Julia Baird

Social Network Analysis of Multi-level Linkages: A Swedish Case Study on Northern Forest-Based Sectors

Forest use in Northern Sweden is being influenced both by global trends and local situations. This results in interactions between numerous groups that may impact local forest governance. Social network analysis can here provide insight into the total pattern of positive, negative, and cross-level interactions within user group community structure (within and among groups). This study analyses interactions within selected renewable resource sectors in two northern Swedish municipalities, both with regard to whether they are positive, neutral, or negative, as well as with regard to how local actors relate to actors across levels, e.g., with regional, national, and international actors. The study illustrates that many interactions both within and outside a given sector are seen as neutral or positive, and that considerable interaction and impact are defined as national and in some cases even international. It also indicates that the impact of Sweden’s only existing Model Forest may to some extent constitute a bridge between different sectors and levels, in comparison with the interactions between sectors in a municipality where such a cooperation mechanism does not exist.

Enhancing source water protection and watershed management : Lessons from the case of the New Brunswick Water Classification Initiative

Source water protection varies by locale, and approaches and experiences are accumulating in response to concerns about drinking water safety. Learning lessons and transferring them from experiences elsewhere is a well-established practice for addressing water governance challenges. In response to the need to enhance source water protection policies and initiatives and a growing interest in modes of governance in which government and non-government actors collaborate, this research investigated and derived lessons from the Water Classification Initiative in New Brunswick, Canada. The research specifically aimed to describe the development of the initiative, analyze structural relationships among actors involved in the initiative and describe the successes and challenges experienced. Investigation of the Water Classification Initiative illustrates how key aspects of source water protection identified in the literature (e.g. watershed as a focal scale, collaborative approaches, incorporation of science and local knowledge) can be incorporated into policy, how capacity may be built or constrained in the context of government-led collaborative approaches, and how social network analysis offers a powerful tool to understand interactions among those involved in a policy process. Learning from these insights offers an opportunity to advance the development of new approaches as well as to enhance existing source water protection policies. La protection de l’eau de source varie selon la localité, et les approches et les expériences en réponse aux soucis quant à la sécurité de l’eau potable accumulent. Apprendre les leçons et les transférer des expériences ailleurs est une pratique bien établie pour aborder des défis de la gouvernance de l’eau. En réponse au besoin d’améliorer les politiques et les initiatives de la protection de l’eau de source et à un intérêt croissant pour les modes de gouvernance dans lesquels le gouvernement et les acteurs non gouvernementaux collaborent, cette recherche a examiné et a tiré des leçons de l’Initiative de classification des eaux au Nouveau-Brunswick, Canada. La recherche a visé spécifiquement à décrire le développement de l’Initiative, à analyser les relations structurelles entre les acteurs qui participent à l’Initiative et à décrire les succès obtenus et les défis rencontrés. L’enquête sur l’Initiative de classification des eaux illustre comment : les aspects clés de la protection de l’eau de source identifiés dans la littérature (ex. le bassin versant comme une échelle focale, des approches collaboratives, l’incorporation de la science et les connaissances locales) peuvent être incorporés dans la politique; la capacité puisse être développée ou contrainte au contexte des approches collaboratives dirigées par le gouvernement, et l’analyse du réseautage social offre un instrument puissant pour comprendre les interactions entre ceux qui participent dans un processus politique. Apprendre de ces aperçus offre une occasion d’avancer le développement de nouvelles approches aussi bien que d’améliorer les politiques de la protection de l’eau de source existantes.

Introducing Resilience Practice to Watershed Groups: What Are the Learning Effects?

