Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Socio-ecological resilience'

Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie är att genom enkäter undersöka om det finns en diskrepans mellan det teoretiska begreppet resiliens och den empiriska tillämpningen. För att besvara denna fråga undersöks följande delfrågor: Vad ingår i olika teoretiska resiliensbegrepp? Hur ser innebörden av resiliensbegreppet ut hos svenska krishanteringsaktörer idag? Hur arbetar svenska krishanteringsaktörer för resiliens för att göra städer säkrare i framtiden? Denna studie ska vara till hjälp för krishanteringsaktörer i deras förståelse för vad resiliensbegreppet är och finna kunskap i dessa tre resilienskoncept för att kunna använda det i sitt praktiska arbete när de talar om att arbeta för resiliens. I denna studie har tjugosex stycken enkäter skickats ut till personer som på något sätt arbetar med krishantering. Respondenterna arbetar på olika nivåer (kommun, länsstyrelse, myndighet, privat sektor samt forskare). Forskning och teorier kring resiliens kommer baseras på Brian Walker & David Salt som beskriver ingenjörsteknisk resiliens och ekologisk resiliens i boken Resilience thinking därefter förklarar Ulrich Beck enligt boken Risksamhället hur man måste arbeta för framtiden och inte se bakåt för att planera efter det som skett i dåtid. Pickett, McGrath, Cadenasso & Felson beskriver i sin forskning Ecological resilience and Resilient cities hur hållbarhet är en viktig del i resiliens. Avslutningsvis beskrivs det tredje resiliensbegreppet, nämligen Socio-ekologisk resiliens där Carl Folke lyfter upp vikten av att utveckla resiliens för det socio-ekologiska systemet för att skapa en anpassningsförmåga som möjliggör kontinuerlig utveckling, som ett dynamisk adaptiv samspel mellan att upprätthålla och utvecklas i förändring. För att kunna minska diskrepansen mellan begreppet resiliens och den empiriska tillämpningen krävs att det först och främst finns en förståelse för och en kunskap om begreppet resiliens. Därefter krävs det en samverkan mellan olika aktörer speciellt att krishanteringsaktörerna tar del av de forskningsresultat som framkommer för att kunna implementera det praktiskt och på så sätt få nya innovativa idéer att arbeta efter.
The purpose of this qualitative study is through survey investigate if there is a discrepancy between the theoretical concept of resilience and the empirical application. To answer this question this study examines the following issues: What is included in various theoretical resilience concept? What is the meaning of the resilience concept at the Swedish crisis management actors today? How does the Swedish crisis management actors use resilience to make cities safer in the future? This study will be helpful for crisis management actors in their understanding of what the resilience concept and find the knowledge of these three concepts to use it in their practical work when they talk about working for resilience. In this study, twenty-six questionnaires was sent out to people who in some way are involved in crisis management. The respondents in this study work at different levels (municipal, county government, government, private sector and researchers). Research and theories of resilience is based on Brian Walker and David Salt describing engineering technical resilience and ecological resilience in the book Resilience thinking then Ulrich Beck explains according to the book Risk Society how one must work for the future and not look backwards and plan because of what was happening in the past. Pickett, McGrath, Cadenasso & Felson describes his research Ecological Resilience and Resilient Cities how sustainability is an important aspect of resilience. Finally the third concept is described, namely socio-ecological resilience where Carl Folke lifts the importance of developing resilience for the socio-ecological system to create an adaptability that allows for continuous development, a dynamic adaptive interaction between maintaining and developing in change. In order to reduce the discrepancy between the concept of resilience and the empirical application it requires, first and foremost an understanding and a knowledge of the concept of resilience. Then it requires a collaboration between various stakeholders especially the crisis management actors to take part of the research evidence and have a will to implement it practically and as a result get new innovative ideas to work with.

Households in the Bolivian Altiplano construct their livelihood strategies in a system marked by changing climate and volatile social systems. The strategies that they choose must work to decrease the household‘s vulnerability to shocks, such as drought and frost, and increase its ability to adapt to longer term changes, for instance the affects of globalization. Their strategies may also influence the resilience of their community and environment, either increasing or decreasing the likelihood of catastrophe.

This research uses canonical correlation analysis to analyze survey data collected from 330 rural households in two regions of the Bolivian Altiplano. It examines the impact that dominant livelihood strategies have on the resilience of the household and its socio-ecological environment. The analysis shows that access to land and lifecycle are two household characteristics most highly associated with resilience; that diversification into labor markets often works towards increasing resilience; and that many households use livestock as an insurance mechanism. The results suggest that policies that work towards increasing crop yields and reducing livestock loss in the face of climate change could effectively target the households that are most vulnerable. Programs that include transfer payments to older households for providing services, such as increasing ecosystem resilience by placing land in fallow, could reduce the negative impact of lifecycle experienced by many across both regions.

The Kyoto Protocol of UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) postulated that anthropogenic causes are the main drivers of global climate change. This Kyoto Protocol was ratified by South Africa, with South Africa accepting all the binding commitments. Since then South Africa has promulgated legislations which cater for the environment and the reduction of the greenhouse gases respectively, with the aim of promoting sustainable development. The South African constitution has recognised the environment in Section 24. This is the birth place of the “Environmental Clauses” which do not only speak to the national government but are also broken down to the provincial and local government. This study was grounded within the field of Development studies and undertook a case study of improving the socio-ecological resilience strategies of climate changes in Nelson Mandela Bay Metropole (NMBM). The study employed the use of semi-structure interviews whereby a questionnaire was used to guide the researcher in the interview process. A total of 23 officials were interviewed, ranging from governmental departments (municipality) through civil societies to private consultants, in order to avoid the generation of biases. The data obtained from respondents were presented, analysed, and discussed. From the data collected, it was possible to single out certain barriers to climate change resilience initiative in NMBM. Some of these barriers include the lack of awareness of climate change resilience issues, lack of political will, lack of funding, and the poor concern given to climate change issues since the municipality does not consider it a core issue. Based on the study findings, the main recommendation offered to NMBM was the creation of a Sustainable Development Framework, which will provide a perfect platform for development, acknowledge the threat posed by the negative effects of climate change, and enhance opportunities to execute climate change projects in NMBM.

