The increasing interest in adaptive models of governance and adaptive tools for management stems from a recognition that the traditional paradigm in natural resource management is failing to adequately maintain the resilience of social-ecological systems. A principal reason for this failure is that each problem is treated discretely by approaches that are characteristically narrow and reactive rather than comprehensive and forward-looking. This lack of sophistication means that traditional governance models are unsuitable for dealing with the inherent uncertainty characteristic of environmental problems, and for dealing with the conflicts that emanate from the social construction of those problems. The challenge presented by these uncertainties and conflicts illuminates deficiencies in how we conceptualize the dynamics of social-ecological systems and how we formulate approaches to policy and problem solving to cope effectively with those dynamics. What changes in governance could remedy these deficiencies with more effective forms of collective action that sustain and enhance social-ecological resilience? My purpose was to pursue those changes with an examination of the human dimension of governance, with specific reference to the Great Lakes and potential features of an adaptive paradigm for the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The goals of this research were to contribute knowledge and perspective on our understanding of and progress towards adaptive Great Lakes governance, and secondly, to generate pragmatic and actionable policy options for enhancing participatory processes, social learning, and leadership for adaptive Great Lakes governance. To achieve these goals, I sought the following specific objectives: (1) identify aspects of the Agreement that would compel a more rigorous and evaluative approach to policy development and implementation in the Great Lakes; (2) acquire evidence to characterize deficits in the implementation of Great Lakes policy; (3) acquire evidence to characterize pathologies in the management of the Great Lakes; (4) (i) identify, detail, and combine the principles and processes of adaptive management and decision analysis, (ii) relate these mechanisms to policy and research in the Great Lakes context, especially where such mechanisms for managing in the face of uncertainty could ameliorate implementation deficits and management pathologies; and (5) (i) acquire evidence of the strengths and limitations in the development and implementation of Great Lakes Remedial Action Plans from people with direct experience with RAPs, (ii) identify and characterize potential reforms that could improve the design of community-based, nearshore restoration programs, and (iii) measure the desirability, feasibility, and likelihood for success of those reforms. Language in the Purpose of the Agreement, that the federal governments are to develop programs and practices for a better understanding of the Great Lakes, I interpret as inviting even demanding-the ongoing and rigorous pursuit of new knowledge and improved processes in Great Lakes governance to further place-based and regional restoration. Policy implementation deficits identified included a lack of understanding of cause and effect, inadequate communication and coordination, lack of time and resources for full implementation, and lack of agreement on objectives. Pathologies of management included a lack of responsiveness, a lack of institutional analysis and program evaluation, a resistance to new information and ideas, a lack of appropriate personalities in key roles, and multiple and incompatible programming. Policy tools for improved human-environment and science-policy linkages were examined as potential governance mechanisms to counter deficits and pathologies. Design principals of adaptive management and decision analysis were specified. These tools were placed within the policy and research context of the Great Lakes regime and linked to improved forms of accountability. A three-round online Policy Delphi study involved several dozen experts in the development and implementation of RAPs across the Great Lakes basin within government, industry, academia, and civil society. The research collected and aggregated (1) direct knowledge of the strengths and limitations of RAPs, which lead to (2) further knowledge of what worked and what did not work in the RAP program, which in turn facilitated (3) the emergence of seven governance options to improve institutional processes in RAP programming. Importantly, the results establish that both the structure and attributes of governance were significant to RAP outcomes. Ran kings of these options indicated a general consensus that the options were relatively feasible and likely to succeed as enhancements in the development and implementation of RAPs. The results indicate a need to focus significantly on the predominant tendencies and characteristic attitudes that underlie RAP processes. These findings will have broad significance for other evolving place-based nearshore restoration strategies in the Great Lakes and anywhere else such programs are initiated. The thesis culminates with a conceptual framework for adaptive governance, problem solving, decision making, and management. The framework encompasses three domains