Browsing by Author "Steins, Nathalie A."

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7

All Hands on Deck: An Interactive Perspective on Complex Common-pool Resource Management Based on Case Studies in the Coastal Waters of the Isle of Wight (UK), Connemara (Ireland) and the Dutch Wadden Sea
(1999) Steins, Nathalie A.
"This book is about the management of coastal resources. It is about fishermen, shellfish cultivators, salmon farmers, yachtsmen, cargo operators, nature conservationists, researchers, development agents and authorities. It is also about fish cages, fairways, birds, fishing vessels and 'vacuum cleaners'. In particular, the study is about collective action processes amongst multiple stakeholders in the coastal waters and how such processes are shaped in time and space as a result of interactions amongst such stakeholders (and non-human entities). "The study is the outcome of several research projects carried out while I was working at the University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom (February 1996 - August 1998). Some of the projects were driven by a purely academic interest in the collective management of natural resources. Others were part of consultancy work or programmes funded by the European Union. The thread of all these projects is the management of coastal resources that are used in common by multiple users for multiple types of use, and, more particularly, the problems associated with multiple-use and the users' strategies to deal with these problems through collective action."
Developing an Analytical Framework for Multiple-Use Commons
(1996) Edwards, Victoria M.; Steins, Nathalie A.
"Much of the work conducted on common property resources has tended to focus on relatively undeveloped commons, where the imperative is to establish coordinated action between a single type of user of the resource. There are some exceptions to this. For example, Gupta examined the stratified social structure in Rajasthan and explained how it affected commons in terms of the different expectations of the different classes of users and the different animals that they depastured. Nevertheless, whilst his work covered different classes of commoners with different animals, it focused on a single use: that of grazing. As traditional commons in developing countries evolve, research which explains the persistence of commons with multiple ownership, use and management It structures will become increasingly relevant as a foundation for the theory of complex common property regimes. This paper attempts to extend the simple analytical framework put forward by Oakerson and developed by Blaikie & Brookfield , Ostrom, and Tang, for application in more complex multiple-use common property resource situations in developed countries. As such, the framework must be capable of facilitating analysis of resource systems which support multiple types of uses by multiple types of communities/groups. Initial research suggests that six essential components must be incorporated in the framework. First, the physical and technological characteristics of the resource must be analysed with respect to different uses. Second, the multiple-use framework must facilitate analysis of the different communities involved in the use and management of the common property resource. Third, the framework should focus the researcher on how different types of users respond to different institutional arrangements through analysis of 'context-bound' factors. Fourth, the framework must comprise a multiple-level analytical tool in order to further an understanding of institutional evolution and the progression of institutional reform through different levels of the institutional arrangements. Fifth, the framework should incorporate different rule categories, in a generic fashion, at different levels of analysis. Finally, the framework must be capable of repetition through a succession of chosen time periods."
From Single Use to Multiple Use: Co-operation and Conflict in Marine Resource Management in North West Connemara (Ireland)
(1996) Steins, Nathalie A.
"Of particular importance for the study of resources that are held in common is the issue of cooperation or collective action. The extensive body of literature on this subject suggests a number of factors that encourage collective action. However, these factors are mainly related to 'internal' characteristics of the resource system and stem from empirical research on commons that are characterised by one, single extractive use. In multiple use scenarios, where activities by different user groups take place within the same resource system, the issue of co-operation becomes even more important, since each user group's action will have an impact on the resource use by other user groups, and on the management of the resource as a whole. The objective of this paper is to examine the factors that affect co-operation between user groups in a multiple use setting. The empirical basis for this paper is laid by two case studies of multiple use scenarios in North West Connemara, Ireland: Killary Harbour and Ballynakill Harbour. Both estuaries accommodate inshore fishermen, a salmon farm, shellfish producers, aquatourism enterprises and freshwater fisheries. Unlike many estuaries in the south and east of Ireland, the estuaries in North West Connemara are relatively unspoilt areas, where traditional users have only recently witnessed the arrival of new user groups. Incentives by the government to stimulate socio-economic development has resulted in favourable policies for new entrepreneurs. The promotion of the area for tourism and infrastructural improvements have made this part of Ireland more accessible to tourists. As a result, aquaculture and aquatourism enterprises are being set up all along the area's coast. The new status of many estuaries as multiple-use resources place new demands on resource management and the user groups. A comparison of the two case studies revealed the evolution of management strategies and inter-user relationships must be seen as an outcome of interactions between the internal and external characteristics or resource management in a dynamic environment. The paper identifies seven factors that affect co-operation between user groups in a multiple-use setting: (1) the relationship between the technology of the activity and the physical characteristics of the resource system; (2) the extent to which the user groups perceive each other's activities as a threat to their own specific use; (3) past experiences with other users; (4) the rate of participation in external policies affecting local resource use; (5) the extent to which producers have secured their position in the market; (6) the role of external agents involved in resource management; and (7) external factors. These factors will help researchers and practitioners to organise information about the networks that have been established between different user groups that use the same resource system for their individual activities."
