Will Allen

Toward More Reflexive Use of Adaptive Management

Adaptive management is commonly identified as a way to address situations where ecological and social uncertainty exists. Two discourses are common: a focus on experimentation, and a focus on collaboration. The roles of experimental and collaborative adaptive management in contemporary practice are reviewed to identify tools for bridging the discourses. Examples include broadening the scope of contributions during the buy-in and goal-setting stages, using conceptual models and decision support tools to include stakeholders in model development, experimentation using indicators of concern to stakeholders, an experimental focus that reflects the level of statistical confidence required by management, and the engagement of stakeholders in data interpretation so that those affected by management outcomes can learn and adapt accordingly. In this context, a framework of questions that managers can use to reflect on both ecological and social uncertainties as they relate to individual management contexts is proposed.

Integrated catchment management—interweaving social process and science knowledge

This paper provides an overview of the Motueka integrated catchment management (ICM) research programme. This research was based on the thesis that achieving ecosystem resilience at a catchment scale requires active measures to develop community resilience. We define a generic adaptive planning and action process, with associated knowledge management and stakeholder involvement processes, and illustrate those processes with observations from five research themes: (1) water allocation; (2) land use effects on water; (3) land and freshwater impacts on the coast; (4) integrative tools and processes for managing cumulative effects; and (5) building human capital and facilitating community action. Our research clearly illustrates the benefits for effective decision-making of carrying out catchment scale science and management within collaborative processes which patiently develop trusting relationships. We conclude that coastal catchments should be managed as a holistic continuum from ridge tops to the sea and that some processes like floods or loss of community resilience have decadal consequences, which support the need for long-term monitoring and investment.

Building collaboration and learning in integrated catchment management: the importance of social process and multiple engagement approaches

Success at integrated catchment management (ICM) requires the ongoing participation of different stakeholders in an adaptive and learning-based management process. However, this can be difficult to achieve in practice because many initiatives fail to address the underlying social process aspects required. We review emerging lessons around how to engage stakeholders in ways that support social learning. We focus on the experience of an ICM research programme based in the Motueka catchment in New Zealand and provide a simple framework for distinguishing a range of conversations across different communities of practice. We highlight the need to use multiple engagement approaches to address different constituent needs and opportunities, and to encourage the informal conversations that spring up around these. We then illustrate the range of platforms for dialogue and learning that were used in the programme during 10 years of ICM research. Finally, a number of lessons are described from across the programme to guide research leaders and managers seeking to improve collaboration in other integrated science, management and policy initiatives.

Participatory modelling with an influence matrix and the calculation of whole-of-system sustainability values

This paper documents the results of a participatory modelling trial involving an influence matrix with a group of researchers and community members in the Motueka Catchment of New Zealand. In this trail, the influence matrix was used to calculate whole-of-system sustainability-values used to: (i) guide system dynamic model development, (ii) build understanding about the functional role of system factors, and (iii) contribute to method and theory development in a sustainability research context. This paper provides: (i) an historical account of the theoretical development of the influence matrix, (ii) theoretical justification for the use of this tool in the estimation of whole-of-system sustainability values, and (iii) a stepwise account of how the method has been trialled in a New Zealand case study, including an evaluation of its limitations and areas where future research is needed.

Integrated catchment management research: lessons for interdisciplinary science from the Motueka Catchment, New Zealand

Integrative research projects are becoming more common and inherently face challenges that single-discipline or multi-disciplinary projects seldom do. It is difficult to learn what makes a successful integrative research project as many of these challenges and solutions often go unreported. Using the New Zealand Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) for the Motueka River research program, we reflect on the demands confronting research programs attempting to operate in an integrative interdisciplinary manner. We highlight seven key lessons that may help others learn of the benefits and difficulties that confront scientists and stakeholders involved in undertaking similar research. These are (1) clarify the goal and work with key people; (2) manage expectations; (3) agree on integrative concepts and face the challenge of epistemology; (4) leadership; (5) communication in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect; (6) acknowledge that different modes of learning mean that a wide range of knowledge products are needed; and (7) measure and celebrate success. The recognition that many environmental problems can only be solved through the creation of new knowledge and through social processes that engage the research and management domains has been a major benefit of the research program.

Kia pono te mahi putaiao—doing science in the right spirit

Over the past two decades the challenges facing environmental and natural resource managers have become more complex. Natural resources are more contested and degraded, and as a result stakeholders are increasingly involved in their management. Single-issue management is often not proving effective. Policymakers, industry sectors, indigenous groups, communities and scientists alike have to recognise the interlinked nature of many apparent resource use problems. Successful outcomes are increasingly dependent on the coordinated actions of decision makers operating at many different levels and scales. Consequently, many viewpoints and sources of information have to be shared among the different stakeholders involved, and integrated to find solutions that will guide the way forward (Allen & Kilvington 2005; Berkes 2009 this issue; Robson et al. 2009 this issue). Multi-stakeholder research approaches that facilitate the wide involvement of people in problem solving and decision making with respect to issues and plans which impact on them are becoming widespread. Transdisciplinary research approaches such as sustainability science (Kates et al. 2001), post-normal science (Funtowitz & Ravetz 1993) and complexity science (Waldrop 1992) all call for more inclusive inquiry where local and other knowledge systems collaborate with science in research. The ownership of resulting knowledge production and ensuing management efforts are wider and can more adequately address issues of sustainability. The papers in this issue all highlight the importance of working with indigenous peoples on issues of environmental management. The use of indigenous knowledge in environmental research raises some particular issues for transdisciplinary approaches. We agree with Berkes (2009 this issue) that the science versus indigenous knowledge debate would be more usefully reframed as a dialogue and partnership. Moreover, if indigenous knowledge about the environment is viewed more broadly as a system through which indigenous peoples understand and engage in the world (Raffles 2002), then it encompasses much more than ecological knowledge. Work with traditional ecological knowledge therefore is necessarily framed within a wider cultural base (Berkes 2009 this issue). Because indigenous knowledge systems tend to view people, animals, plants and other elements of the universe as interconnected by a network of social relations and obligations (International Council for Science 2002),