that correspond to established levels of institutional analysis: constitutional choice (political and societal processes), collective choice (policy and decision processes), and operational choice (resource use and management processes). Flows of information between domains can be facilitated or restricted depending on the rules and conventions of the institutional design. Traditional governance characteristically permits only a linear and downward flow of information that negates the possibility for double-loop learning by disallowing required feedbacks. Adaptive governance regimes intentionally encourage a return or upward (and outward) flow of information and promotes learning. The three domains in the framework are nested to indicate that the 'problem domain' is the entire social system, that problems of environmental governance cannot be restricted to subsets of issues, and that adaptive problem solving is multi-scalar. The framework explicitly links processes across domains and is adaptive because it bridges boundaries that traditionally separate society from policy decisions and isolate policy decisions from management activity. The Discussion underscores that learning is a key function of adaptive governance, and that it is operationalized through social capital, networks, leadership, and trust. The thesis recommends that the federal governments issue a reference to the International Joint Commission to establish an Adaptive Governance Task Force in order to provide a strong and independent forum to engage with the conceptual framework presented in this thesis and generally to discover adequate and appropriate strategies and opportunities for adaptive Great Lakes governance. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The term "governance" encompasses both governmental and nongovernmental participation in collective choice and action. Law dictates the structure, boundaries, rules, and processes within which governmental action takes place, and in doing so becomes one of the focal points for analysis of barriers to adaptation as the effects of climate change are felt. Adaptive governance must therefore contemplate a level of flexibility and evolution in governmental action beyond that currently found in the heavily administrative governments of many democracies. Nevertheless, over time, law itself has proven highly adaptive in western systems of government, evolving to address and even facilitate the emergence of new social norms (such as the rights of women and minorities) or to provide remedies for emerging problems (such as pollution). Thus, there is no question that law can adapt, evolve, and be reformed to make room for adaptive governance. In doing this, not only may barriers be removed, but law may be adjusted to facilitate adaptive governance and to aid in institutionalizing new and emerging approaches to governance. The key is to do so in a way that also enhances legitimacy, accountability, and justice, or else such reforms will never be adopted by democratic societies, or if adopted, will destabilize those societies. By identifying those aspects of the frameworks for adaptive governance reviewed in the introduction to this special feature relevant to the legal system, we present guidelines for evaluating the role of law in environmental governance to identify the ways in which law can be used, adapted, and reformed to facilitate adaptive governance and to do so in a way that enhances the legitimacy of governmental action.

In this article we summarize histories of nonlinear, complex interactions among societal, legal, and ecosystem dynamics in six North American water basins, as they respond to changing climate. These case studies were chosen to explore the conditions for emergence of adaptive governance in heavily regulated and developed social-ecological systems nested within a hierarchical governmental system. We summarize resilience assessments conducted in each system to provide a synthesis and reference by the other articles in this special feature. We also present a general framework used to evaluate the interactions between society and ecosystem regimes and the governance regimes chosen to mediate those interactions. The case studies show different ways that adaptive governance may be triggered, facilitated, or constrained by ecological and/or legal processes. The resilience assessments indicate that complex interactions among the governance and ecosystem components of these systems can produce different trajectories, which include patterns of (a) development and stabilization, (b) cycles of crisis and recovery, which includes lurches in adaptation and learning, and (3) periods of innovation, novelty, and transformation. Exploration of cross scale (Panarchy) interactions among levels and sectors of government and society illustrate that they may constrain development trajectories, but may also provide stability during crisis or innovation at smaller scales; create crises, but may also facilitate recovery; and constrain system transformation, but may also provide windows of opportunity in which transformation, and the resources to accomplish it, may occur. The framework is the starting point for our exploration of how law might play a role in enhancing the capacity of social-ecological systems to adapt to climate change.

