic marine mammal species, primarily due to reliance on sea ice and specialized feeding. The least sensitive species were the ringed seal and bearded seal, primarily due to large circumpolar distributions, large population sizes, and flexible habitat requirements. The index provides an objective framework for ranking species and focusing future research on the effects of climate change on Arctic marine mammals. Finally, we distinguish between highly sensitive species and good indicator species and discuss regional variation and species-specific ecology that confounds Arctic-wide generalization regarding the effects of climate change.
Advocates of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) have promoted its use in scientific research, impact assessment, and ecological understanding. While several examples illustrate the utility of applying TEK in these contexts, wider application of TEK-derived information remains elusive. In part, this is due to continued inertia in favor of established scientific practices and the need to describe TEK in Western scientific terms. In part, it is also due to the difficulty of accessing TEK, which is rarely written down and must in most cases be documented as a project on its own prior to its incorporation into another scientific undertaking. This formidable practical obstacle is exacerbated by the need to use social science methods to gather biological data, so that TEK research and application becomes a multidisciplinary undertaking. By examining case studies involving bowhead whales, beluga whales, and herring, this paper describes some of the benefits of using TEK in scientific and management contexts. It also reviews some of the methods that are available to do so, including semi-directive interviews, questionnaires, facilitated workshops, and collaborative field projects.
How vulnerable are Arctic Indigenous peoples to climate change? What are their relevant adaptations, and what are the prospects for increasing their ability to deal with further change? The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change makes little mention of Indigenous peoples, and then only as victims of changes beyond their control. This view of Indigenous peoples as passive and helpless needs to be challenged. Indigenous peoples, including the Canadian Inuit, are keen observers of environmental change and have lessons to offer about how to adapt, a view consistent with the Inuit self-image of being creative and adaptable. There are three sources of adaptations to impacts of climate change: 1) Indigenous cultural adaptations to the variability of the Arctic environment, discussed here in the context of the communities of Sachs Harbour and Arctic Bay; 2) short-term adjustments (coping strategies) that are beginning to appear in recent years in response to climate change; and 3) new adaptive responses that may become available through new institutional processes such as co-management. Institutions are related to knowledge development and social learning that can help increase adaptive capacity and reduce vulnerability. Two co-management institutions that have the potential to build Inuit adaptive capacity are the Fisheries Joint Management Committee (established under the Inuvialuit Final Agreement), and the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board.
This chapter summarizes learning processes at individual, action group, organizational, network, and societal levels of analysis,
and details connections linking learning outcomes across multiple levels. The discussion highlights how learning processes
may not adequately accommodate contested values, power imbalances, and socio-economic constraints. The chapter casts light
on adaptive capacity in multi-level governance by developing the concept of multi-level learning, suggesting ways to produce
complementarity across multiple organizational levels, and supporting the proposition that relational spaces enhance adaptive
capacity. The chapter also reveals the need for further theoretical development, including fully accounting for network and
societal levels of analysis, assessing promising linking institutions (such as community-based social marketing and adaptive
co-management), and addressing power asymmetries in learning dynamics. A promising avenue regarding the last point is giving
more attention in theory and practice to critical, non-formal education. Further, the chapter emphasizes the need for place-based
empirical studies of existing institutions.
To promote sustainable forms of community-based resource management, advocates and analysts must examine not only how multiple participants act collectively, but how they respond to change and uncertainty in ways that foster learning and build capacity for management adaptation. In the community-based narwhal management context, a number of issues influence prospects for adaptation and learning. Among the issues examined, the integration of remote communities in Nunavut into the market economy and the subsequent demand for cash to purchase key commodities create new and diverse motivations (collective vs. individual), which increasingly influence natural resource management decisions. Also, the formalized nature of the community-based narwhal management framework, despite efforts to transfer more authority to communities, may still create barriers to local Inuit participation in decision making. Finally, resource mobility and complexity makes the clarification of resource rights difficult, thus inhibiting the collective action required to foster learning. This problem is compounded by the challenge of effectively integrating formal science and traditional knowledge to better understand resource complexity.
