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Conference Paper Water Resource Management through Collective Action: A Study in the Context of Water User Group Among the Tribes of Eastern India(2015) Kumar, Sudeep"Water is one of the important natural resources that humanity needs for survival and progress. The judicious use and management of water resources is very much essential for agricultural development leading to improvement in the quality of life of the people in general. Although a number of efforts have been undertaken by many welfare functionaries in this direction; but, by and large, the fruits have not been favourable in the case of tribes and backward communities worldwide. This is especially so in the case of developing countries like India where about seventy percent of the population reside in the rural areas depending on agricultural activities for their livelihoods. The state of Jharkhand (a resource – rich– poor state) in eastern India is no exception to it. Under such circumstances, people’s participation or collective action as an alternative way in the management of water resources for the agricultural development leading to future progress and prosperity becomes very much necessary. In this backdrop, the present study is intended to examine the structure, function and management of a water user group – Swarnrekha Pani Panchayat in one of the tribal villages of eastern India (in Jamshedpur district, Jharkhand). The study also attempts to analyze the newly generated institutional framework in terms of its sustainability and self reliance through collective action for social transformation. The study is based on ethnographic approach using standard fieldwork research technique like observations, in-depth interviews, case studies and focused group discussions among the experimental (21 members of Pani Panchayat) and controlled (21 non-members) groups of the study area. The study reveals that there has been a significant change in the quality of life of the water user group members in the study area. However, despite a strong sense of identity and social bond there are tendencies to evade individual responsibilities governing the collectiveness. It may be concluded that such newly formed institutions need stimulation to strengthen collective action approach for bringing transformation among these backward groups."Conference Paper Villagers' Participation in Conservation of Village Woodlands: A Case of Korean Villages(2015) Youn, Yeo-Chang; Kim, Yi-Yeon"People have been in close relationship with forests in Korea. Forests are acknowledged to provide villagers with various services including prevention of natural disasters, shade, and aesthetic value among others. In general people have been allowed to access to village woodlands and thus village woodlands are considered as a public area. The most of village woodlands were established and managed by villagers. The village woodlands usually correspond to history, religion, and culture of its village as they are a part of the village. Because the village woodlands manifest the relationship between nature and human cumulated in a long time, stories of its village’s history and tradition. However, village woodlands are currently in danger of loss or degradation. The underlying cause of village woodlands’ loss are not simple. Abrupt interventions by colonial gov’t and privatization are considered as the main factors which forced the village common woodlands turn over to private hands or state. Ownership change during the Japanese colonization, Korean War, and Christian religion’s expansion are considered to have induced the loss of village commons in Korea. Recently the demand for ecosystems services of woodlands in the villages, especially in urban areas, is increasing. The increasing demand provides the basis for people’s participation in nature conservation. The authors postulated that sustainable management of village woodlands could be possible only if there is active participation of people in the decision making of woodlands management. The purpose of the study is to identify the factors that affect participation of the villagers in the conservation of village woodlands. Six villages located in Gwangyang city, Korea where maintained common woodlands are selected for case study. Residents of the six villages were interviewed face to face. We collected information on the villages and villagers’ demographics including sex, age, property, frequency of use by villagers, belief of shamanism, length of residence, ownership of village woodland. We employed the theoretical framework of social ecological systems proposed by Ostrom and applied dichotomous logit model to estimate the probability of villager’s willingness to participate in the conservation of village woodlands. The result of analysis shows that the factors increasing the villagers’ willingness to participate in conservation of village woodlands are ownership, shamanism, and frequency of woodlands use. The result of analysis also shows that factors increasing the villagers’ willing to pay for conservation of village woodlands are land ownership, belief of shamanism, and frequency of use, distance from the residence to the village woodlands. In order to increase