Water resource issues continue to be a central focus of natural resource policy, due to the increasing pressures on water resources and the complex nature of water systems. There has been significant advancement in the recognition that water system health is dependent upon human activities and social understanding of the resource. This awareness has prompted the arrival of institutions that are concerned with helping society understand and support water resource improvement. Often referred to as watershed partnerships, these institutions typically function as collaborative bodies that highlight cooperation and water resource education. As resource pressures increase, so do the demands on these partnerships to produce tangible watershed improvement results. Assessments of watershed partnerships have therefore been developed to evaluate their work and results. The mainstream watershed partnership assessments have been criticized for their inability to capture partnership characteristics that lead to lasting watershed recovery and typically provide little insight for how these partnerships can improve. The need for partnership assessments that speak to these criticisms is becoming ever more imperative as we continue to confront modern water resource issues. This research focuses on the creation of an assessment tool that addresses these criticisms of conventional watershed assessments. The goals of this research were to 1) consult the literature concerned with partnership characteristics that lead to lasting watershed recovery, or sustainable water vi management 2) develop an assessment tool, based on the dominant themes found in the sustainable water management literature, and 3) test the tool on a mature local watershed partnership for future revision. The assessment tool that resulted from this research consists of two items: 1) a self-assessment survey concerned with structural and process elements of a partnership that lead to lasting watershed efforts, and 2) a survey guide that assists watershed management practitioners in understanding survey relevance and exploring their own structures and processes for improvement. These products were then tested and reviewed, which resulted in survey and survey guide revisions, and ultimately a practical and useful watershed partnership assessment tool.

Water resource issues continue to be a central focus of natural resource policy, due to the increasing pressures on water resources and the complex nature of water systems. There has been significant advancement in the recognition that water system health is dependent upon human activities and social understanding of the resource. This awareness has prompted the arrival of institutions that are concerned with helping society understand and support water resource improvement. Often referred to as watershed partnerships, these institutions typically function as collaborative bodies that highlight cooperation and water resource education. As resource pressures increase, so do the demands on these partnerships to produce tangible watershed improvement results. Assessments of watershed partnerships have therefore been developed to evaluate their work and results. The mainstream watershed partnership assessments have been criticized for their inability to capture partnership characteristics that lead to lasting watershed recovery and typically provide little insight for how these partnerships can improve. The need for partnership assessments that speak to these criticisms is becoming ever more imperative as we continue to confront modern water resource issues. This research focuses on the creation of an assessment tool that addresses these criticisms of conventional watershed assessments. The goals of this research were to 1) consult the literature concerned with partnership characteristics that lead to lasting watershed recovery, or sustainable water vi management 2) develop an assessment tool, based on the dominant themes found in the sustainable water management literature, and 3) test the tool on a mature local watershed partnership for future revision. The assessment tool that resulted from this research consists of two items: 1) a self-assessment survey concerned with structural and process elements of a partnership that lead to lasting watershed efforts, and 2) a survey guide that assists watershed management practitioners in understanding survey relevance and exploring their own structures and processes for improvement. These products were then tested and reviewed, which resulted in survey and survey guide revisions, and ultimately a practical and useful watershed partnership assessment tool.

Studies of adaptive governance in social-ecological systems have identified common features that assist social actors in responding to environmental pressures. Among these features, multiple sources of ecological knowledge, trust, and networks between actors have been highlighted as properties that contribute to successful governance arrangements. However, studies in adaptive governance have also been critiqued using a political ecology approach. This is due to their under-theorization of political elements that can constrain or promote the formation of the features of adaptive governance. In particular, power dynamics between actors and the subsequent privileging of one source of knowledge over another might have an effect on governance arrangements. In China, environmental degradation is a serious issue. The Qinhuai River, located in the city of Nanjing, has experienced significant ecological decline over the last 30 years as urbanization pressures on the system increased. Over the same period, China has undergone changes in state-society relations, including allowing the formation of NGOs. Since the turn of the millennium, several NGOs have begun working on issues related to the Qinhuai River, including raising awareness and producing information on the environment. This study examines the features of adaptive governance in a critical light by situating them in the local political context of China. The relationship between NGOs, fishers who use the Qinhuai River and government are examined using Social Network Analysis and semi-structured interviews in order to understand the production of information, networking and trust between these actors. It is shown that the existing arrangements to include NGOs and fishers in the river’s governance activities are guided by a corporatist system of state-sanctioned representation. This is not conducive to adaptive governance arrangements, despite the increasing existence of ENGO networks and new sources of knowledge over the last decade. It is thus important that studies of adaptive governance take steps to contextualize their findings within the local political climate.

