|
Abstract:
|
"Adaptive co-management is an important governance innovation because it recognizes that social-ecological resilience requires attention to changing and diverse livelihoods and the divergent capacities and power of different groups to engage in governance. Even though this is a growing research field, efforts to evaluate the process of adaptive co-management and the relationship between goals and outcomes have been scarce. Building on existing efforts, and drawing also from the field of public participation, we propose a formative evaluation framework for adaptive co-management, which focuses on its operation and the connections between process features and outcomes. The framework consists of four components and two evaluation approaches. The components of the evaluation framework are as follows: (i) Setting (ecological, social and social-ecological, institutional, external drivers); (ii) Process (participation, relationship building, social learning); (iii) Outcomes (social capital, social learning and adaptation, decision making) and (iv) Effects (ecological, social and socio-ecological). Methodologically, the two evaluation approaches integrated in our framework are conventional-constructivist and participatory or collaborative. This framework is being refined as we implement it in two case studies, one in Uruguay and the other in Brazil. We analyze how the twofold evaluation framework for adaptive co-management, aiming at improving practice, informing policy, and building capacity, may be a catalyst for collaboration and adaptation. The proposed framework may be transferable to other governance / management approaches involving multiple actors (e.g. community, government, non-government)."
|