Navigating the Back Loop: Fostering Social Innovation and Transformation in Ecosystem Management

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Current management of ecosystems is unsustainable; more adaptive, collaborative processes are needed, say researchers.

There is a growing concern among scientists that many current ecosystem management institutions are too sectoral and expert-centered to cope with much needed transformations in ecosystem management.

Scientists have already warned that crises spawned by human activity are outpacing the capacity of governments and institutions to deal with them, but ecosystem-management institutions are recognized as being in particular need of change.

- Understanding how current management practices can be transformed to more adaptive, integrated and collaborative approaches is critical, says centre researcher Oonsie Biggs.

Together with centre board member Frances Westley and Stephen Carpenter from University of Wisconsin, Biggs investigated case studies from Sweden, South Africa and the US where transformations in management approaches have occurred.

The study found that initiatives which foster environmental awareness, develop leadership capacity, promote dialogue between key stakeholders, and provide institutional support facilitate transformation of ecosystem-management approaches.