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Do Adaptive Comanagement Processes Lead to Adaptive Comanagement Outcomes? A Multicase Study of Long-term Outcomes Associated with the National Riparian Service Team’s Place-based Riparian Assistance
Adaptive comanagement (ACM) is a novel approach to environmental governance that combines the dynamic learning features of adaptive management with the linking and network features of collaborative management. There is growing interest in the potential for ACM to resolve conflicts around natural resource management and contribute to greater social and ecological resilience, but little is known about how to catalyze long lasting ACM arrangements. We contribute to knowledge on this topic by evaluating the National Riparian Service Team’s (NRST) efforts to catalyze ACM of public lands riparian areas in seven cases in the western U.S. We found that the NRST’s approach offers a relatively novel model for integrating joint fact-finding, multiple forms of knowledge, and collaborative problem solving to improve public lands riparian grazing management. With this approach, learning and dialogue often helped facilitate the development of shared understanding and trust, key features of ACM. Their activities also influenced changes in assessment, monitoring, and management approaches to public lands riparian area grazing, also indicative of a transition to ACM. Whereas these effects often aligned with the NRST's immediate objectives, i.e., to work through a specific issue or point of conflict, there was little evidence of long-term effects beyond the specific issue or intervention; that is, in most cases the initiative did not influence longer term changes in place-based governance and institutions. Our results suggest that the success of interventions aimed at catalyzing the transformation of governance arrangements toward ACM may hinge on factors external to the collaborative process such as the presence or absence of (1) dynamic local leadership and (2) high quality agreements regarding next steps for the group. Efforts to establish long lasting ACM institutions may also face significant constraints and barriers, including existing laws and regulations associated with public land management.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the author(s) and published by the Resilience Alliance. The published article can be found at: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/.Keywords: Adaptive comanagement, Collaborative processes, Evaluation, U.S. WestKeywords: Adaptive comanagement, Collaborative processes, Evaluation, U.S. Wes
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Exploring pathways to adaptive collaborative management : a multi-case study of the National Riparian Service Team's place-based riparian assistance
Adaptive collaborative (co-) management has received increased recognition as a novel approach to environmental governance that combines the dynamic learning features of adaptive management with the linking and network features of collaborative management. This approach is concerned with fostering sustainable livelihoods and ecological sustainability in the face of uncertainty and change. Despite the growing interest in adaptive co-management, little is known about processes useful for catalyzing adaptive co-management arrangements. This paper considers the potential of a government-led initiative designed to build capacity for adaptive collaborative management. We present the results of our study comparing the outcomes of this approach to those forwarded by the adaptive co-management literature, identifying process and context factors that influence the initiative's effectiveness. A multi-case study approach was utilized to assess the degree to which the initiative helped catalyze adaptive co-management of public-lands riparian areas in seven cases in the western U.S. We found that the initiative influenced improvements in knowledge, trust among participants, and shared understanding. In most cases the initiative also helped work towards improvements in the management of specific community-level riparian issues. However, the initiative had a limited influence on the self-organization of new or modified governance arrangements capable of supporting cross-scale networks and ongoing cycles of learning from actions; key features of adaptive co-management. We found that employing adaptive co-management processes did not necessarily result in ongoing adaptive co-management arrangements. The presence of exogenous factors such as existing group capacity and facilitative leadership played an important role in determining whether the riparian initiative resulted in lasting outcomes, regardless of the approach used. We also identified constraints affecting the initiative's ability to facilitate authentic dialogue and develop high-quality agreements. Our results suggest that government-led interventions aimed at catalyzing the transformation of governance arrangements toward adaptive co-management may face significant barriers. Suggestions for future research include further investigation of the barriers and opportunities for government to help catalyze adaptive co-management, and the role of scale in the emergence of ongoing cross-scale networks