Editorial of Special Edition
Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgements Contributors 1. Introduction to the CAVIAR project and framework 2. Adaptation in Fisheries and Municipalities: Three communities in Northern Norway 3. Vulnerability and Adaptation in Two Communities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region 4. Climate change, vulnerability and adaptation among Nenets reindeer herders 5. Vulnerability of community infrastructure to climate change in Nunavut: A case study from Arctic Bay 6. 'Translating' vulnerability at the community level: Case study from the Russian North 7. 'As long as the sun shines, the rivers flow and grass grows.' - Vulnerability, adaptation and environmental change in Deninu Kue Traditional Territory, Northwest Territories 8. Case Study Photographs 9.The Ivalo River and its people: There have always been floods - what is different now? 10. Climate Change and Institutional Capacity in an 'Arctic Gateway' City: a Case Study of Whitehorse, Yukon 11. Climate change vulnerability and food security in Qeqertarsuaq, Greenland 12. Vulnerability and adaptive capacity in a multi-use forest municipality in northern Sweden 13. Local effects of global climate change: Differential experiences of sheep farmers and reindeer herders in Unjarga/Nesseby, a coastal Sami community in Northern Norway 14. Integration of case study findings
Scholarship in the social studies of science has argued convincingly that what demarcates science from nonscience is not some set of essential or transcendent characteristics or methods but rather an array of contingent circumstances and strategic behavior known as "boundary work" (Gieryn 1995, 1999). Although initially formulated to explain how scientists maintain the boundaries of their community against threats to its cognitive authority from within (e.g., fraud and pseudo-science), boundary work has found useful, policy-relevant applications-for example, in studying the strategic demarcation between political and scientific tasks in the advisory relationship between scientists and regulatory agencies (Jasanoff 1990). This work finds that the blurring of boundaries between science and politics, rather than the intentional separation often advocated and practiced, can lead to more productive policy making. If it is the case, however, that the robustness of scientific concepts such as causation and representation are important components of liberal-democratic thought and practice (Ezrahi 1990), one can imagine how the flexibility of boundary work might lead to confusion or even dangerous instabilities between science and nonscience. These risks could be conceived, perhaps, as the politicization of science or the reciprocal scientification of politics. Neither risk should here be understood to mean the importation to one enterprise from the other elements that are entirely foreign; that is, science is not devoid of values prior to some politicization, nor politics of rationality, prior to any scientification. Rather, both should be understood to mean the rendering of norms and practices in one enterprise in a way that unreflexively mimics norms and practices in the other. These concerns have been central to the socalled science wars, and to the extent that they are implicated in public discussions of such policy issues as health and safety regulation, climate change, or genetically modified organisms, they are real problems for policy makers and publics alike.'
Although there are a number of distinct audiences (for example students, hunter and trapper organisations, and co-management agencies) for traditional environmental knowledge, little work has been done in analysing how indigenous knowledge can be best communicated to these different groups. Using examples mainly from northern Canada and Alaska, we explore the challenge of collecting and communicating different kinds of traditional environmental knowledge; the media types or communication modes that can be used; and the appropriateness of these kinds of media for communicating with different audiences. A range of communication options is available, including direct interaction with knowledge holders, use of print media, maps, DVD/video, audio, CD ROM, and websites. These options permit a mix-and-match to find the best fit between kinds of knowledge, the intended audience, and the media type used. This paper does not propose to replace traditional methods of communication with technology. Rather, we examine how technology can serve community and other needs. No single option emerges as a clear best choice for communicating indigenous knowledge. Nevertheless, various media types offer avenues through which northern people can meet their educational, cultural, and political needs, and build cross-cultural understanding.