Platforms for Collective Action in Multiple-Use CPRs
(1998) Steins, Nathalie A.; Edwards, Victoria M.
"Collective action processes in complex, multiple use common-pool resources (CPRs) have only recently become a focus of study. When CPRs evolve into more complex systems, resource use by separate user groups becomes increasingly interdependent. This implies, amongst others, that the institutional framework governing resource use has to be re-negotiated to avoid adverse impacts associated with the increased access of any new stakeholders, such as overexploitation, alienation of traditional users and inter-user conflicts. "World-wide experiences in the field of extension science suggest that the establishment of 'platforms for resource use negotiation' is a way of dealing with complex natural resource management problems. A platform is defined as a decision-making body (voluntary or statutory) comprising different stakeholders who perceive the same resource management problem, realise their interdependence for solving it, and come together to agree on action strategies for solving the problem (Roling, 1994). "This paper sets the scene for panel discussion on the potential of local platforms for resource use negotiation in facilitating collective action in the management of complex, multiple use CPRs. The paper has five objectives. First, we identify what we mean by 'collective action' in the context of this paper. Second, we discuss the importance of collective action in complex, multiple use CPRs. Third, we introduce the concept of 'platforms for resource use negotiation' to co-ordinate collective action by multiple users. Fourth, we address a number of issues that emerge from evidence in the field regarding the role and potential of local platforms in the management of complex, multiple-use CPRs. Finally, we raise five discussion statements related to the effectiveness of local platforms to co-ordinate collective action in complex, multiple-use scenarios. The latter will form the basis for the panel discussion."
Re-Designing the Principles: An Interactive Perspective to CPR Theory
(2000) Steins, Nathalie A.; Röling, Niels; Edwards, Victoria M.
"The concepts and frameworks developed in common-pool resource (CPR) theory are increasingly being applied to problems associated with the management of complex CPRs at local and global level. Furthermore, existing frameworks are increasingly being adopted by organisations such as the World Bank as tools for crafting sustainable CPR use through collective action. The paper argues that CPR theory is not sufficiently developed to justify these practices and proposes an alternative perspective. "Based on a critical examination of CPR theory and empirical work conducted in the British, Irish and Dutch coastal waters, the paper argues that the definition of the rational, atomised actor underlying CPR theory is too limited to explain collective action processes. Instead, actors should be regarded as nested collectifs, whose strategies in the collective action arena are constantly reshaped. Second, the use of a static strategic model of rationality is insufficient to appreciate the shaping of collective action (or free-riding). Nested collectifs use different social and material means to achieve their objectives. In trying to enrol other collectifs in collective actions aimed at realising their projects, different forms of strategic and communicative rationality emerge. Third, the use of pre-defined categories and design principles diverts attention from (i) the stakeholders' constructions of collective resource management, and (ii) the influence of contextual factors, and therefore limits the explanatory power of CPR theory. Furthermore, a danger inherent in the design principles is that they are picked up as blueprints for the development of policies and intervention programmes for successful CPR management. "If CPR theory is to be used as a foundation for the analysis of complex CPRs or as a conceptual framework in pursuing the idea that collective action is a powerful alternative to deal with complex resource management problems, a radical reconstruction of its ontological foundation is needed. The paper proposes an interactive approach to the study and facilitation of complex CPR management. In this new approach, attention is shifted to the way actors (or nested collectifs ) construct collective resource management and the analysis of internal and contextual factors that shape the action strategies they adopt. In this analytical process, co-operation, free-riding and rationality are outcomes of the interplay and trials of strength amongst the different collectifs with a stake in the CPR, and their mobilisation of social and material resources. In view of the increasing reliance on collective action to solve complex resource management problems, the paper recommends that a praxeology (a theory that informs practice) for CPR theory needs urgent development. In this context, user platforms have much to offer to negotiate collective CPR use and management."