ABSTRACT Resilience as an organizing framework for addressing dynamics of social–ecological systems has experienced strong uptake; however, its application is nascent. This research study aimed to address the gap between resilience thinking and practice by focusing on learning, a key aspect of resilience. Two Canadian watershed groups were led in 2-day workshops focused on resilience. Learning effects were measured using a survey administered both before and after the workshop, and a qualitative survey was administered 6 months later to understand longer term effects. Short-term learning effects were similar between the two case studies, with strong cognitive and relational learning and less normative learning. Longer term effects showed enduring cognitive and normative learning in both cases; however, relational learning persisted only in the watershed where a resilience practice approach to watershed planning had been incorporated. Future research directions include refinements to the learning measurement methodology and continuing to build resilience practice literature.

Probing the relationship between ecosystem perceptions and approaches to environmental governance: an exploratory content analysis of seven water dilemmas

Abstract Addressing wicked ‘water dilemmas’ requires an understanding of the context within which they are embedded. This study explored perceptions of the ecosystem in terms of resilience and the governance approaches employed through a content analysis of documents from seven case studies across the globe. Analytical constructs developed for resilience and governance approaches guided the exploration. Multiple resilience types were present in documents for each case, but few patterns emerged across cases. Governance approaches were strongly focused on state approaches in most cases. A relationship between resilience type and governance approach was not clear; however, a pattern emerged between the presence of the social–ecological resilience type and non-state-centred governance forms. The type of author (government, non-government) or the type of document (research and advisory, descriptive) were not found to mediate the findings as resilience framings varied considerably and state governance approaches were emphasised throughout. As the findings stand in contrast to contemporary scholarship on understanding ecosystems and environmental governance they raise important issues to which individuals must be cognizant when accessing documents for guidance. They also open avenues for future investigation of water dilemmas at the nexus of theory, policy and practice.

Context and capacity: The potential for performance-based agricultural water quality policy

Current Canadian policy approaches to agricultural water quality encourage the adoption of best management practices through voluntary, incentive-based measures. Despite these measures, concerns about agricultural impacts on water quality persist. Performance-based policy approaches with incentives that are tied to defined outcomes, and not to particular practices, may have an important role in managing water quality. Five performance-based approaches to address water quality in agricultural landscapes were identified: water quality trading/permitting, differentiated payments for ecosystem services, reverse auctions; emissions charges, and cross-compliance (a hybrid measure). The purpose of this paper is to critically assess the institutional and socio-cultural context that facilitated existing performance-based policy instrument adoption. Through this analysis, three key contextual factors were identified as enablers of performance based approaches: (1) social context, (2) institutional capacity and (3) standardized, consistent and robust estimation methodologies. A framework was developed to classify performance based programs and approaches. The application of the findings from this research and the classification framework provide an organized approach to assess the feasibility of implementing performance-based approaches for agri-environmental water quality policy.

Analysis of Swedish Forest Owners' Information and Knowledge-Sharing Networks for Decision-Making : Insights for Climate Change Communication and Adaptation

To further the understanding of climate change adaptation processes, more attention needs to be paid to the various contextual factors that shape whether and how climate-related knowledge and information is received and acted upon by actors involved. This study sets out to examine the characteristics of forest owners’ in Sweden, the information and knowledge-sharing networks they draw upon for decision-making, and their perceptions of climate risks, their forests’ resilience, the need for adaptation, and perceived adaptive capacity. By applying the concept of ego-network analysis, the empirical data was generated by a quantitative survey distributed to 3000 private forest owners’ in Sweden in 2014 with a response rate of 31%. The results show that there is a positive correlation, even though it is generally weak, between forest owner climate perceptions and (i) network features, i.e. network size and heterogeneity, and (ii) presence of certain alter groups (i.e. network members or actors). Results indicate that forest owners’ social networks currently serve only a minimal function of sharing knowledge of climate change and adaptation. Moreover, considering the fairly infrequent contact between respondents and alter groups, the timing of knowledge sharing is important. In conclusion we suggest those actors that forest owners’ most frequently communicate with, especially forestry experts providing advisory services (e.g. forest owner associations, companies, and authorities) have a clear role to communicate both the risks of climate change and opportunities for adaptation. Peers are valuable in connecting information about climate risks and adaptation to the actual forest property.

