Ecological change very often parallels social change. The concept of the social-ecological system (SES) provides a holistic means of accounting for the dualistic nature of human-environmental interactions by acknowledging that social, political and economic factors influence and are in turn influenced by the processes of ecological change. These transformations can be contextualized within nested adaptive cycles of change that respond to pre-existing conditions and which provide new opportunities for system actors. The adaptive cycle also grants that processes of social and ecological change may be permanent, irreversible and result in new configurations not previously imaginable. The ability for an SES to respond to these processes of change depends upon its resilience which defines the range of reversible change within a stable state. Resilience is determined by a system's vulnerability, by the pre-existing or available capital.Within this dissertation, I assert that resilience is an important factor to consider in studying arid land political ecology. Resilience can be influenced by both institutional and environmental factors. I assert here that institutional factors alone cannot explain the pace of change in a particular political ecology. While institutions constitute the dominant signals with regards to economic decision making, environmental signals may be ultimately more significant. I utilize a detailed case study focused upon a watershed and ejido in northwestern Mexico. This case study demonstrates the influence of strong political and economic signals that influence local economics. Nature bats last and can exert powerful forces over institutional choices. Using this case study, I demonstrate how a dramatic shift in climatic as well as hydrologic regimes leads ultimately to a general degradation of agropastoral ecological resources and their replacement with new, stable but less desirable states. Land-use has subsequently changed. The latter set of ecological changes has become a sort of death of a thousand cuts that has reduced the community's ability to tap local natural capital and thereby generate economic capital. This study is intends to contribute to our knowledge of political ecology by evaluating the concepts of ecological resilience, multiple stable states, and adaptive cycles to the study of these social-ecological systems.

LA-UR-09-02500A wide range of theories - resilience theory and the study of complex adaptive systems, for example - are advancing our understanding of anthropological systems. Recently, anthropologists have applied the panarchy framework to study socionatural systems. This framework allows researchers to assess growth, conservation, release, and reorganization in this nested-cycle model that operates simultaneously at multiple spatio-temporal scales. The long time-depth of the archaeological record is a critical factor in our ability to investigate human behavior within the panarchy's set of nested adaptive cycles.Archaeological investigation in the US Southwest has focused on processes of aggregation and culture change due to varying environmental and social conditions; the Pajarito Plateau, NM, has been the subject of archaeological research since the late 1800s. The Los Alamos National Laboratory portion of the Plateau has been thoroughly surveyed for cultural resources, but has received less attention by scholars than surrounding areas, including Bandelier National Monument. I use the panarchy framework to build a model of Puebloan settlement, land use, demography, and adaptation to assess the utility of the panarchy model for anthropological systems and fill a void in archaeologists' understanding of the Puebloan Southwest.I analyze patterns of residential and agricultural land use during the Rio Grande Coalition and Classic periods (A.D. 1150-1600) for the Pajarito Plateau. I conclude that there is no major change in the use of various landscape ranges between these periods. I reconstruct regional Puebloan momentary population and investigate recent evidence that supports a San Juan Basin source of the dramatic population increase during the Late Coalition. I also investigate aggregation into large plaza pueblos, the development of craft specialization, agricultural intensification, architectural change, and increased participation in the wider Rio Grande marketplace economy as responses of households, clans, villages, and the entire Pajarito population to the highly fluctuating climate of the local landscape. I address these results within the panarchy framework. Further, I argue that the Pajarito Plateau system continued after the population dispersed into the Rio Grande Valley below, to be closer to reliable sources of water and the growing Rio Grande economy.

This study develops an interdisciplinary theoretical framework for understanding institutional change and resistance to change towards sustainability. The research rests on two leading theories of change within the social and ecological sciences: the New Institutionalism and Panarchy theory. A theoretical framework integrating insights from the two theories is applied in an analysis of the development of the Town of Caledon’s mineral resources policies. The research suggests that institutional change and inertia are interconnected and interdependent and, depending on the case and context, they may interact with each other across spatial and temporal scales. There may be overlap in the emergence of pressures for institutional inertia and change across temporal and spatial scales, and both institutional change and inertia may be present when opportunities arise for renegotiation of the “rules of the game”. Results show that the two theories share many concepts (e.g., thresholds or tipping points, fast and slow moving variables, etc.) to aid in understanding the dynamics of institutional and ecological realms. Moreover, the integrated theoretical framework can help to explain the dynamics of institutional systems in a way that overcomes the limitations in Panarchy and the New Institutionalism theories by themselves. Key concepts within Panarchy theory (e.g., regime shifts, etc.) complement the New Institutionalism’s ability to capture important contextual factors influencing institutional change and inertia, and help to overcome the current limitation in its capacity to explain the nonlinear, multi-scalar dynamics of institutional systems. In turn, key concepts within the New Institutionalism (e.g., uncertainty, etc.) complement and enrich Panarchy theory’s capacity to illustrate the social and economic dimensions of institutional dynamics. Results of the case analysis demonstrate that a range of overlapping, historic and immediate, local-to-provincial factors (e.g., socioeconomic costs, uncertainty, path dependent effects, etc.) and institutional elements (e.g., interests and values, power and resources, issues of fit, etc.) drove institutional change and inertia in the development of Caledon’s mineral resources policies. The slow moving institutional variables in Caledon’s case (core Town, industry and provincial government values and interests) were perhaps the greatest determinants of institutional change and resistance to change towards sustainability. The story of the development of Caledon’s mineral resources policies, then, is about the resilience and resistance efforts of a small Town committed to maintaining core community values under the constraints of a resilient and resistant, ecologically destructive and inequitable institutional system.