The purpose of this study was to identify and understand the social-ecological resources which encouraged resilient Basotho youth in the rural areas of the Thabo Mofutsanyana district of the Free State province towards positive adjustment in the face of poverty and underdevelopment. Positive adjustment, or resilience, is the focus of the International Community-University Research Alliance (ICURA) and International Development Research Centre (IDRC) funded project, called Pathways to Resilience. My study forms part of this broader resilience study. Resilience, or positive adjustment to hardship, can be defined as the capacity of individuals to navigate their way to health-promoting resources that encourage positive adjustment, and the concomitant capacity of the individual’s family, community and culture to provide these health resources and experiences in culturally meaningful ways. Recently, researchers have suggested that the socio-ecological resources that encourage positive adjustment might differ across ecologies. There is little understanding in South Africa of which resources, within specific ecologies, encourage such positive adjustment. My study seeks to address this gap, with specific reference to Basotho youth in the Thabo Mofutsanyana district in the Free State. I used a qualitative phenomenological strategy of inquiry and participatory visual methods to determine the socio-ecological antecedents of the resilience of 130 resilient Basotho youth from rural areas of the Thabo Mofutsanyana district in the Free State province of South Africa. Using Bronfenbrenner‟s Ecological Systems Theory (1979), Sameroff‟s Transactional Model of Development (2009) and Unger’s Social Ecology of Resilience (2011) as framework, I explored the resources underpinning the resilience of my participants. The findings suggest that the resilient Basotho youth in this study were encouraged to adjust well to the risks of poverty and associated threats by making use of social-ecologically accessible resilience-promoting resources. In other words the resilient Basotho youth found resilience-promoting resources in their microsystems (individual, family, school, peers and nature and pets), mesosystems (social interactions), exosystems (community resources like libraries and medical facilities, and role models) and macrosystems (religious beliefs and practices, pastors, and access to information through television, radio, cell phone, and inspirational publications). The conclusion of my study lays emphasis on the interwovenness of socioecological systems in resilience processes: no one system could be sing led out. The entire ecosystem was involved, reciprocally, in providing the participants with resilience-promoting resources. My findings emphasise the importance of mothers, grandmothers, school and educational resources, religious beliefs and practices, and access to information (through the use of television, radio, computer and inspirational literature) for Basotho youth in the Thabo Mofutsanyana district, but do not suggest that these are the sole pathways to their resilience. Continued research in other parts of South Africa, with additional groups of youth, is needed to reach a comprehensive understanding of the socio-ecological antecedents of resilience among South African youth.
MEd, Learner support, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

The purpose of the study was to explore and understand how orphaned adolescents in grandparent-headed households achieve healthy functioning and how they rise above unfavourable circumstances. In exploring and gaining understanding, the research was approached from an interpertivist stance as it entails an inductive qualitative enquiry suitable to gaining a better understanding of the experiences and perceptions of orphaned adolescents. A qualitative methodological design was followed to ensure that the research questions could be answered. Purposive sample selection was used to select participants for this research study. The sample included nine adolescent orphans who reside in grandparent-headed households and are affiliated with Stanza Bopape Community Centre. Data collection included biographical questions, focus group interview and semi-structured interviews. Five of the nine participants took part in a focus group interview and the remaining four participated in individual semi-structured interviews. All interviews were conducted and transcribed by the researcher. Inductive thematic analyses was utilised to identify themes which emerged from the data. The themes which emerged were: the person I am, the supportive roles in parenting, role models in my life, things that are important to me, the future in me. These themes reflect the factors which contribute to the participants’ resilience and can be deduced as the mediating factors which assist them in achieving healthy functioning. The risks identified are aligned with residing in a township and attending a township school, however these risks were not experienced as demotivating adversities for the participants. They rather viewed them as motivating factors to achieve a better future. Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological theory served as the theoretical foundation for the study and it emerged that factors which contribute to the orphaned adolescents’ resilience (maintaining factors) come from various systems. Based on the findings of the study it can be concluded that orphaned adolescents residing in grandparent-headed households, although generally of low socio-economic status, are aware of their challenges and utilise certain processes to strengthen their resilience and overcome their challenges.
Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2018.
Educational Psychology
MEd
Unrestricted

Resilience has become a prominent concept to understand system vulnerabilities flexible ways of adapting to crises. Recently, it gained importance in discussions a the possible peak in oil production (peak oil) and its consequences, which might a economic performance, social well-being and political stability, and thus also the e transition to a low-carbon economy. The paper presents a new way of measuring resilience as absolute resilience related to a best practice-model of a resilient socie The resilience model is grounded in explicit theoretical assumptions. All indicators justified by theoretical and empirical arguments. We present a case study of Austr municipalities and broader-scale spatial types, which were defined according to th degree of urbanization. The mean resilience of Austrian municipalities is moderate difference between resilience values of municipalities is small. Significant different between spatial types exist. Higher resilience is displayed by less urbanized types due to a higher share of agricultural activities and a more favorable level of GDP per capita. Austria has considerable latitude to improve resilience. Corresponding policies should target resilience components with the lowest values first. A sole focus on regionalization is not recommended. These conclusions are applicable to OECD countries in general. (authors' abstract)