villagers’ participation of conservation of village woodlands, the institutional arrangement of village woodlands needs to be renovated. The proposed elements of new institutional arrangement include facilitation of frequent use of village woodland and monitoring by villagers, and change of land ownership. Villagers and the government need to negotiate to make village woodlands as commons. The stories and history of village and village woodlands needs be documented and interpreted to the people, whoever visit the village woodlands."Conference Paper The Tragedy of the Privatization of the Commons(2015) Kim, Sung-Bae; Cho, Sung Bong"In the governance of common pool resources, there are two types of error. For one, the type 1 error is concerned with the case where unrestricted use of common pool resources leads to over-utilization and depletion of the resources. This is the well-known problem of the tragedy of the commons. We refer to this as a type 1 error, because a tragedy of the commons happens if a community mistakenly claims a certain resource as commons when, in fact, the resource would be better utilized as private property. For another, a type 2 error refers to the case where the erroneous privatization of common pool resources results in inefficient resource allocation or 'race to the bottom' situation. Therefore, this problem can be termed as the tragedy of the privatization. In this case, an optimal governance strategy may be to use the resource as a common property resource rather than a private property such that it may be governed either by the state or a self-governing community. In the real world, there are numerous cases where type 2 errors occur when common pool resources are governed. This study addresses the issue of the tragedy of privatization, which happens if the consent of a community is not well defined when in fact it should have been for the optimal use of the resource. In a sense, the tragedy of the privatization is the opposite case of the tragedy of anti-commons where the consent of a community is defined to excessively result in the under-utilization of the resource. We can find diverse ways to avoid the tragedy of the privatization. For example, we can interpret a firm as an organization in which employees voluntarily yield their private efforts to the employer preventing the potential tragedy of privatization by restraining their own use of work hours. Another example is a local government which quite often uses a mandate to restrict the way its constituents utilize their properties to prevent the tragedy of privatization. Specifically, we will do three things: first, we will explore several cases of the tragedy of the privatization of the commons in a historical context. Second, we will attempt to classify these cases based on the current status of governance. Finally, we will identify the determinants of the governance types. An effort of this nature would enable us to further expand the horizons of our understanding of the issue of common pool resource governance."Conference Paper Clubs, Common-Pools and Collective Actions: Discussing Complex Production Systems in Light of Sami Reindeer Pastoralism(2015) Autto, Hannu"In this paper, I argue that in analyzing over-investment problems in commons, it is useful to discern a specific type of over-investment problem: one where clubs are involved. I use the term 'over-investment problem of clubs' to denote such cases, and the term 'over-investment problem of individuals' to denote cases where no club exists (for example, as is the case in the classical 'tragedy of the commons'). The crucial difference between the two is the types of production factors involved. The 'over-investment problem of individuals' emerges when the system includes only private goods, in addition to the common pool. By contrast, the 'overinvestment problem of clubs' emerges when the system includes not only private goods and the common pool, but also collective- or club goods. Building on existing literature on collective action and E. Ostrom's design principles, I demonstrate that under a set of certain conditions, the problem of clubs is easier to solve than the problem of individuals. The argument is discussed in the light of Sami pastoralism in Lapland: for Sami reindeer-owners, clubs known as siidas provide their members with capital security for their privately-owned investments, thus solving their supply-side collective action problem. The existence of clubs not only crucially affects the outlook of the over-investment problem in the commons but also may affect the likelihood of its solution. The presence of clubs may bring about several mechanisms which increase the likelihood of solving the over-investment problem. These mechanisms are discussed in detail and in light of Sami reindeer pastoralism."Conference Paper Understanding the Relationship Between Forests and Floods: Empirical Evidence from India(2015) Bhattacharjee, Kasturi; Behera, Bhagirath"Of all environmental resources, forest resources are the most crucial links in the ecosystems. Apart from providing direct use values, forests provide numerous environmental services such as watershed protection, nutrient cycling, pollution control, climatic regulation, carbon sequestration, flood