This study develops an interdisciplinary theoretical framework for understanding institutional change and resistance to change towards sustainability. The research rests on two leading theories of change within the social and ecological sciences: the New Institutionalism and Panarchy theory. A theoretical framework integrating insights from the two theories is applied in an analysis of the development of the Town of Caledon’s mineral resources policies. The research suggests that institutional change and inertia are interconnected and interdependent and, depending on the case and context, they may interact with each other across spatial and temporal scales. There may be overlap in the emergence of pressures for institutional inertia and change across temporal and spatial scales, and both institutional change and inertia may be present when opportunities arise for renegotiation of the “rules of the game”. Results show that the two theories share many concepts (e.g., thresholds or tipping points, fast and slow moving variables, etc.) to aid in understanding the dynamics of institutional and ecological realms. Moreover, the integrated theoretical framework can help to explain the dynamics of institutional systems in a way that overcomes the limitations in Panarchy and the New Institutionalism theories by themselves. Key concepts within Panarchy theory (e.g., regime shifts, etc.) complement the New Institutionalism’s ability to capture important contextual factors influencing institutional change and inertia, and help to overcome the current limitation in its capacity to explain the nonlinear, multi-scalar dynamics of institutional systems. In turn, key concepts within the New Institutionalism (e.g., uncertainty, etc.) complement and enrich Panarchy theory’s capacity to illustrate the social and economic dimensions of institutional dynamics. Results of the case analysis demonstrate that a range of overlapping, historic and immediate, local-to-provincial factors (e.g., socioeconomic costs, uncertainty, path dependent effects, etc.) and institutional elements (e.g., interests and values, power and resources, issues of fit, etc.) drove institutional change and inertia in the development of Caledon’s mineral resources policies. The slow moving institutional variables in Caledon’s case (core Town, industry and provincial government values and interests) were perhaps the greatest determinants of institutional change and resistance to change towards sustainability. The story of the development of Caledon’s mineral resources policies, then, is about the resilience and resistance efforts of a small Town committed to maintaining core community values under the constraints of a resilient and resistant, ecologically destructive and inequitable institutional system.

Today, Canada’s population is over 80 percent urban as exemplified by our growing cities. As a result of outmigration to urban centres, many rural economies in Atlantic Canada are struggling socially and economically. This research examines the redevelopment of rural communities through a lens of continuous cycles of adaptive change - based on Holling’s ecological concept of panarchy. By drawing on the characteristics of ecological communities, this panarchy-based theoretical framework uses a novel approach to reflect on a community’s position along its own adaptive change cycle and identifies leverage points where policy intervention may be most advantageous. This research also examines the practical application of this framework via interviews with economic development officials. Overall, the results of this research suggest that the panarchy-based framework offers constructive guidance to policy makers seeking to push or pull rural communities into positions of higher resiliency and to expedite times of economic uncertainty.