[Truncated abstract] The application of reductionism, breaking down problems to simpler components that can be solved and then aggregating the results, is one of the bases of classical science. However, living organisms, ecosystems, social and economic structures are complex systems, characterised by non-linear interactions between their elements and exhibit emergent properties that are not directly traceable to their components. Sustainability assessment frameworks oversimplify system interactions, achieving limited predictive capacity and causing managerial behavior that may reduce system's ability to adapt to external disturbance. Intrigued by the importance of complexity, we explore the central theme of how complex thinking can influence the understanding and progress towards sustainability. The purpose is to conceptualize the relationship of key terms (such as sustainability, functionality and resilience), and consecutively develop new or adjust existing sustainability frameworks to take into account complex systems interactions. We aim at developing theory and frameworks that can be used to raise awareness of the pitfalls of the growth paradigm and direct towards modest positions when managing complex systems. We seek to define the structural elements that influence system adaptive capacity, allowing identification of early signs of system rigidity or vulnerability and the development of knowledge and techniques that can improve our predictive and managerial ability. The focus has been on a variety of system scales and dynamics. At the collective community level, a number of stakeholder engagement practices and frameworks are currently available. However, there is limited awareness of the complexity challenges among stakeholders, who are commonly directed to a triple bottom line analysis aiming at maximizing a combination of outputs. An attempt is conducted to measure the functionality of the processes underlying a standing stock, in contrast to sustainability measures that only assess the variations of the standing stock itself. We develop the Index of Sustainable Functionality (ISF), a framework for the assessment of complex systems interactions within a large-scale geographic domain and apply it to the State of Western Australia. '...' Finally, we focus on smaller systems scales and develop a methodology for the calculation of Product Ecological Footprint (PEF) including elements from the accounting method of activity based costing. We calculate PEF for three apple production systems and identify significant differences from first stage calculations within the same industry. Cross-industry application will provide a practical way to link individuals' consumption with their ecological impact, reduce misperceptions of products' ecological impacts and develop a market-driven approach to internalizing environmental externalities. At the firm level PEF can be compared with investment costs, resulting in the opportunity to optimize both functions of financial cost and ecological impact in decision making. We have developed methods for incorporating complexity in sustainability assessment frameworks. Further work is required in testing and validating these methodologies at multiple system scales and conditions. Integrating such tools in decision making mechanisms will enhance long-term management of socioecological systems performance.

This study aims at assessing the implementation of the international tool for disaster risk management Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015. The implementation is assessed in terms of risk management at the level of vulnerable informal settlements in hazard-prone areas on the slopes of Guatemala City. The view of resilience which is used in the framework is discussed and how this relates to risk management in general. It is argued that the framework is based on an engineering resilience view. The aspect of resilience in vulnerable areas is considered, introducing a second view of resilience, the socio-ecological. A related theme that is brought into the analysis is that of power relations. The study finds that Guatemalan policy and the Guatemalan risk management system have implemented the policies of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015. Despite this it has not benefitted the inhabitants of the informal settlements in hazard-prone areas. There are some obstacles in order to make risk management accessible to the informal settlements. There is reluctance on the municipal level to implement the national, Hyogo-influenced, risk management and to recognize and empower the communities in the informal settlements, which hinders the development of an efficient resilience. The study concludes that for an international tool for risk management to be efficient, it needs to be clearer in its definitions, and more easily applicable through implementation tools. The inherent conclusion of this is that it would be possible for an international tool like the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 to be efficient, since there is bureaucratic power supporting it. This power could override local obstacles like political interests. Also, the study concludes that people in informal settlements are resilient to a certain extent, but need to be acknowledged, empowered and cooperated with.
El objetivo de este estudio es evaluar la implementación de la herramienta internacional para la gestión de riesgos de desastres la cual es el Marco de Acción de Hyogo 2005-2015. La implementación es evaluada en términos de gestión de riesgo al nivel de viviendas informales y vulnerables en lugares precarios en las pendientes de la Ciudad de Guatemala. Se analiza el punto de vista sobre resiliencia que es usado en el marco de acción y de qué manera este se relaciona con gestión de riesgo en general. Se argumenta que el marco de acción se basa en el punto de vista de resiliencia de ingeniería. A la vez se considera el aspecto de resiliencia en las areas de viviendas informales, introduciendo la resiliencia socio-ecológica. Un tema relacionado con el análisis son las relaciones de poder. El estudio encuentra que las políticas y que el sistema de gestión de riesgo de desastres guatemalteca han implementado las políticas del Marco de Acción de Hyogo 2005-2015. A pesar de esto el marco de acción no ha beneficiado a los habitantes de las viviendas informales en areas precarias. Hay ciertos obstáculos para que la gestión de riesgo sea accesible en las viviendas informales. Hay cierta resistencia a nivel municipal hacia implementar la gestión de riesgo nacional, influenciada por el Marco de Hyogo, y reconocer y autorizar a las comunidades en las viviendas informales, lo cual dificulta el desarrollo eficiente de resiliencia. El estudio concluye que para que una herramienta internacional de gestión de riesgo sea eficiente, necesita clarificar sus definiciones y ser más fácil de aplicar proponiendo herramientas de implementación. La conclusión inherente es que le sería posible a una herramienta internacional como el Marco de Acción de Hyogo 2005-2015 ser eficiente, ya que tiene poder burocrático apoyándolo. Este poder podría sobrepasar obstáculos locales como intereses políticos. Finalmente el estudio concluye que personas que viven en viviendas informales son resilientes hasta cierto punto, pero necesitan ser reconocidas, autorizadas y que se coopere con ellas.