mitigation, prevent storms and landslides, and controls soil erosion. It is argued that degradation of these precious resources affects the economy and environment both locally and globally. Further, it is observed that the natural forests do reduce the frequency and severity of floods as it trap water during heavy rainfall and release it slowly into streams, which lessens the severity of floods. However, the link between forests and floods is still ambiguous and yet to be settled in academic literature. For unravelling this relationship, the objective of this study is to examine the relationship between flood impact and forest cover in India, where the frequency and severity of flood have risen over the years. The study uses secondary data on flood impact (loss of human lives and people affected), forest cover and deforestation across the states of India for the period 1998-2011. The association between flood impact and forest cover is examined taking into account the meteorological factors and socio-economic parameters of the states. The coefficients of Poisson regression and the Ordinary least square regression obtained suggest that the trend of forest cover in the country have an inverse relationship with the flood impact. Socio-economic factors such as literacy, per capita net state domestic product and total population have a significant influence on the magnitude of flood impact. Whereas climatic factors such as rainfall and temperature did not show a significant influence on the flood impact. The relative hazard loss ratio indicates that all the states of India are economically stable enough to be able to cope with the flood damages. The disaggregate level analysis suggest that several Indian states are highly vulnerable to floods due to large scale deforestation and forest degradation. Hence, large scale investment in forest protection and regeneration is needed to prevent persistent flood occurrences and to protect human lives."Conference Paper Collaborative Approach to Assessment of Social-Ecological Systems Based Ontology Engineering(2015) Kumazawa, Terukazu; Matsui, Takanori; Hara, Keishiro; Kurimoto, Shuji"How do we assess the social-ecological systems? There are actually various perspectives towards a social-ecological systems in a particular field among stakeholders, and therefore it is difficult to share this assessment result. The social-ecological systems (SESs) framework supports sharing the perspectives by providing the common items. However, it is necessary to share not only what to be identified as items but also how to link semantically between items in order to understand the mutual difference between perspectives explicitly. Ontology engineering, which is one of the base technologies in semantic Web technology, is a method to design some sort of guideline facilitating knowledge-sharing. It enables us to share a mutual difference between perspectives through explicating a definition of a concept. This paper aims at proposing the collaborative approach to assessment of social-ecological systems by means of ontology engineering approach. For this purpose, we first define the concepts reflected by the items in the SESs framework and incorporate these into the ontology dealing with sustainability science (SS). Second, we incorporate the goal items and indicator items proposed in the workshops of the Satoyama planning. As a target case we review the practice carried out in a Kizugawa city of Kyoto prefecture in Japan, which deals with the planning and management to maintain Satoyama and conserve ecosystems within the city while preserving unique history and cultures by means of the partnerships among various stakeholders. In this planning process a series of workshops were organized in which activity groups and city workers participated and discussed such essential issues as goals of the plan, principles of actions and evaluation indicators between 2012 and 2013. Third, we assess the proposed goal items and indicator items from the aspect of the SESs by means of the constructed SS-SESs ontology. As an assessment result the semantic linkages which represent the knowledge structure of the stakeholders are shown, and it enables us to understand the differences of the perspectives between stakeholders. Finally, we discuss how we actually use the SS-SESs ontology in the context of environmental planning and management. Concretely, we propose some ideas to implement collaboration by sharing all sorts of knowledge in different contexts."Conference Paper For the Common Good: Water Users' Associations, Collective Action and the Problem of 'Success' for Non-State Water Provisions(2015) Pia, Andrea Enrico"The Chinese water commons are currently under pressure. Along with many other water-stressed countries, China is facing a diminishing availability of irrigation and drinking water. As a way to tackle the problem, China introduced in 2002 a new framework for water management. This shift in governance produced the adoption of a set of principles – largely inspired by Elinor Ostrom's work on common pool resource management – emphasizing the need for increased participation of users in water management. One consequence of this is the introduction in the countryside of the so called