This paper reviews the concept of adaptation of human communities to global changes, especially climate change, in the context of adaptive capacity and vulnerability. It focuses on scholarship that contributes to practical implementation of adaptations at the community scale. In numerous social science fields, adaptations are considered as responses to risks associated with the interaction of environmental hazards and human vulnerability or adaptive capacity. In the climate change field, adaptation analyses have been undertaken for several distinct purposes. Impact assessments assume adaptations to estimate damages to longer term climate scenarios with and without adjustments. Evaluations of specified adaptation options aim to identify preferred measures. Vulnerability indices seek to provide relative vulnerability scores for countries, regions or communities. The main purpose of participatory vulnerability assessments is to identify adaptation strategies that are feasible and practical in communities. The distinctive features of adaptation analyses with this purpose are outlined, and common elements of this approach are described. Practical adaptation initiatives tend to focus on risks that are already problematic, climate is considered together with other environmental and social stresses, and adaptations are mostly integrated or mainstreamed into other resource management, disaster preparedness and sustainable development programs.
This paper examines the challenge of knowledge co-production and the implications for learning and adapting in the context of a narwhal co-management in Nunavut, Canada. Knowledge co-production is the collaborative process of bringing a plurality of knowledge sources and types together to address a defined problem and build an integrated or systems-oriented understanding of that problem. The paper considers knowledge co-production by examining five interrelated dimensions: knowledge gathering, sharing, integration, interpretation, and application. Voices of hunters, community representatives, and managers engaged in co-management are highlighted to identify primary challenges and opportunities. The analysis reveals how compartmentalized views of knowledge continue to constrain adaptive and collaborative management. An understanding of knowledge co-production processes, however, may help to overcome the resilience of top-down management approaches.
Sea ice is influential in regulating energy exchanges between the ocean and the atmosphere, and has figured prominently in scientific studies of climate change and climate feedbacks. However, sea ice is also a vital component of everyday life in Inuit communities of the circumpolar Arctic. Therefore, it is important to understand the links between the potential impacts of climate change on Arctic sea ice extent, distribution, and thickness as well as the related consequences for northern coastal populations. This paper explores the relationship between sea ice and climate change from both scientific and Inuit perspectives. Based on an overview of diverse literature the experiences, methods, and goals which differentiate local and scientific sea ice knowledge are examined. These efforts are considered essential background upon which to develop more accurate assessments of community vulnerability to climate, and resulting sea ice, change. Inuit and scientific perspectives may indeed be the ideal complement when investigating the links between sea ice and climate change, but effective and appropriate conceptual bridges need to be built between the two types of expertise. The complementary nature of these knowledge systems may only be realized, in a practical sense, if significant effort is expended to: (i) understand sea ice from both Inuit and scientific perspectives, along with their underlying differences; (ii) investigate common interests or concerns; (iii) establish meaningful and reciprocal research partnerships with Inuit communities; (iv) engage in, and improve, collaborative research methods; and, (v) maintain ongoing dialogue.
Conservation measures related to global climate change require that species vulnerability be incorporated into population risk models, especially for those that are highly susceptible to rapid or extreme changes due to specialized adaptation. In the case of Arctic cetaceans, effects of climate change on habitat and prey availability have been subject to intense speculation. Climate perturbations may have significant impacts on the fitness and success of this group, yet measuring these parameters for conservation purposes is complicated by remote and offshore preferences. The narwhal (Monodon monoceros) in Baffin Bay occupies a habitat where reversed (increasing) regional sea ice trends have been detected over 50 years. We used a combination of long-term narwhal satellite tracking data and remotely sensed sea ice concentrations to detect localized habitat trends and examine potential vulnerability. Spatial and temporal variability in the fraction of open water were examined on two narwhal wintering grounds between November and April, 1978–2001 using approximate sea ice concentrations derived from microwave SSMR/SSMI passive brightness temperatures. Less than 3% open water was available to narwhals between 15 January and 15 April, and reached minima of 0.5% open water at the end of March (125 km2 out of a 25,000 km2 area). Decreasing trends in the fraction of open water, together with increasing trends in interannual variability, were detected on both wintering grounds, significantly in northern Baffin Bay (−0.04% per year, SE 0.02). The limited number of leads and cracks available to narwhals during the winter, in combination with localized decreasing trends in open water and high site fidelity, suggests vulnerability to changes in Arctic sea ice conditions. Increasing risk of ice entrapments, many of which may go undetected in remote offshore areas, should be incorporated into population risk assessments as this may exceed the natural response capacity of the species.