Depuis la baisse de la ressource en eau dans les années 1970, la moyenne vallée du fleuve Sénégal est un espace en forte mutation socio-environnementale. Les politiques publiques ont régulé le fleuve à l'aide de deux barrages, Manantali et Diama, et fait de la vallée une zone d'enjeux pour le développement de l'agriculture irriguée pour l'approvisionnement en riz. Face à cette situation les zones humides de la plaine inondable, les terres de décrue, sont oubliées des politiques de développement. L'objectif de la thèse est de comprendre comment s'intègre ces terres de décrue dans les changements socio-environnementaux, et finalement définir leurs rôles actuels pour les populations locales dans la réorganisation de la moyenne vallée.Le travail s'appuie sur une étude du système socio-écologique de la plaine d'inondation de la moyenne vallée. La méthodologie comporte ainsi plusieurs volets. Une analyse hydrologique et une cartographie de la dynamique des zones inondées par télédétection a montré l'importance des choix de gestion du barrage dans l'allocation en eau pour la crue dans la vallée. Des enquêtes socio-économiques, réalisées dans quatre terroirs villageois à partir d'entretiens semi-directifs, ont mis en avant l'intégration des activités liées aux terres de décrue dans les stratégies des ménages et les fonctions économique, alimentaire et écologique assurées par les différentes unités agro-écologiques de la plaine inondable. Enfin des facteurs de mise en valeur halio-agro-pastorale des terres de décrue ont été identifiées, tels que la diversité des services écosystémiques, la valeur patrimoniale de ces espaces et l'intégration des ménages dans l'irrigation
Since the decline of water resources in the 1970s, the middle Senegal river valley is a space dealing with many socio-environmental changes. Public policies have controlled the river with two dams, Manantali and Diama, and made the valley the preferred location for the development of irrigated agriculture for the national supply of rice. Faced to this situation, the floodplains wetlands, characterized by a flood/recession rythm, are forgotten by development policies. The objective of the thesis is to understand how these flood recession lands fit into socio-environmental changes, and finally to define their current roles for local populations into the reorganization of the middle Senegal river valley.The work is based on a study of the socio-ecological system of the floodplain of the middle valley. The methodology thus has several components. A hydrological analysis and a mapping of the dynamics of the flooded areas by remote sensing, showed the importance of the management choices of the Manantali dam in the allocation of water for the flood in the valley. Socio-economic surveys, carried out in four village terroirs and using semi-structured interviews, highlighted the integration of flood-recession related activities into household strategies, and define the economic, food supply and ecological functions between the different agro-ecological units of the floodplain. Finally, factors holding flood-recession related activities have been identified at household level, such as the diversity of ecosystem services, the heritage value of these areas and the integration of households in irrigation

The research presented here attempts to bridge science and policy through the quantification of climate change impacts and the analysis of a science-fed participatory process to face a sustainability challenge in the San Pedro Basin (Arizona). Paper 1 presents an assessment of a collaborative development process of a decision support system model between academia and a multi-stakeholder consortium created to solve water sustainability problems in a local watershed. This study analyzes how science-fed multi-stakeholder participatory processes lead to sustainability learning promoting resilience and adaptation. Paper 2 presents an approach to link an ensemble of global climate model outputs with a hydrological model to quantify climate change impacts in the hydrology of a basin, providing a range of uncertainty in the results. Precipitation projections for the current century from different climate models and IPCC scenarios are used to obtain recharge estimates as inputs to a groundwater model. Quantifying changes in the basin's water budget due to changes in recharge, evapotranspiration (ET) rates are assumed to depend only on groundwater levels. Picking on such assumption, Paper 3 explores the effects of a changing climate on ET. Using experimental eddy covariance data from three riparian sites, it analyzes seasonal controls on ET. An approach to quantify evapotranspiration rates and growing season length under warmer climates is proposed. Results indicate that although atmospheric demand will be greater, increasing pan and reference crop evaporation, ET rates at the studied field sites will remain unchanged due to stomatal regulation. However, the length of the growing season will increase, mainly with an earlier leaf-out and at a lesser level by a delayed growing season end. These findings - implying decreased aquifer recharge, increased riparian water use and a lesser water balance - are very relevant for water management in semi-arid regions. Paper 4, in which I am second author, explores the theory relating changes in area-average and pan evaporation. Using the same experimental data as Paper 3, it corroborates a previous theoretical relationship and discusses the validity of Bouchet's hypothesis.