The Role of Contextual Factors in Common Pool Resource Analysis
(1998) Edwards, Victoria M.; Steins, Nathalie A.
Authors' Introduction: "It is recognised that well-established rules are a necessary, but not sufficient condition of successful collective action (see Barrett, 1991; Eyborsson, 1995; Steins, 1995). Successful co-operation depends largely on the response of individual actors, influenced by incentives derived from both inside and outside the management regime. Contextual factors are one set of such factors and include dynamic forces based locally and remote from the resource management regime: they are constituted in the user groups' social, cultural, economic, political, technological and institutional environment and can have an important part to play in establishing the choice sets from which common property users can select strategies (Edwards & Steins, 1996; Steins, 1997). In this respect, they are important in determining the evolution of decision-making arrangements for managing common pool resources (CPRs). "Contextual factors define (i) what is physically, legally, economically and socially feasible in terms of the supply of products and services from a resource and (ii) what is economically, socially and culturally desirable, by establishing the demand factor. As a result, the choice sets related to use of the resource system are expanded in terms of (i) the number and types of users; and (ii) the type and extent of use. In addition, contextual factors often redefine choice sets related to revision of the decision-making arrangements governing the resource (see Feeny, 1988; Edwards, 1996; Barrett, 1991). Lack of knowledge of contextual factors can lead analysts to make simplified judgments about the state of management of the resource. The paper advises researchers to focus on the choice sets available to individual users of the resource, in terms of (i) products and services demanded of the resource, (ii) the different decision-making arrangements possible and (III) different action strategies, and tracing back the derivation of these choice sets to contextual factors. This has particular relevance in multiple-use CPRs, where there is more than one type of user group and analysis must address expected differentials in the adoption of individual strategies according to use of the CPR."
Securing Access to the Sea: The Creation of an 'Artificial Common Property Resource'
(1995) Steins, Nathalie A.
"A strategy for a group of people who fear that future access to a common resource is endangered, is to create an 'artificial common property' within this resource. The question is whether this strategy forms a sound basis for the sustainable management of this new property and, on its turn, the management of the larger resource. "In Connemara, Ireland, a group of fishermen felt that the expansion of finfish farms in the local bay resulted in a decreasing catch and an increased number of restricted areas. They initiated a shellfish farming co-operative under the guise of expanding the fishing season and providing the area with employment opportunities through revitalizing the bay's derelict oyster beds. Shareholders' rights on dredging permits are based on a yearly 'voluntary labour' obligation. "The establishment of this co-operative can be considered as a strategic action. Once the necessary licenses had been obtained and access to part of the sea had been secured many shareholders chucked it. More than two third of them have become free-riders. The necessary work at the oyster resource has been done through a government-sponsored social employment scheme. Shareholders' willingness to sustain the oyster resource has been influenced by (a) conflicting individual interests; (b) the (still) relatively unimportant position the co-op has in the community's socio-economic structure, aggravated by opportunity costs in other areas and the four years' waiting period between labour contributions and first uncertain rewards; (c) the institutionalised reluctance to sanction freeriders; (d) lack of back-up from social coercion mechanisms in community; and (e) external institutions prepared to support the co-op 'in the name of development', but whose well-intended interventions stimulated a reverse process. "The fishermen may have 'saved' their bay from the finfish farms, but the future of the revitalized oyster resource is uncertain."