This paper develops a vulnerability-based approach to characterize the human implications of climate change in Arctic Bay, Canada. It focuses on community vulnerabilities associated with resource harvesting and the processes through which people adapt to them in the context of livelihood assets, constraints, and outside influences. Inuit in Arctic Bay have demonstrated significant adaptability in the face of changing climate-related exposures. This adaptability is facilitated by traditional Inuit knowledge, strong social networks, flexibility in seasonal hunting cycles, some modern technologies, and economic support. Changing Inuit livelihoods, however, have undermined certain aspects of adaptive capacity, and have resulted in emerging vulnerabilities in certain sections of the community.
The burgeoning interest in social capital within the climate change community represents a welcome move towards a concern for the behavioural elements of adaptive action and capacity. In this paper the case is put forward for a critical engagement with social capital. There is need for an open debate on the conceptual and analytical traps and opportunities that social capital presents. The paper contrasts three schools of thought on social capital and uses a social capital lens to map out current and future areas for research on adaptation to climate change. It identifies opportunities for using social capital to research adaptive capacity and action within communities of place and communities of practice.
We identify and examine how policy intervention can help Canada's Inuit population adapt to climate change. The policy responses are based on an understanding of the determinants of vulnerability identified in research conducted with 15 Inuit communities. A consistent approach was used in each case study where vulnerability is conceptualized as a function of exposure-sensitivity to climatic risks and adaptive capacity to deal with those risks. This conceptualization focuses on the biophysical and human determinants of vulnerability and how they are influenced by processes and conditions operating at multiple spatial-temporal scales. Case studies involved close collaboration with community members and policy makers to identify conditions to which each community is currently vulnerable, characterize the factors that shape vulnerability and how they have changed over time, identify opportunities for adaptation policy, and examine how adaptation can be mainstreamed. Fieldwork, conducted between 2006 and 2009, included 443 semi-structured interviews, 20 focus groups/community workshops, and 65 interviews with policy makers at local, regional, and national levels. Synthesizing findings consistent across the case studies we document significant vulnerabilities, a function of socio-economic stresses and change, continuing and pervasive inequality, and magnitude of climate change. Nevertheless, adaptations are available, feasible, and Inuit have considerable adaptive capacity. Realizing this adaptive capacity and overcoming adaptation barriers requires policy intervention to: (i) support the teaching and transmission of environmental knowledge and land skills, (ii) enhance and review emergency management capability, (iii) ensure the flexibility of resource management regimes, (iv) provide economic support to facilitate adaptation for groups with limited household income, (v) increase research effort to identify short and long term risk factors and adaptive response options, (vi) protect key infrastructure, and (vii) promote awareness of climate change impacts and adaptation among policy makers.
This special issue brings together prominent scholars to explore novel multilevel governance challenges posed by the behavior of dynamic and complex social-ecological systems. Here we expand and investigate the emerging notion of “resilience” as a perspective for understanding how societies can cope with, and develop from, disturbances and change. As the contributions to the special issue illustrate, resilience thinking in its current form contains substantial normative and conceptual difficulties for the analysis of social systems. However, a resilience approach to governance issues also shows a great deal of promise as it enables a more refined understanding of the dynamics of rapid, interlinked and multiscale change. This potential should not be underestimated as institutions and decision-makers try to deal with converging trends of global interconnectedness and increasing pressure on social-ecological systems.