The return of Māori land to a productive role in the New Economy entails the innovation and diffusion of technologies relevant to the sustainable development of this land. Sustainable development requires substantive changes to current land and resource use to mitigate environmental degradation and contribute to ecological and sociological resilience. Such innovation is emerging in 'New Economic Space' where concerns for cultural resilience have arisen as political-economic strategies of the New Economy converge within a global economic space. New Economic Space comprises policy, technology and institutional innovations that attempt to influence economic activity, thus directly engaging with local 'place-based' expressions of geohistorically unique knowledge and identity. This thesis approaches contemporary Māori development from three perspectives. First, by viewing the changing links between ecosystems and communities as examples of innovation diffusion, the evolution of relevant policies, technologies and institutions can be examined for their impact upon Māori resilience. Second, such innovation diffusion can be described as a form of regional development, acknowledging the integral role of traditional territories in Māori identity and culture as well as the distinct legislative and governance contexts by which this land is developed. Third, by incorporating the geohistorical uniqueness of Māori ideas, values and beliefs, standard concepts of political-economy can be reformulated to show an explicit cultural economy – Māori Traditional Economic Space – in which Māori horticulturalists participate in parallel with the New Economy. Two methods are used in the analysis of the participation by Māori horticulturalists in New Economic Space. Fuzzy set/Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fs/QCA) allows the rigorous investigation of small-N studies of limited diversity for their partial membership in nominated sets. This thesis uses fs/QCA to organise theoretical and substantive knowledge of each case study to score its membership in agri-food networks, Māori institutions and post-production strategies, allowing the identification of causal configurations that lead to greater resilience for Māori growers and their communities. The second method is Actor-Network Theory (ANT) that incorporates elements of nature and society, showing the extensive and dynamic entwinement that exists between the two. ANT describes the enrolment of diverse 'actants' by a range of eco-social institutions and the subsequent translation of the resulting assemblages into resilience strategies. The results of this research first show a 'System of Provision' (SOP) in which Māori development strategies converge with non-Māori attempts to expand research and marketing programmes. These programmes seek to implement added-value strategies in supplying novel horticultural products within New Economic Space; parallel 'cultural logics' ensure food is supplied to traditional Māori institutions according to the cultural logics of Māori. In addition to this finding, results also show that the participation of Māori growers in New Economic Space can paradoxically lead to an expansion of the Traditional Economic Space of Māori. This expansion is not simply contingent upon configurations of policy, technology, and institutional innovations that originate in New Economic Space but is directed by Māori cultural logics, located in Māori territories but seeking innovations from an amorphous universal 'core'. The interface between the global New Economy and the localities of a Māori cultural economy is defined by the 'interrogation' of these innovations, and innovators, through eco-cultural institutions in their diffusion to and from Māori land, Māori resources and Māori people. Within the boundaries of this interrogation border resides a malleable assemblage of actants, enrolled by Māori as components of resilience strategies, which can lead to the endurance of Māori culture.

The purpose of this study was to analyze and develop a workflow for assessing and representing the value of ecosystems to professionals involved in municipal planning. A thorough literature review was conducted and supplemented by interviews and observations. Frameworks for ecosystem service assessments were analyzed and combined with methods in urban planning in order to assess social and ecological conditions. A workflow was set up and methods were evaluated by applying them to a case study in the area Åstråket in Uppsala. Experience from the case study was compiled in order to improve the workflow. Complex assessments were identified and simplified for the method to be useful for practitioners. A list of relevant urban ecosystem services was compiled. Eleven activities were chosen and divided into three blocks: planning, situation analysis and redesign. In the planning phase strong civil dialogue would be used to identify user needs and based on them formulate goals for the planned change. In the situation analysis the extent to which ecosystem services were utilized, and how much potential there were to increase the use of them without exceeding the area's biophysical conditions, were assessed. The different ecosystem services in the area were evaluated according to how well they helped to achieve designated goals for the area. In the design stage social-ecological urbanism were used to create a design that will increase the value of ecosystem services for the users of the site. Arrow diagram were used to show how the proposed design supports species in the ecosystem that generates an increased value of the prioritized ecosystem services and contribute to achieving the objectives of the area. The study showed that the value of ecosystem could be made visible by showing how different actors contribute to goal achievement. The methods for quantifying ecosystem services are still trivial and ignore some fundamental social-ecological relations. The methods for social assessments could not be fully tested in the case study because there was ongoing consultation on a plan proposal that prevented any interviews with the users to be done. Assumptions that were important to simplify ecosystem service assessment was that 1) a broad definition of value was used, not just monetary, and that 2) the focus was on increasing the value of ecosystem services rather than replacing some services with others. To improve the method more knowledge on social-ecological interactions is required, a broader discussion about values need to be raised and a more standardized set of indicators needs to be agreed upon. Ecosystem services can also be used as a pedagogical tool for learning about systems thinking, complexity and a diversity of values.
Syftet med studien var att utveckla och testa en arbetsgång för att synliggöra värdet av naturen för yrkesutövare inom kommunal planering. En grundlig litteraturstudie genomfördes och kompletterades med intervjuer och observationer. Ramverk för ekosystemtjänstbedömningar analyserades och kombinerades med metoder inom samhällsplanering för att bedöma sociala och ekologiska förhållanden. En arbetsgång utarbetades och metoder bedömdes genom att tillämpa dem i en fallstudie på området Åstråket i Uppsala. Erfarenheter från fallstudien sammanställdes för att utveckla arbetsgången. Komplexa bedömningar identifierades och förenklades för att arbetsgången skulle bli praktiskt användbar. En lista med relevanta urbana ekosystemtjänster sammanställdes. Elva aktiviteter valdes och delades in i blocken planering, nulägesanalys och redesign. I planeringsskedet användes aktiv medborgardialog för att kartlägga användarnas behov och utifrån dem formulera mål för förändringsprocessen. I nulägesanalysen bedömdes i hur stor omfattning ekosystemtjänsterna nyttjades och hur stor potentialen var för att öka nyttjandet av dem utan att överstiga områdets biofysiska förutsättningar. De olika ekosystemtjänsterna i området värderades efter hur väl de bidrog till att uppnå utpekade mål för området. I designsteget användes social-ekologisk urbanism för att skapa en design som kommer öka värdet av ekosystemtjänsterna för användarna av området. Pildiagram användes för att visa hur den föreslagna designen stödjer arter i ekosystemet som genererar ett ökat värde av prioriterade ekosystemtjänster och bidrar till uppfyllelse av målen i området. Studien visade att värdet av ekosystem kan synliggöras genom att visa hur olika aktörer bidrar till måluppfyllelse. Metoder för kvantifiering av ekosystemtjänster bedömdes inte representera fundamentala social-ekologiska relationer. Identifierade metoder för sociala bedömningar kunde inte testas fullt ut i fallstudien på grund av att samråd precis hade genomförts för aktuellt planförslag. Antaganden som var viktiga för att förenkla ekosystemtjänstbedömningen var att 1) en bred definition av värde användes, inte bara monetär, och att 2) fokus var på att öka värdet av ekosystemtjänsterna snarare än ersätta vissa tjänster med andra. För att förbättra metoden behövs mer kunskap om social-ekologiska relationer, en bred debatt om värderingar och en överenskommelse om en standardiserad uppsättning av indikatorer. Ekosystemtjänster kan även användas som ett pedagogiskt hjälpmedel för att lära ut system-tänkande, komplexitet och en mångfald av värden.