Bridging Disciplines, Knowledge Systems and Cultures in Pest Management

The success of research in integrated environmental and natural resource management relies on the participation and involvement of different disciplines and stakeholders. This can be difficult to achieve in practice because many initiatives fail to address the underlying social processes required for successful engagement and social learning. We used an action research approach to support a research-based group with a range of disciplinary and stakeholder expertise to critically reflect on their engagement practice and identify lessons around how to collaborate more effectively. This approach is provided here as a guide that can be used to support reflective research practice for engagement in other integration-based initiatives. This paper is set in the context of an integrated wildlife management research case study in New Zealand. We illustrate how multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches can provide a framework for considering the different conversations that need to occur in an integrated research program. We then outline rubrics that list the criteria required in inter- and trans-disciplinary collaborations, along with examples of effective engagement processes that directly support integration through such efforts. Finally, we discuss the implications of these experiences for other researchers and managers seeking to improve engagement and collaboration in integrated science, management and policy initiatives. Our experiences reaffirm the need for those involved in integrative initiatives to attend to the processes of engagement in both formal and informal settings, to provide opportunities for critical reflective practice, and to look for measures of success that acknowledge the importance of effective social process.

Understanding adaptation and transformation through indigenous practice: The case of the Guna of Panama

Resilience is emerging as a promising vehicle for improving management of social-ecological systems that can potentially lead to more sustainable arrangements between environmental and social spheres. Central to an understanding of how to support resilience is the need to understand social change and its links with adaptation and transformation. Our aim is to contribute to insights about and understanding of underlying social dynamics at play in social-ecological systems. We argue that longstanding indigenous practices provide opportunities for investigating processes of adaptation and transformation. We use in-depth analysis of adaptation and transformation through engagement in participatory action research, focusing on the role of cultural and social practices among the Guna indigenous peoples in Panama. Our findings reveal that cultural practices facilitating leadership development, personhood development, and social networking are critical for enabling both adaptation and transformation. Further, we argue that Guna ritual practice builds additional skills, such as critical self-reflection and creative innovation, that are important for supporting the deeper changes required by transformation.

Integrating Environmental and Socio-Economic Indicators of a Linked Catchment–Coastal System Using Variable Environmental Intensity

Can we develop land use policy that balances the conflicting views of stakeholders in a catchment while moving toward long term sustainability? Adaptive management provides a strategy for this whereby measures of catchment performance are compared against performance goals in order to progressively improve policy. However, the feedback loop of adaptive management is often slow and irreversible impacts may result before policy has been adapted. In contrast, integrated modelling of future land use policy provides rapid feedback and potentially improves the chance of avoiding unwanted collapse events. Replacing measures of catchment performance with modelled catchment performance has usually required the dynamic linking of many models, both biophysical and socio-economic—and this requires much effort in software development. As an alternative, we propose the use of variable environmental intensity (defined as the ratio of environmental impact over economic output) in a loose coupling of models to provide a sufficient level of integration while avoiding significant effort required for software development. This model construct was applied to the Motueka Catchment of New Zealand where several biophysical (riverine water quantity, sediment, E. coli faecal bacteria, trout numbers, nitrogen transport, marine productivity) models, a socio-economic (gross output, gross margin, job numbers) model, and an agent-based model were linked. An extreme set of land use scenarios (historic, present, and intensive) were applied to this modelling framework. Results suggest that the catchment is presently in a near optimal land use configuration that is unlikely to benefit from further intensification. This would quickly put stress on water quantity (at low flow) and water quality (E. coli). To date, this model evaluation is based on a theoretical test that explores the logical implications of intensification at an unlikely extreme in order to assess the implications of likely growth trajectories from present use. While this has largely been a desktop exercise, it would also be possible to use this framework to model and explore the biophysical and economic impacts of individual or collective catchment visions. We are currently investigating the use of the model in this type of application.

Learning About the Social Elements of Adaptive Management in the South Island Tussock Grasslands of New Zealand

Adaptive management initiatives are frequently used in multi-stakeholder situations. The more immediate barriers to success in these cases are proving to be organizational and social. We use a case study set in the South Island tussock grasslands of New Zealand to reflect on some of the social elements required to support ongoing collaborative monitoring and adaptive management. We begin by siting the case study within its wider policy context to show how this influences the choice and application of scientific inquiry. The next section concentrates particularly on the processes by which information and knowledge are shared across the different stakeholder groups involved. Finally, we expand on some specific lessons that emerge as important for sharing information and knowledge in adaptive management, including tools to support dialogue and improved tools for evaluation.