Cook, Simon E.

Merry, D.

English

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The	  3rd	  International	  Forum	  	  on	  Water	  and	  Food	  Tshwane,	  South	  Africa	  November	  14	  –	  17, 2011	  	   	   	  	  	  Co-­‐hosted	  by:	  	  	  	  	  B e y o n d  S o c i a l  E n g i n e e r i n g :  A  S t r a t e g y  f o r  F o s t e r i n g  I n s t i t u t i o n a l  C r e a t i v i t y  i n  D e v e l o p i n g  C o u n t r y  R i v e r  B a s i n s  DOUGLAS	  J	  MERREY	  AND	  SIMON	  COOK	  	  dougmerrey@gmail.com	  S e s s i o n :  L e a r n i n g  t o  I n n o v a t e  	  	  WHICH	  WAY	  TO	  EFFECTIVE	  MANAGEMENT	  OF	  NATURAL	  RESOURCES?	  	   Key Message The	  institutional	  landscape	  of	  river	  basins,	  from	  local	  to	  transnational	  levels,	  is	  complex	  and	  subject	  to	  multiple	  drivers.	  	  Using	  over-­‐simplistic	  formulas	  to	  promote	  change	  introduces	  more	  problems	  than	  solutions,	  because	  the	  reality	  is	  that	  institutions	  evolve	  through	  complex	  creative	  processes	  that	  adopt	  and	  adapt	  diverse	  ingredients—rather	  like	  making	  a	  stew.	  	  We	  propose	  following	  an	  organic	  creative	  approach	  to	  building	  river	  basin	  and	  other	  water	  management	  institutions	  based	  on	  the	  concept	  of	  “institutional	  bricolage”.	  	  	  	  International	  Forum	  on	  Water	  and	  Food	  S u m m a r y  Water,	   food	   and	   poverty	   are	   linked	   through	   social	   processes	   and	   institutions.	   	   Poverty	   and	   food	  insecurity	   are	   essentially	   institutional	   problems,	   for	   which	   there	   are	   no	   universal	   panaceas:	   “social	  engineering”	  has	  an	  abysmal	  track	  record.	  	  Institutional	  “design	  principles”	  offer	  little	  guidance	  on	  how	  to	  promote	  institutional	  innovation,	  largely	  because	  they	  over-­‐simplify	  human	  motivation.	  We	   build	   on	   earlier	   work	   by	   Cleaver	   and	   others,	   taking	   an	   adaptive	   approach	   to	   institutional	  development	   called	   “institutional	   bricolage”.	   	   Social	   processes	   involve	   active,	   creative	   adaptation	   of	  norms	   and	   social	   arrangements	   to	   fit	   new	   purposes.	   They	   reflect	   and	   are	   shaped	   by	   existing	   power	  structures	  and	  creative	  actors’	  deeply	  embedded	  unconscious	  principles.	   	   	  Bricolage	  stresses	   that	  new	  institutions	  emerge	  by	  borrowing	  and	   integrating	  from	  existing	  sources	   i.e.,	   from	  institutions,	  styles	  of	  thinking,	   social	   identities	   and	   social	   relationships.	   Individual	   change	   agents	   are	   “do-­‐it-­‐yourself	  bricoleurs”,	  not	  “institutional	  engineers”.	  This	   perspective	   has	   profound	   implications	   for	   promoting	   social	   learning,	   and	   institutional	  innovation,	  and	  underlies	  the	  findings	  of	  the	  N1	  project.	  	  	  

Beyond social engineering: A strategy for fostering institutional creativity in developing country river basins

https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/10568/10383/1/LiSe001_ns.pdf

Beyond social engineering: A strategy for fostering institutional creativity in developing country river basins

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