La menace représentée par le changement climatique, et en particulier l’élévation du niveau de la mer, sur les pays entièrement composés d’atolls est largement médiatisée. La République de Kiribati est un pays atollien situé dans l’océan Pacifique, peuplé par 100 000 habitants. Au cours des derniers siècles, les communautés atolliennes de Kiribati ont développé un système de gestion des ressources naturelles qui a assuré leur survie. Depuis quelques décennies, la mondialisation est cause de mutations rapides, en particulier dans le mode de vie et dans la relation des communautés atolliennes à leur environnement naturel. Étant donné le caractère fortement intégré du système sociétal et de l’écosystème dans les atolls, cette thèse aborde la question de l’avenir des pays atolliens dans le contexte du changement climatique par l’étude de la résilience de leurs systèmes socio-écologiques. La résilience d’un système correspond à sa capacité à absorber des perturbations et à se réorganiser tandis qu’il subit des changements tout en conservant la même fonction, structure, identité et les mêmes rétroactions. Cette thèse postule qu’une estimation de la résilience des systèmes socio-écologiques aux perturbations d’origine météo-marine nécessite au préalable une analyse de leur résilience générale. De telles estimations s’appuient sur des modèles conceptuels réalisés à partir de résultats d’entretiens et d’enquêtes menés à Kiribati, et sur l’analyse d’images aériennes. L’avenir des pays atolliens est discuté en envisageant différents scénarios : l’adaptation, la transformation, la migration et l’effondrement
The threats to states entirely composed of atolls from climate change and associated sea-level rise have been widely publicized. The Republic of Kiribati is an atoll country situated in Pacific Ocean settled by 100,000 inhabitants. Over the past centuries, the atoll communities of Kiribati have developed natural resource management systems that have enabled their survival. Over the past decades, globalization has caused rapid changes, especially regarding lifestyles and relationships of atoll communities to their natural environment. Given the highly integrated nature of the societal system and the ecosystem in the atolls, this thesis addresses the question of the future of atoll countries in the context of climate change by studying the resilience of their social-ecological systems. Resilience is the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while undergoing change so as to still retain essentially the same function, structure, identity, and feedbacks. This thesis postulated that an assessment of social-ecological resilience of climate- and marine-related disturbances required a preliminary analysis of their general resilience. Such assessments are based on conceptual models made from interviews and surveys and from the analysis of aerial imagery. The future of atoll countries is discussed considering different scenario: adaptation, transformation, migration and collapse

La recherche vise à établir si les modes de gestion des ressources naturelles et sociales des producteurs familiaux, dont les exploitations sont majoritairement de petite taille, ont pu contribuer à la construction de systèmes de production et de paysages durables. Quelles stratégies ces paysans mettent-ils en œuvre pour garantir les conditions de production de leurs fermes, de reproduction de leurs familles, et de conservation des ressources naturelles ? Ensuite, peut-on découvrir dans ces stratégies des pistes pour la conception de systèmes durables ? Notre étude a été menée dans une zone tropicale des Andes du nord située en territoire colombien, sur les communes de Riosucio et Supia, département du Caldas. Lors de la crise du café (années 1990), les producteurs vont réagir de manières diverses. Une réaction particulièrement intéressante, que nous analysons en profondeur, est la proposition de l'Association des producteurs indigènes et paysans de Riosucio et Supia, ASPROINCA : recomposition des systèmes productifs, recherche de la durabilité par une diversification des stratégies fondées sur une approche agro-écologique et une gestion intégrée des systèmes productifs, et renforcement du capital social et humain. Au-delà des unités d'exploitation, la proposition est élargie à l'espace du micro-bassin et au paysage régional, ce qui implique la coexistence avec d'autres formes de production, la conclusion d'accords sur la gestion des ressources d'usage commun, en particulier l'eau, et la mise en œuvre de pratiques partagées pour leur conservation.