This research considers a person’s ontological fabric woven from experiences of and in (trans)formative childhood and adolescent places through three conceptual frameworks: complexity theory, endogeny, and i/Indigenous ways of knowing. By re-visiting the (trans)formative places of four exemplary citizens with them, creating an interactive website and iBook, and exploring ten online public participants’ posts, I gained an understanding of how childhood and adolescent outdoor places act as catalysts of community, ecological, and civic environmental engagement. To achieve this, I asked the question: Does learning that occurs in childhood and adolescent outdoor places inform civic, emotional, physical, and/or spiritual engagement or connectedness over the course of people’s lives? If so, how? Tsartlip (Coast Salish First Nations) Elder, May Sam, Hua Foundation co-founder Claudia Li, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Wade Davis, and former Lieutenant Governor of BC, Iona Campagnolo, all exemplary individuals, shared personal relationships with their childhood and adolescent places. They engaged though participatory action research by taking me to these places, contributing to the interview process, and supporting the analysis of the results. As a way to engage decolonizing methodologies and encourage authentic voice within this research, I took great care in using interview and discourse techniques that were respectful, engaging, and empowering. Each of these visits were filmed and appropriate sections were shared through online social media as a way to invite participation from the larger North American public (www.transformativeplaces.com). Ten more participants’ experiences were analyzed based on their submissions to this website. Data were explored through a hybrid of phenomenological and participatory analysis and participants were invited to help discern meaning through post-filming interviews and dialogue. The concept (trans)formative places was defined as sites that engage humans in biophysical, emotional, spiritual, and civic engagement. Major notions included the development of a memetic group of concepts that help describe the processes, characteristics, and relationships that occur from, in, and with (trans)formative places. I found that my participants’ relationship to places were formed through family and community bonds, where learning occurs through shared stories, collective healing, and respect-building. Places transformed my participants through identity development, memory and anxiety, resiliency behaviour, nostalgia, and loss. Finally, my participants related to places through connective processes like knowing a place and being home, engendering bliss and appreciation, development of pride and hope and emotionality. The final section of this dissertation is articulated as a manifesto for creating, sustaining, and engaging in (trans)formative places. To download the interactive iBook of this dissertation search for it in iTunes. / Graduate / 0350 / 0525 / 0534 / 0740 / 0768 / 0620 / 0727 / nstanger@nicholasstanger.ca

This research considers a person’s ontological fabric woven from experiences of and in (trans)formative childhood and adolescent places through three conceptual frameworks: complexity theory, endogeny, and i/Indigenous ways of knowing. By re-visiting the (trans)formative places of four exemplary citizens with them, creating an interactive website and iBook, and exploring ten online public participants’ posts, I gained an understanding of how childhood and adolescent outdoor places act as catalysts of community, ecological, and civic environmental engagement. To achieve this, I asked the question: Does learning that occurs in childhood and adolescent outdoor places inform civic, emotional, physical, and/or spiritual engagement or connectedness over the course of people’s lives? If so, how? Tsartlip (Coast Salish First Nations) Elder, May Sam, Hua Foundation co-founder Claudia Li, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Wade Davis, and former Lieutenant Governor of BC, Iona Campagnolo, all exemplary individuals, shared personal relationships with their childhood and adolescent places. They engaged though participatory action research by taking me to these places, contributing to the interview process, and supporting the analysis of the results. As a way to engage decolonizing methodologies and encourage authentic voice within this research, I took great care in using interview and discourse techniques that were respectful, engaging, and empowering. Each of these visits were filmed and appropriate sections were shared through online social media as a way to invite participation from the larger North American public (www.transformativeplaces.com). Ten more participants’ experiences were analyzed based on their submissions to this website. Data were explored through a hybrid of phenomenological and participatory analysis and participants were invited to help discern meaning through post-filming interviews and dialogue. The concept (trans)formative places was defined as sites that engage humans in biophysical, emotional, spiritual, and civic engagement. Major notions included the development of a memetic group of concepts that help describe the processes, characteristics, and relationships that occur from, in, and with (trans)formative places. I found that my participants’ relationship to places were formed through family and community bonds, where learning occurs through shared stories, collective healing, and respect-building. Places transformed my participants through identity development, memory and anxiety, resiliency behaviour, nostalgia, and loss. Finally, my participants related to places through connective processes like knowing a place and being home, engendering bliss and appreciation, development of pride and hope and emotionality. The final section of this dissertation is articulated as a manifesto for creating, sustaining, and engaging in (trans)formative places. To download the interactive iBook of this dissertation search for it in iTunes. / Graduate / 0350 / 0525 / 0534 / 0740 / 0768 / 0620 / 0727 / nstanger@nicholasstanger.ca

A questão a ser abordada na tese se encontra sob o tema do planejamento urbano, enfatizando a dissonância entre os avanços dos estudos acerca da Ciência das Cidades e a prática de planejamento usual, cujo caráter é extremamente normativo e prescritivo. Destarte, por um lado, se revisa o planejamento urbano - seu desenvolvimento, bases teóricas, processos e ferramentas; aproximando-se da realidade brasileira; e, por outro lado, se revisa o estado da arte da Ciência das Cidades, evidenciando-se como o entendimento acerca deste fenômeno se desenvolveu. Portanto, com o objetivo de discutir as possibilidades e delinear as prováveis e desejáveis características de uma estrutura de planejamento que possa responder de modo mais acurado à dinâmica intraurbana, foi sugerida uma macroestrutura baseada em uma Panarquia. A microestrutura envolve um processo que inicia a partir da demanda pontual de um agente, cujos impactos são percebidos nos outros níveis da estrutura urbana, determinando âmbitos de agentes envolvidos. Na sequência, se estabelecem processos classificatórios, informativos, avaliativos, decisórios e de retroalimentação. Por fim, sugere-se que seja estabelecida uma substituição gradual das regras normativas apriorísticas por critérios mais amplos e regras locais de interação. / The question to be addressed in the thesis is under the theme of urban planning, emphasizing the dissonance between the advances of studies on the science of cities and the usual planning practice, whose character is extremely normative and prescriptive. Thus, on the one hand, it reviews urban planning – its development, theoretical foundations, processes and tools; approaching the Brazilian reality; and, on the other hand, it reviews the state of the art of the science of cities, demonstrating how the understanding of this phenomenon has been developed. Therefore, in order to discuss the possibilities and outline the probable and desirable characteristics of an alternative planning framework that can respond more accurately to the intra-urban dynamics, it is suggested a panarchy based macrostructure. The microstructure involves a process that starts with a punctual demand of an agent, whose impacts are perceived in other levels of the urban structure, determining levels of stakeholders. Following are established classification, information, evaluation, decision-making and feedback processes. Finally, it is suggested a gradual replacement of normative rules by broader criteria and local interaction rules.

