Stakeholder meanings and robustness in social-ecological systems : implications for managing change.

Ph. D. Unversity of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2015.Alignment of stakeholder behaviour with policies and rules is a key concern where natural resources are managed in the public interest. This thesis is based on the premise that behaviours are founded upon meanings as meanings direct stakeholder preferences for resource benefits. I developed a framework representing a social-ecological system and drew on the theories of symbolic interactionism and ecosystem services to illustrate the dynamic relationship between meaning, context, behaviour, perception of benefits and public infrastructure (policies). I propose that by incorporating meanings into the design of institutions, public infrastructure will continually reflect adjustments in meaning reordering in relation to the meanings of the collective to promote supportive stakeholder behaviour and enhancing system robustness during times of slow as well as rapid, disruptive change. The validity of the framework was tested using a case study from Tokai, South Africa. An interpretive and post-normal paradigm provided the foundation for the detection of stakeholder meanings brought to the fore by semistructured narrative interviews. Computer aided software and a combination of inductive and deductive analysis were used to generate themes and expressions to illustrate the construction and evolution of meanings during two distinctive phases in the social-ecological history of Tokai. Using the framework to interpret results I was able to illustrate how meanings and meaning prioritisation influence the perception of benefits and how these aspects direct behaviours. The findings indicated the importance of procedural and distributive justice in the negotiated design of public infrastructure and I was able to illustrate the implications for sustaining system robustness. The framework was helpful as a model to interpret the dynamic relationship between meanings, behaviours and institutional design but additional frameworks were needed to facilitate the construction of scenarios that incorporate vulnerability of robustness as reflected by varying levels of relational connectedness and relational capital during cycles of change. I suggest incorporating relational connectedness together with attention to meanings as an approach to fostering relational capital that is likely to direct behaviours to align more constructively with the meanings of the collective, and the associated public infrastructure. My research exposes opportunities for further inquiry: (1) Deeper insights into the relationship between meanings, collective identity and behaviours; (2) Understanding the influence of organisational culture on the adaptive management of collective identity and (3) Greater understanding of how these theoretical aspects should be applied in the practice of adaptive management and governance

Cities and the Transformation of Biodiversity Governance

The governing of nature has been an essential part of the story of urbanization. Whether through the conversion of rivers for transportation, the creation of urban drainage systems for wastewater removal or the installation of parks for their recreational and aesthetic value (Gandy, 2004; Gleeson and Low, 2000; Rydin, 1998), nature has played a critical role in urban development. Yet, conservationist thinking, which has dominated environmental governance and policy, has tended to equate the environment as belonging to either “rural” or “wilderness” places that needed to be protected from the encroachment of (urban) society (Owens, 1992). As a result, much of the governance of biodiversity at the urban scale during the twentieth century was focused on the designation and enforcement of protected areas (Vaccaro et al., 2013)

Testing the effects of an oral contraceptive on two plantation rodent pests, the striped mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio) and vlei rat (Otomys irroratus) : a laboratory study

Thesis project (M. Sc.) -- University of Stellenbosch, 1997.Full text to be digitised and attached to bibliographic record

Релігійна діяльність єзуїтів у східнослов'янському регіоні в останній третині XVI - першій половині XVII ст.

Проаналізовано результати й наслідки діяльності єзуїтів у контексті досягнення мети Товариства Ісуса в східнослов'янському регіоні. Релігійно-освітянська активність ордену єзуїтів була важливим складовим елементом історичних процесів у регіоні, дала поштовх розвитку місцевої освіти, активізації релігійного та суспільно-політичного життя, сприяла зближенню та взаємозбагаченню східнослов'янської та західноєвропейської культур. Проте одночасно вона призводила до певного обмеження впливу православ'я та сприяла кризі громадянського миру в регіоні.Тhe results and the consequences of those activities in the Region with reference to the goal of Jesus Society are also examined. The religious and the educational activities of Jesuit Order were the important element of the historical precesses in the Region, which gave rise to the development of local education, activized the religious, social and political fields. They were also an essential tribute to the interaction between the Western and the Eastern cultures. However it resulted in the restriction of the national cultural traditions and the crisis of civil peace in the Region

Cities and the Transformation of Biodiversity Governance

The governing of nature has been an essential part of the story of urbanization. Whether through the conversion of rivers for transportation, the creation of urban drainage systems for wastewater removal or the installation of parks for their recreational and aesthetic value (Gandy, 2004; Gleeson and Low, 2000; Rydin, 1998), nature has played a critical role in urban development. Yet, conservationist thinking, which has dominated environmental governance and policy, has tended to equate the environment as belonging to either “rural” or “wilderness” places that needed to be protected from the encroachment of (urban) society (Owens, 1992). As a result, much of the governance of biodiversity at the urban scale during the twentieth century was focused on the designation and enforcement of protected areas (Vaccaro et al., 2013)

Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Climate Change Adaptation: Linking Science, Policy, and Practice Communities for Evidence-Based Decision-Making

Nature-based solutions offer an exciting prospect for resilience building and advancing urban planning to address complex urban challenges simultaneously. In this article, we formulated through a coproduction process in workshops held during the first IPCC Cities and Climate Science Conference in Edmonton, Canada, in March 2018, a series of synthesis statements on the role, potential, and research gaps of nature-based solutions for climate adaptation and mitigation. We address interlocking questions about the evidence and knowledge needed for integrating nature-based solutions into urban agendas. We elaborate on the ways to advance the planning and knowledge agenda for nature-based solutions by focusing on knowledge coproduction, indicators and big data, and novel financing models. With this article, we intend to open a wider discussion on how cities can effectively mainstream nature-based solutions to mitigate and adapt to the negative effects of climate change and the future role of urban science in coproducing nature-based solutions

Visions for nature and nature’s contributions to people for the 21st century : Report from an IPBES visioning workshop held on 4-8 September 2017 in Auckland, New Zealand

Existing scenarios of biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES) have important limitations and gaps that constrain their usefulness for the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Specifically, they fail to incorporate policy objectives related to nature conservation and social-ecological feedbacks, they do not address the linkages between biodiversity and ecosystem services, and they are typically relevant at only a particular spatial scale. In addition, nature and its benefits are treated as the consequence of human decisions, but are not at the centre of the analysis. To address these issues, the IPBES Scenarios and Models Expert Group initiated the development of a set of Multiscale Scenarios for Nature Futures based on positive visions for human relationships with nature.The first step of this process was a visioning workshop with stakeholders and experts on 4-8 September 2017 in Auckland, New Zealand. A total of 73 participants from inter-governmental organisations, national government organisations, non-governmental organisations, academia and the private sector, from 31 countries, and with a range of sectoral expertise on biodiversity topics, from urban development to agriculture to fisheries, worked together in a visioning exercise. This report documents the results from this visioning workshop to inform further stakeholder consultation and the development of the associated multiscale scenarios by modelers and experts. This creative visioning exercise was carried out in four steps based on a suite of participatory methods that were used to develop visions of alternative futures. First the participants identified important themes to develop the visions. Next, thematic groups identified the main trends for BES in each theme and a set of “Seeds” of emerging initiatives leading to positive futures for our relationship with nature. Implications of what would happen across a range of sectors were identified for each seed. Then a pathway analysis of how the current regime in each theme may be transformed into the future desirable regime was carriedout. Narratives were then built for the visions emerging from each group. Finally, commonalities of visions across the groups were identified, and the regional relevance of each vision for different parts of the world was assessed

Visions for nature and nature’s contributions to people for the 21st century : Report from an IPBES visioning workshop held on 4-8 September 2017 in Auckland, New Zealand

Existing scenarios of biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES) have important limitations and gaps that constrain their usefulness for the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Specifically, they fail to incorporate policy objectives related to nature conservation and social-ecological feedbacks, they do not address the linkages between biodiversity and ecosystem services, and they are typically relevant at only a particular spatial scale. In addition, nature and its benefits are treated as the consequence of human decisions, but are not at the centre of the analysis. To address these issues, the IPBES Scenarios and Models Expert Group initiated the development of a set of Multiscale Scenarios for Nature Futures based on positive visions for human relationships with nature.The first step of this process was a visioning workshop with stakeholders and experts on 4-8 September 2017 in Auckland, New Zealand. A total of 73 participants from inter-governmental organisations, national government organisations, non-governmental organisations, academia and the private sector, from 31 countries, and with a range of sectoral expertise on biodiversity topics, from urban development to agriculture to fisheries, worked together in a visioning exercise. This report documents the results from this visioning workshop to inform further stakeholder consultation and the development of the associated multiscale scenarios by modelers and experts. This creative visioning exercise was carried out in four steps based on a suite of participatory methods that were used to develop visions of alternative futures. First the participants identified important themes to develop the visions. Next, thematic groups identified the main trends for BES in each theme and a set of “Seeds” of emerging initiatives leading to positive futures for our relationship with nature. Implications of what would happen across a range of sectors were identified for each seed. Then a pathway analysis of how the current regime in each theme may be transformed into the future desirable regime was carriedout. Narratives were then built for the visions emerging from each group. Finally, commonalities of visions across the groups were identified, and the regional relevance of each vision for different parts of the world was assessed