Improving river health: insights into initiating collaboration in a transboundary river basin

ABSTRACT River health is a concern worldwide. Governance of river basins is particularly complicated when they are large scale and cross jurisdictional boundaries. Past approaches to making decisions in transboundary basins are limited and attention is increasingly being focused on the potential of collaboration. This research investigates the initiation phase of a collaborative conservation project (WWF-Canada Freshwater Program, St. John River project) in the St. John River Basin of Canada. A social-ecological inventory technique and social network analysis are used to identify the actors in the transboundary basin and their activities, perceptions and connections to river health, relationship with other stakeholders, and actual engagement with a milestone event in the project. Insights gained from exploring the relationships between/among these variables highlight the complicated nature of initiating collaboration. A common understanding of river health and a strong structure of connected actors were encouraging signs that collaboration may flourish, while the assertion of power and context surrounding the initiative were found to mediate its possibility. The collaborative potential of conservation projects in large-scale transboundary river basins may be enhanced through such research and by actively applying these insights.

Cisterns and safe drinking water in Canada

Access to sources of safe drinking water is imperative to human health and of concern in both developing and developed countries. A myriad of responses have occurred to enhance drinking water safety in Canada over the decade since the Walkerton tragedy. Pressing questions remain about drinking water safety, especially in small systems and private water supplies that fall outside much of the recently implemented regulations. This paper explores the use of cisterns in Canada and their safety as a private means to supply potable drinking water. Knowledge of cistern use in Canada is probed, associated health risks are examined and the ways these risks are being managed are considered. Knowledge of cistern use in Canada at present is nominal. Management and policy considerations need to be advanced alongside further research to better understand and manage risks associated with this source of drinking water. Avoir accès aux sources d’eau potable est nécessaire pour la santé humaine et est une inquiétude importante dans les pays développés et en développement. Une myriade de réponses s’est produite au cours de la décennie depuis la tragédie de Walkerton afin d’améliorer la sécurité de l’eau potable au Canada. Des questions urgentes demeurent quant à la sécurité de l’eau potable, particulièrement dans les petits systèmes et dans les approvisionnements en eau privés qui ne satisfont pas aux plusieurs des règlements récemment mis en place. Cet article examine l’usage des citernes au Canada et leur sécurité en tant que source privée d’eau potable. La connaissance de l’usage des citernes au Canada est sondée, les risques pour la santé associés à ces sources d’eau sont examinés et les façons dont ces risques sont gérés sont explorées. Actuellement, la connaissance de l’usage des citernes au Canada est rudimentaire. La gestion et les considérations de principe ont besoin d’être avancées, accompagné par des recherches plus approfondies afin de mieux comprendre et gérer les risques associés à cette source d’eau potable.

Diagnosing adaptive comanagement across multiple cases

Adaptive comanagement is at an important cross-road: different research paths forward are possible, and a diagnostic approach has been identified as a promising one. Accordingly, we operationalize ...

The roles of capitals in building capacity to address urban flooding in the shift to a new water management approach

Stresses on water resources are considerable and will intensify in the future due to climatic and non-climatic drivers. The emerging shift from science-based command and control ‘old’ water management approach to a dynamic and integrative systems view of water—a ‘new’ water management approach—was explored using the concept of capacity, operationalized using the livelihoods capitals approach (i.e. physical, natural, financial, human and social capitals), as a conceptual lens in a multiple case study of notable cases of urban flooding from Canada and Australia. The findings show that there are changing conceptualizations of capacity in both cases over time. Physical and financial capitals have been emphasized for decades and are associated with the old water management approach, responding to major flood events with the construction of large control structures. While the importance of these capital inputs persists, the approach to building capacity under the emergence of the new water management approach places an increasing relative emphasis on social and human capitals. The lack of emphasis on natural capital persisted over time and should be considered explicitly in flood management. This study demonstrates how the capitals approach contributes to the very much needed understanding of how the shift from the old to a new water management approach is being expressed for both present-day decisions and long-term trajectories.