This thesis asks what effects concepts of resilience may have on political action and the ongoing ecological crises we see developing throughout the world. Specifically, it addresses disruptions in wild salmon migration, spawning, and fisheries brought about by industrial aquaculture in the so-called Broughton Archipelago in unceded Kwakwaka’wakw territories on the north east coast of Vancouver Island. These disruptions will be looked at as examples of resilience thinking in action. Through this example this thesis will examine the relationship between manifestations of resilience thinking and the emergence of metabolic rifts between nature and society that bring with them ecological crises. This thesis will begin by tracing the genealogy of resilience thinking from its origins in systems ecology to its depoliticizing formation in political-economic development. Through this it will show where resilience has been split from its origins as a socio-ecological concept, into purely social and ecological formations that interact in a zero-sum relationship. As a depoliticizing force, resilience works through the aforementioned cleavage to atomize individuals and distance them from their connections to socio-ecological communities, favouring instead marketized relations that reinforce capitalism, colonialism, and the state form. Following this, this thesis will argue that this cleavage and resilience thinking more broadly also generate sites of metabolic rifts within and between nature and society and are factors in their reproduction and geographic spread. Resilience however need not be a fully depoliticizing force. Taking up from the work of Roberto Esposito on relational community and immunization, this thesis ends with an exploration of how resilience thinking can return to its socio-ecological roots and be used in emancipatory, decolonial, and ecologically sound ways that will help in the reconstituting of the metabolic cycles within and between nature and society disrupted by rifts. Understanding how resilience thinking plays a role in depoliticization and the generation and reproduction of metabolic rifts makes space for turning this mentality on its head. Reconstructing a more holistic socio-ecological form of resilience helps to provide the necessary political tools to challenge underlying structures of domination and exploitation that put our socio-ecosystems at risk.
Graduate

碩士
國立臺北大學
都市計劃研究所
103
Humans and nature have co-evolved over centuries, creating unique mosaic socio-ecological production landscapes with habitats and human land use, and that can directly correspond to the paddy landscapes in Taiwan. In the past, the characteristics of rice culture, special topography, and densely populated in Taiwan, creating many paddy landscapes in rural area. However, with the disturbances of environmental change, many paddy landscapes have been waste, or turned into urban or industrial use. Therefore, the Forestry Bureau began to implement wetland ecosystem conservation and restoration plan in 2009, combined with the concept of Satoyama Initiative to reshape harmonious interactions between humans and nature and restore the socio-ecological production landscapes. Providing paddy landscapes in Taiwan sustainable development opportunities. This study uses the resilience perspective, investigating and assessing resilience in Bajen, Gongliao and Shihtiping paddy landscapes, and also formulate environmental change resilience policy suggestion of paddy landscapes. After reviewing literatures of resilience concept, socio-ecological production landscapes and indicators of socio-ecological production landscapes. This study makes resilience assessment framework of paddy landscapes, and divide into “resilience components”, “dynamic disturbances” and “stakeholders”. In order to capture essential of resilience, this study uses indicators of resilience to conduct resilience components. Under this framework, this study uses in-depth interview, document analysis and participant observation. On one hand, assessing resilience components and dynamic disturbances of paddy landscapes; On the other hand, combining with other paddy landscapes experiences, using indicators of resilience to analyze operation mode between different paddy landscapes and critical thresholds. Finally, feedback to the policy suggestion of environmental change resilience of paddy landscapes and socio-ecological production landscapes restoration.

This research was carried out with the purpose of identifying how unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) become stronger and can adapt in the current multiple domains of their life in Western Norway (e.g. school, community and social life), considering the added challenges of acculturation. The study explored risk and protective factors that influence URMs emotional well-being and coping, as well as the development of recovery of function or resilient adaptation patterns in the face of previous significant adversity. The qualitative microethnographic study took place with a group of four URMs and a group of two professionals from a public organization in a West Norwegian municipality. Data collection techniques included interviews with URMs and the professionals who are working with them, as well as participant observation and field notes. The data collection was focus on identifying URMs’ perceptions on their challenges, strengths and environmental resources that develop or hinder their resilience. The findings indicated challenges that limit resilience among refugee minors at the stage of resettlement in the western Norway, including lack of support and guidance, language barrier, cultural contrasts, cultural shock and acculturation stress. It was also found that participant’s personal attributes including spirituality and faith, self-efficacy, natural abilities, hard work, persistence and determination, gratitude, aspirations, motivations and focus on goals foster their resilience. Finally, it was possible to identify and address how factors related to environmental resources, culture and context aspects enhance or hinder resilience adaptation patterns. Perceived factors that promote participants’ resilience, including social support from professionals, peers and community resources and provision of opportunities for participation in social activities, positive affiliation with peers and professionals, support and knowledge received from the teachers, valuing education and healthy Norwegian refugee policy. The most important determinants perceived by the participants as those that hinder their resilience were the prevalence of risk factors such as stereotypes and stigma, cultural divides, and loss of their family. The findings from this inquiry provide new insights on the development of preventative interventions and programs or improving existing ones and determining policy design in social care to promote resilience and mental health recovery for unaccompanied refugee minors during the post-migratory stage.

This thesis examines the feasibility of fostering “sustainable foodscapes” in urban communities. A review of the literature on the topics of sustainability, resilience, sustainable food security, and healthy communities is used to determine to the definition of “sustainable foodscapes.” This thesis uses a framework of socio-ecological restoration to consider how communities might adopt sustainable foodscapes. A case study is conducted in the city of Waterloo, Ontario to test the criteria of sustainable foodscapes and explore some of the practical opportunities and barriers to developing sustainable foodscapes in an urban community. The methods for the case study include semi-structured interviews. Interview results indicate that a variety of sustainable foodscapes such as community gardening, individual gardening, and foraging are used in Waterloo already, and survey results suggest that various members of the community are open to the adoption of these foodscapes. The case study results reveal that diverse community members view sustainable foodscapes as an important contribution to community health, less for the purpose of ecological sustainability than for their usefulness as a way of promoting community interaction, social learning, and fostering a sense of place. Ways to conduct a socio-ecological restoration for sustainable foodscapes in Waterloo could include increasing areas for the purposes of foraging to occur in an ecologically benign manner, such as on marginal or private land; creating municipal policies and Official Plans that provide support for community gardens, and fostering more accepting attitudes towards sustainable foodscapes by providing increased opportunities for education and participation among community members.

