Governing ecosystem-based management: why and how we should think about collaborative networks
Summary
• Ecosystem-based management (EBM) has become a leading principle in environmental governance and constitutes an overarching strategy for how to deal with the complexity of environmental challenges
• EBM implies a management process in which an ecosystem-based perspective is evident in management goals and strategies, and guides processes of monitoring and evaluation
• Collaboration across management levels, and stakeholder participation, are prerequisites for EBM
• Collaboration is challenging, however, and the development of networks per se is no guarantee for EBM that is perceived as effective and legitimate
• Knowledge of what types of networks are better suited for collaboration, and how public managers can govern, or promote, such collaboration is important for EBM success
Related brief: An analytical framework for assessing progress toward ecosystem-based management Pdf, 5.5 MB.