Over a period of some 20 years, different aspects of co-management (the sharing of power and responsibility between the government and local resource users) have come to the forefront. The paper focuses on a selection of these: knowledge generation, bridging organizations, social learning, and the emergence of adaptive co-management. Co-management can be considered a knowledge partnership. Different levels of organization, from local to international, have comparative advantages in the generation and mobilization of knowledge acquired at different scales. Bridging organizations provide a forum for the interaction of these different kinds of knowledge, and the coordination of other tasks that enable co-operation: accessing resources, bringing together different actors, building trust, resolving conflict, and networking. Social learning is one of these tasks, essential both for the co-operation of partners and an outcome of the co-operation of partners. It occurs most efficiently through joint problem solving and reflection within learning networks. Through successive rounds of learning and problem solving, learning networks can incorporate new knowledge to deal with problems at increasingly larger scales, with the result that maturing co-management arrangements become adaptive co-management in time.
This paper examines the use of interactive models of research in the US regional integrated scientific assessments (RISAS), using as a case study the climate assessment of the Southwest (CLIMAS). It focuses on three components of regional climate assessments: interdisciplinarity, interaction with stakeholders and production of usable knowledge, and on the role of three explanatory variables––the level of ‘fit’ between state of knowledge production and application, disciplinary and personal flexibility, and availability of resources—which affect the co-production of science and policy in the context of integrated assessments. It finds that although no single model can fulfill the multitude of goals of such assessments, it is in highly interactive models that the possibilities of higher levels of innovation and related social impact are most likely to occur.
Governance failures are at the origin of many resource management problems. In particular climate change and the concomitant increase of extreme weather events has exposed the inability of current governance regimes to deal with present and future challenges. Still our knowledge about resource governance regimes and how they change is quite limited. This paper develops a conceptual framework addressing the dynamics and adaptive capacity of resource governance regimes as multi-level learning processes. The influence of formal and informal institutions, the role of state and non-state actors, the nature of multi-level interactions and the relative importance of bureaucratic hierarchies, markets and networks are identified as major structural characteristics of governance regimes. Change is conceptualized as social and societal learning that proceeds in a stepwise fashion moving from single to double to triple loop learning. Informal networks are considered to play a crucial role in such learning processes. The framework supports flexible and context sensitive analysis without being case study specific.First empirical evidence from water governance supports the assumptions made on the dynamics of governance regimes and the usefulness of the chosen approach. More complex and diverse governance regimes have a higher adaptive capacity. However, it is still an open question how to overcome the state of single-loop learning that seem to characterize many attempts to adapt to climate change. Only further development and application of shared conceptual frameworks taking into account the real complexity of governance regimes can generate the knowledge base needed to advance current understanding to a state that allows giving meaningful policy advice.
Climate change potentially brings continuous and unpredictable changes in weather patterns. Consequently, it calls for institutions that promote the adaptive capacity of society and allow society to modify its institutions at a rate commensurate with the rate of environmental change. Institutions, traditionally conservative and reactive, will now have to support social actors to proactively respond through planned processes and deliberate steps, but also through cherishing and encouraging spontaneous and autonomous change, as well as allowing for institutional redesign. This paper addresses the question: How can the inherent characteristics of institutions to stimulate the capacity of society to adapt to climate change from local through to national level be assessed? On the basis of a literature review and several brainstorm sessions, this paper presents six dimensions: Variety, learning capacity, room for autonomous change, leadership, availability of resources and fair governance. These dimensions and their 22 criteria form the Adaptive Capacity Wheel. This wheel can help academics and social actors to assess if institutions stimulate the adaptive capacity of society to respond to climate change; and to focus on whether and how institutions need to be redesigned. This paper also briefly demonstrates the application of this Adaptive Capacity Wheel to different institutions
This paper evaluates the processes and mechanisms available for integrating different types of knowledge for environmental management. Following a review of the challenges associated with knowledge integration, we present a series of questions for identifying, engaging, evaluating and applying different knowledges during project design and delivery. These questions are used as a basis to compare three environmental management projects that aimed to integrate knowledge from different sources in the United Kingdom, Solomon Islands and Australia. Comparative results indicate that integrating different types of knowledge is inherently complex - classification of knowledge is arbitrary and knowledge integration perspectives are qualitatively very different. We argue that there is no single optimum approach for integrating local and scientific knowledge and encourage a shift in science from the development of knowledge integration products to the development of problem-focussed, knowledge integration processes. These processes need to be systematic, reflexive and cyclic so that multiple views and multiple methods are considered in relation to an environmental management problem. The results have implications for the way in which researchers and environmental managers undertake and evaluate knowledge integration projects.