Water Users' Associations (WUA), farmers-run associations supervising water management at the village level. This with the belief that devolving rights locally would avert the overconsumption of water and produce fair and sustainable practices of water management in the rural countryside. Based on 16 months of anthropological fieldwork among members of different WUAs operating in Yancong Township – a drought-prone area located in Yunnan Province – this ethnographic study suggests that the way in which collective action is imagined in rural China affects the extent to which 'WUAs in the book' could be replicated in 'action'. In particular this paper discusses how alternative and culturally specific benchmarks for evaluating organizational success as well as a local culture informing style and content of farmers participation conspire to reshape these organizations from within. Surprisingly however, the adaptation of WUA to local notions of power and efficacy does not end up undermining the fair and endurable management of water in Yancong. Rather, its is thanks to local practices of water sharing and stewardship that pre-dates the implementation of WUAs, if water is managed fairly and endurably. This paper concludes by suggesting that the operationalization of 'Ostrom-inspired' organizational solutions to the Chinese water problem might end up overlooking, when not undercutting, the important contribution that ordinary Chinese villagers have long been giving to sustainability in their country."Conference Paper The Kamaiurá Brazilian Indigenous People and Sustainable Development(2015) Curi, Melissa Volpato"This study aims to analyze the importance of the recognition of legal pluralism in promotion of cultural and environmental sustainability. Through the Legal Anthropology discipline, we intend to present some of the standards of the Brazilian indigenous people Kamaiurá, concerning land use and the use of natural resources. The Kamaiurá people live in the southern part of the Xingu Indigenous Park, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso and have a population of approximately 523 people. They are part of the Tupi linguistic branch and speak the indigenous language Kamaiurá. Due to their contact with non-indigenous people, most of the population also speaks Portuguese. Despite the presence of some Western values, such as consumer goods - clothes, motorcycles, stereos etc., the Kamaiurá people preserve their social organization and their unique way of relating to the natural environment. To understand a little of the Kamaiurá universe, it is necessary to understand the importance of myths to these indigenous people. They not only permeate through the collective imagination, but define rules and establish the way of life in the village. The respect they have for natural resources is connected to this mythological universe. The preservation of resources comes from a very close relationship they establish with nature, which is defined not only by dependency aspects, but mostly by the primary meaning of myths and Kamaiurá beliefs. Many plants and animals, for example, have spirits in the myths and they act directly on the social environment. In this sense, it is intrinsic in the indigenous nature to use natural resources sustainably, as they support them physically and culturally. It is common in some Kamaiurá myths to have marriages between Indians and animals, showing that they are treated as human equals. The Kamaiurá territory is collective. Although the Brazilian Federal Constitution does not recognize the indigenous property rights over their land, but rather only the right of possession, internally, there is no such distinction. Each village location is historically linked to its inhabitants. The territory identifies the indigenous people because of the memory of ancestors and the natural resources necessary for the maintenance of their socio-cultural survival. Among the Kamaiurá values is to care of individual goods, such as a fruit tree, as well as collective goods such as rivers, lakes and forests. Prioritizing the well-being of the community, the Kamaiurá indigenous people continue to adjust their rules and operate regardless of state authoritative presence. Considering the traditional way of life of indigenous peoples, recognition and respect of their own values are closely related to sustainable development, ensuring that both the environment and richness of cultural diversity is preserved."Conference Paper Small-Scale Fishers' Participation in Consultative Councils of Protected Areas in the Southeastern Coast of Brazil: Challenges for Public Participation(2015) de Araujo, Luciana Gomes; Seixas, Cristiana Simão; Trimble, Micaela"Despite the growing literature identifying factors leading to effective and successful participation, the academic field of evaluation of participatory mechanisms still needs empirical cases. In the municipality of Paraty (Rio de Janeiro State), SE Brazil, small-scale fishers from the community of Trindade participate directly, or are represented, in four consultative councils of protected areas (PAs), in which they struggle to maintain their traditional rights over fishing territories within PAs. This study aims to evaluate the exercise of participation