A questão a ser abordada na tese se encontra sob o tema do planejamento urbano, enfatizando a dissonância entre os avanços dos estudos acerca da Ciência das Cidades e a prática de planejamento usual, cujo caráter é extremamente normativo e prescritivo. Destarte, por um lado, se revisa o planejamento urbano - seu desenvolvimento, bases teóricas, processos e ferramentas; aproximando-se da realidade brasileira; e, por outro lado, se revisa o estado da arte da Ciência das Cidades, evidenciando-se como o entendimento acerca deste fenômeno se desenvolveu. Portanto, com o objetivo de discutir as possibilidades e delinear as prováveis e desejáveis características de uma estrutura de planejamento que possa responder de modo mais acurado à dinâmica intraurbana, foi sugerida uma macroestrutura baseada em uma Panarquia. A microestrutura envolve um processo que inicia a partir da demanda pontual de um agente, cujos impactos são percebidos nos outros níveis da estrutura urbana, determinando âmbitos de agentes envolvidos. Na sequência, se estabelecem processos classificatórios, informativos, avaliativos, decisórios e de retroalimentação. Por fim, sugere-se que seja estabelecida uma substituição gradual das regras normativas apriorísticas por critérios mais amplos e regras locais de interação. / The question to be addressed in the thesis is under the theme of urban planning, emphasizing the dissonance between the advances of studies on the science of cities and the usual planning practice, whose character is extremely normative and prescriptive. Thus, on the one hand, it reviews urban planning – its development, theoretical foundations, processes and tools; approaching the Brazilian reality; and, on the other hand, it reviews the state of the art of the science of cities, demonstrating how the understanding of this phenomenon has been developed. Therefore, in order to discuss the possibilities and outline the probable and desirable characteristics of an alternative planning framework that can respond more accurately to the intra-urban dynamics, it is suggested a panarchy based macrostructure. The microstructure involves a process that starts with a punctual demand of an agent, whose impacts are perceived in other levels of the urban structure, determining levels of stakeholders. Following are established classification, information, evaluation, decision-making and feedback processes. Finally, it is suggested a gradual replacement of normative rules by broader criteria and local interaction rules.

abstract: Research indicates that projected increases in global urban populations are not adequately addressed by current food production and planning. In the U.S., insufficient access to food, or the inability to access enough food for an active, healthy life affects nearly 15% of the population. In the face of these challenges, how are urban planners and other food system professionals planning for more resilient food systems? The purpose of this qualitative case study is to understand the planning and policy resources and food system approaches that might have the ability to strengthen food systems, and ultimately, urban resiliency. It proposes that by understanding food system planning in this context, planning approaches can be developed to strengthen urban food systems. The study uses the conceptual framework of urban planning for food, new community food systems, urban resiliency, and the theory of Panarchy as a model for urban planning and creation of new community food systems. Panarchy theory proposes that entrenched, non-diverse systems can change and adapt, and this study proposes that some U.S. cities are doing just that by planning for new community food systems. It studied 16 U.S. cities considered to be leaders in sustainability practices, and conducted semi-structured interviews with professionals in three of those cities: Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; and Seattle, WA. The study found that these cities are using innovative methods in food system work, with professionals from many different departments and disciplines bringing interdisciplinary approaches to food planning and policy. Supported by strong executive leadership, these cities are creating progressive urban agriculture zoning policies and other food system initiatives, and using innovative educational programs and events to engage citizens at all socio-economic levels. Food system departments are relatively new, plans and policies among the cities are not consistent, and they are faced with limited resources to adequately track food system-related data. However they are still moving forward with programming to increase food access and improve their food systems. Food-system resiliency is recognized as an important goal, but cities are in varying stages of development for resiliency planning. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Environmental Design and Planning 2014