Studies of adaptive governance in social-ecological systems have identified common features that assist social actors in responding to environmental pressures. Among these features, multiple sources of ecological knowledge, trust, and networks between actors have been highlighted as properties that contribute to successful governance arrangements. However, studies in adaptive governance have also been critiqued using a political ecology approach. This is due to their under-theorization of political elements that can constrain or promote the formation of the features of adaptive governance. In particular, power dynamics between actors and the subsequent privileging of one source of knowledge over another might have an effect on governance arrangements. In China, environmental degradation is a serious issue. The Qinhuai River, located in the city of Nanjing, has experienced significant ecological decline over the last 30 years as urbanization pressures on the system increased. Over the same period, China has undergone changes in state-society relations, including allowing the formation of NGOs. Since the turn of the millennium, several NGOs have begun working on issues related to the Qinhuai River, including raising awareness and producing information on the environment. This study examines the features of adaptive governance in a critical light by situating them in the local political context of China. The relationship between NGOs, fishers who use the Qinhuai River and government are examined using Social Network Analysis and semi-structured interviews in order to understand the production of information, networking and trust between these actors. It is shown that the existing arrangements to include NGOs and fishers in the river’s governance activities are guided by a corporatist system of state-sanctioned representation. This is not conducive to adaptive governance arrangements, despite the increasing existence of ENGO networks and new sources of knowledge over the last decade. It is thus important that studies of adaptive governance take steps to contextualize their findings within the local political climate.

The world is facing a 'perfect storm' of socio-ecological crises: adverse climate change, natural resource depletion, water conflict, to name but a few. With many of these future pressures looming, it is essential to learn how to shift from traditional command-and-control strategies to more adaptive ones. Adaptive governance is an approach from institutional theory that combines ecological systems theory, natural resource management and the study of self-governing institutions to manage common pool resources. The Dark Peak of the Peak District National Park is one of the UK’s largest carbon stores, fraught with a history of frequent change in policies and land management activities, conflicting knowledges and interests, convoluted property rights regimes, and carbon emissions. The recent development of a carbon agenda made it an excellent example to explore how this restructures the Dark Peak social network, how its key stakeholders adopt and respond to it, and finally how an adaptive framework can facilitate in mitigating carbon emissions. This thesis offers the first analysis of the Dark Peak’s social network managing for a carbon agenda, and also provides a critical reflection on the possibilities and limitations of using an adaptive framework in this particular context. This has been achieved by combining social network analysis, with stakeholder mapping, observation, and semi-structured interviews to identify the key stakeholders steering the Dark Peak’s carbon agenda.

Although there is a growing literature on resilience and collaborative approaches to ecosystem management, there are relatively few empirical case studies on the process of adaptive governance. Moreover, previous research offers limited insights into the conditions that facilitate new ecosystem management trajectories. By analyzing the emergence of an adaptive co-management initiative in Bali, the UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscape of Bali Province, this dissertation seeks to contribute to recent research on institutional governance approaches to enhance ecosystem management and social well-being. To that end, it addresses two questions. First, it identifies and explores three primary characteristics that fostered a new multi-level adaptive governance approach to cultural landscape management in Bali: the widespread perception of environmental crisis on the island that triggered collective action and the political will for a new form of ecosystem management; the emergence of a shared ideology--articulated in the Balinese Hindu philosophy of tri hita karana, or "the three causes of prosperity"--that unified diverse actors and actor networks and established a common platform for ecological resource management; and context-specific governance strategies that built on existing institutions and local-level initiatives. The second question centers on an analysis of the emergence of the management plan for the World Heritage site in Bali. The management plan was developed to support the Balinese subak in its struggle to adapt to current and future pressures that threaten to undermine the island's unique social-ecological system. For centuries, the subak have maintained Bali's terraced rice paddy landscape as a network of semi-autonomous irrigation associations, mediated through water temples. The adaptive co-management plan draws on principles of adaptive governance to connect subaks with other actors and actor groups across multiple institutional levels and regional jurisdictions. Research findings support the likelihood that the World Heritage initiative can promote transformative change in cultural landscape management in Bali. As the initiative develops, it will provide a fertile site for future research on adaptive governance, to better understand interdependent social-ecological relationships and the evolution of adaptive co-management approaches.