by small-scale fishers and leaders of community-based organizations from Trindade, and other organizations representing them, in the Consultative Councils of the Serra da Bocaina National Park (SBNP) and Bocaina Mosaic (BM), a set of 29 PAs (including the SBNP). The evaluation was performed based on criteria from the public participation scholarship, such as representation, communication and transparency. Findings show that communication among participants during the meetings is unidirectional, hierarchical and controlled by the meetings’ coordinators/facilitators – always PA managers. Fishers are represented in the sense that they participate in the meetings but they have no voice in decisions that affect them. Some decisions are just informed by the managers, without transparency about the processes which created them. Although the councils we analyzed are an accomplishment in the field of public participation in Brazil since the creation of the National System of Conservation Units in 2000, there are still numerous challenges. We provide some recommendations for the improvement of these councils as multi-stakeholder participation arenas."Conference Paper 'Usi Civici': The Italian Side of the Commons(2015) Paoloni, Lorenza; Mancini, Flavia"The Commons represents a topical subject, hugely important for the future: in these last two decades it has become an object of interest for all modern social sciences, and for the public opinion. The current international debate has fallen on a fertile ground also in Italy. In Italy this debate has focused both on the legal definition of the commons and on their historical experience through the centuries. The present study aims at drawing the attention on the specific reality of the Italian system of common lands, underlying the awareness and the importance of these resources, that still represent one third of the national territory. The social and cultural context, the environmental issue, a system of communities based on solidarity and cooperation are the heterogeneous elements of collective utilization of these natural resources: woods, pastures, forests. So, what does this concept really mean and represent today? How and why did the Italian Legislator decide to unify under a single legal framework – the law n. 1766/1927 and the Regio Decreto n. 332/1928- the different types of commons , emerged through time as a consequence of historical and social evolution? At this point it is necessary to clarify what can be defined as usi civici. They represent perpetual rights (ius lignandi, pascendi, serendi, etc.) of a specific community, on collective, public or private lands. These rights can be exercised uti singulus et uti civis. In the 20th century the expression usi civici has been the object of a process of vulgarization. Doctrine and jurisprudence misused it, applying it to all the situations of common ownership: chaos was the result. The confusion was created by legal doctrine, although it existed already in historical written sources, which report many different meanings of the term, as bona communitativa and communitas. The basis of all forms of collective belongings has always been the community, settled in a given territory and having its own self-organization. Not everybody in fact has the right of access these properties: in pre-modern Italy lands, woods, pastures, and also the fructus offered by nature, were in most cases conceived as common goods, but they belonged and could be enjoyed only by the people who were part of that specific community. The development of the Italian municipal towns (Comuni) did not affect the existing communities, but crept into a pre-existing natural and direct relationship between human beings and land. Thus, history presents a multiplicity of evolving situations of these collective rights, in which it is nevertheless possible to identify some constant elements: indivisibility, unavailability and imprescriptibility. To any settlement of self- organized people - however called: amministrazioni separate dei beni di uso civico, comunanze, partecipanze, regole, università agrarie, etc. - corresponds a specific collective form of utilization. For this reason, to subsume such variety of situations and rights under one single legal model - as the 1927-28 laws quoted above did - appears too narrow and even counterproductive. Ever since the various forms of collective belongings resist to the laws’ fingers. The 1927-28 laws did not recognize the persistence of different realities, and pretended to rule all of them under the legal categories of the Regno di Napoli, one of the regional states existing before the unification of the country in 1870. A reflection of the Italian legislator would therefore be highly welcomed. In the last few years – after 2009 - many promising projects have been started, aimed at introducing and recognising a new category of goods in the Italian Constitution, defined as 'beni collettivi' (common goods). The debate has given new lymph to this field of study, bringing out a renovated conscience for the importance of 'common goods'. The present crises of the capitalistic system shows the need to go back to the origins and to establish a new relationship between human beings and natural resources."