"This paper analyzes how traditional knowledge (TK) is used by two of the co-management and regulatory boards established under the comprehensive land-claim agreements in Canadas territorial North: the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board (NWMB) and the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board (MVEIRB). A comparison of the defining characteristics of Western Weberian bureaucracy, which sets the framework within which these and other boards operate, and central tenets of traditional northern Aboriginal culture highlights the oftentimes stark incompatibilities between what amount to different worldviews. Both boards are shown to have made substantial and sincere efforts at incorporating TK into their practices. The NWMB, with its wildlife-focused mandate, is better able to accommodate TK in its work than is the MVEIRB, which deals with complex legal regulatory issues. Both, however, are limited in their capacity to fully incorporate TK into their operations by the exigencies of the modern bureaucratic state."
"The integration of science and traditional knowledge (TEK), a cornerstone of contemporary cooperative management, entails translating First Nation peoples life experiences into forms compatible with state wildlife management (e.g., numbers and lines on maps), with all the risks of distortion inherent in any translation process. Even after such a translation, however, knowledge-integration remains fraught with difficulties, many of which seem on the surface to be technical or methodological. Surprisingly, despite these difficulties, the literature is full of accounts of successful co-management. I call for a more critical and nuanced analysis of co-management, one that takes different perspectives into account and calls into question what we mean by success in the first place. To this end, I examine the case of the Ruby Range Sheep Steering Committee (RRSSC), a co-management body in the southwest Yukon that some have held up as a model of success. Over the course of three years, RRSSC members gathered information about Dall sheep (Ovis dalli dalli) from many sources and managed to express it all in forms compatible with scientific wildlife management. Yet, even then--with a single exception RRSSC members failed to integrate their knowledge about sheep. Although there were numerous technical and methodological obstacles to knowledge integration, the underlying reasons for this failure were ultimately political. Thus, a focus on the political dimensions of knowledge-integration is essential to an understanding and assessment of co-management."
"Human adaptation remains an insufficiently studied part of the subject of climate change. This paper examines the questions of adaptation and change in terms of social-ecological resilience using lessons from a place-specific case study. The Inuvialuit people of the small community of Sachs Harbour in Canada's western Arctic have been tracking climate change throughout the 1990s. We analyze the adaptive capacity of this community to deal with climate change. Short-term responses to changes in land-based activities, which are identified as coping mechanisms, are one component of this adaptive capacity. The second component is related to cultural and ecological adaptations of the Inuvialuit for life in a highly variable and uncertain environment; these represent long-term adaptive strategies. These two types of strategies are, in fact, on a continuum in space and time. This study suggests new ways in which theory and practice can be combined by showing how societies may adapt to climate change at multiple scales. Switching species and adjusting the 'where, when, and how' of hunting are examples of shorter-term responses. On the other hand, adaptations such as flexibility in seasonal hunting patterns, traditional knowledge that allows the community to diversity hunting activities, networks for sharing food and other resources, and intercommunity trade are longer-term, culturally ingrained mechanisms. Individuals, households, and the community as a whole also provide feedback on their responses to change. Newly developing co-management institutions create additional linkages for feedback across different levels, enhancing the capacity for learning and self-organization of the local inhabitants and making it possible for them to transmit community concerns to regional, national, and international levels."
Social learning is increasingly cited as an essential component of sustainable natural resource management and the promotion of desirable behavioural change. This paper attempts to contribute to the current debate about social learning and public participation by reviewing the many perspectives on social learning and associated claims and benefits. Based on this analysis the paper identifies conceptual and practical weaknesses of the concept of social learning and their implications for the design of participatory processes in natural resource management.