L'augmentation du nombre des sinistres à grande échelle d'origine climatique, technologique, sanitaire, et bien d'autres, nous interpelle sur le mode de gouvernance des systèmes concernés, sur les choix de couverture de ces risques et sur les mesures de prévention mises en place. La question qui a animé notre recherche est : dans quelle mesure la gouvernance d'un système favorise-t-elle la gestion des risques ? Notre analyse empirique s'appuie sur deux cas d'étude, qui se concentrent, sur la gouvernance d'un système face à des risques catastrophiques pour l'un, et des risques communs pour l'autre. D'une part, les risques majeurs sont connus comme étant très peu probables mais avec de possibles lourdes conséquences. La dynamique de la gouvernance adaptative, pour la gestion des risques majeurs d'un système, souligne la nécessité d'adopter une approche flexible (dynamique). Nous proposons ainsi un cadre d'évaluation de la capacité d'adaptation d'un système dans le domaine des risques majeurs. D'autre part, les risques communs affectent l'ensemble de la population. Face aux risques communs dont les conséquences s'étalent dans le futur, nous considérons que la gouvernance adaptative dans une démocratie délibérative se réfère au paradigme selon lequel la gouvernance permet aux décideurs de se projeter vers le long terme. Le dilemme consiste à prendre (à présent) des décisions (c.-à-d. des risques, au sens général du terme) dont les effets (ou les conséquences) ne se font sentir que dans le futur. La gouvernance d'un système doit favoriser la gestion des risques. Notre travail de recherche est structuré autour de trois parties (i.e. « Gouvernances et risques », « La gouvernance d'un système exposé à un risque catastrophique », et « La gouvernance d'un système exposé à un risque commun »), chacune composée de trois chapitres. L'objectif ultime de la gestion des risques, voire des incertitudes qui caractérisent nos sociétés contemporaines est une raison d'être légitime des modes dynamiques de gouvernance qui incitent les différents acteurs à travailler ensemble, de diverses manières, afin de relever les défis auxquels ils sont confrontés. / The increase in large-scale climate, technological, sanitary, and many other types of losses, challenges us on the governance of the concerned systems, the choices made to hedge these risks and implement prevention measures. The question which animated our research is : to what extent the governance of a system promotes a better risk management?Our empirical analysis is based on two case studies which focus on the governance of a system while facing catastrophic risks for first one, and on common risks for the other. On the one hand, catastrophic risks are known to be highly improbable but with possible serious consequences. The dynamic of the adaptive governance system facing catastrophic risks underlines the need for a (dynamic) flexible approach. We therefore suggest an assessment framework for the adaptive capacity of a system in the field of catastrophic risks. On the other hand, common risks affect the whole population. We consider that the adaptive governance in a deliberative democracy refers to the governance paradigm which addresses common risks whose consequences spread out into the future. Thus, it induces decision makers to look at the long run. The dilemma consists in taking (now) decisions (i.e. Risk, in the general sense of the word) whose effects (or consequences) are only felt in the future. The governance of a system shall promote risk management. Our research is structured into three parts (i.e. "Governance and risk", "Governance of a system exposed to a catastrophic risk" and "Governance of a system exposed to a common risk"), each composed of three chapters. The ultimate objective of the management of risks, or even uncertainties, which characterize our contemporary societies is a legitimate reason for having dynamic modes of governance that prompt different actors to work together in various ways, in order to meet challenges they face.