Alors que les activités anthropiques font basculer de nombreux écosystèmes vers des régimes fonctionnels différents, la résilience des systèmes socio-écologiques devient un problème pressant. Des acteurs locaux, impliqués dans une grande diversité de groupes — allant d’initiatives locales et indépendantes à de grandes institutions formelles — peuvent agir sur ces questions en collaborant au développement, à la promotion ou à l’implantation de pratiques plus en accord avec ce que l’environnement peut fournir. De ces collaborations répétées émergent des réseaux complexes, et il a été montré que la topologie de ces réseaux peut améliorer la résilience des systèmes socio-écologiques (SSÉ) auxquels ils participent. La topologie des réseaux d’acteurs favorisant la résilience de leur SSÉ est caractérisée par une combinaison de plusieurs facteurs : la structure doit être modulaire afin d’aider les différents groupes à développer et proposer des solutions à la fois plus innovantes (en réduisant l’homogénéisation du réseau), et plus proches de leurs intérêts propres ; elle doit être bien connectée et facilement synchronisable afin de faciliter les consensus, d’augmenter le capital social, ainsi que la capacité d’apprentissage ; enfin, elle doit être robuste, afin d’éviter que les deux premières caractéristiques ne souffrent du retrait volontaire ou de la mise à l’écart de certains acteurs. Ces caractéristiques, qui sont relativement intuitives à la fois conceptuellement et dans leur application mathématique, sont souvent employées séparément pour analyser les qualités structurales de réseaux d’acteurs empiriques. Cependant, certaines sont, par nature, incompatibles entre elles. Par exemple, le degré de modularité d’un réseau ne peut pas augmenter au même rythme que sa connectivité, et cette dernière ne peut pas être améliorée tout en améliorant sa robustesse. Cet obstacle rend difficile la création d’une mesure globale, car le niveau auquel le réseau des acteurs contribue à améliorer la résilience du SSÉ ne peut pas être la simple addition des caractéristiques citées, mais plutôt le résultat d’un compromis subtil entre celles-ci. Le travail présenté ici a pour objectifs (1), d’explorer les compromis entre ces caractéristiques ; (2) de proposer une mesure du degré auquel un réseau empirique d’acteurs contribue à la résilience de son SSÉ ; et (3) d’analyser un réseau empirique à la lumière, entre autres, de ces qualités structurales. Cette thèse s’articule autour d’une introduction et de quatre chapitres numérotés de 2 à 5. Le chapitre 2 est une revue de la littérature sur la résilience des SSÉ. Il identifie une série de caractéristiques structurales (ainsi que les mesures de réseaux qui leur correspondent) liées à l’amélioration de la résilience dans les SSÉ. Le chapitre 3 est une étude de cas sur la péninsule d’Eyre, une région rurale d’Australie-Méridionale où l’occupation du sol, ainsi que les changements climatiques, contribuent à l’érosion de la biodiversité. Pour cette étude de cas, des travaux de terrain ont été effectués en 2010 et 2011 durant lesquels une série d’entrevues a permis de créer une liste des acteurs de la cogestion de la biodiversité sur la péninsule. Les données collectées ont été utilisées pour le développement d’un questionnaire en ligne permettant de documenter les interactions entre ces acteurs. Ces deux étapes ont permis la reconstitution d’un réseau pondéré et dirigé de 129 acteurs individuels et 1180 relations. Le chapitre 4 décrit une méthodologie pour mesurer le degré auquel un réseau d’acteurs participe à la résilience du SSÉ dans lequel il est inclus. La méthode s’articule en deux étapes : premièrement, un algorithme d’optimisation (recuit simulé) est utilisé pour fabriquer un archétype semi-aléatoire correspondant à un compromis entre des niveaux élevés de modularité, de connectivité et de robustesse. Deuxièmement, un réseau empirique (comme celui de la péninsule d’Eyre) est comparé au réseau archétypique par le biais d’une mesure de distance structurelle. Plus la distance est courte, et plus le réseau empirique est proche de sa configuration optimale. La cinquième et dernier chapitre est une amélioration de l’algorithme de recuit simulé utilisé dans le chapitre 4. Comme il est d’usage pour ce genre d’algorithmes, le recuit simulé utilisé projetait les dimensions du problème multiobjectif dans une seule dimension (sous la forme d’une moyenne pondérée). Si cette technique donne de très bons résultats ponctuellement, elle n’autorise la production que d’une seule solution parmi la multitude de compromis possibles entre les différents objectifs. Afin de mieux explorer ces compromis, nous proposons un algorithme de recuit simulé multiobjectifs qui, plutôt que d’optimiser une seule solution, optimise une surface multidimensionnelle de solutions. Cette étude, qui se concentre sur la partie sociale des systèmes socio-écologiques, améliore notre compréhension des structures actorielles qui contribuent à la résilience des SSÉ. Elle montre que si certaines caractéristiques profitables à la résilience sont incompatibles (modularité et connectivité, ou — dans une moindre mesure — connectivité et robustesse), d’autres sont plus facilement conciliables (connectivité et synchronisabilité, ou — dans une moindre mesure — modularité et robustesse). Elle fournit également une méthode intuitive pour mesurer quantitativement des réseaux d’acteurs empiriques, et ouvre ainsi la voie vers, par exemple, des comparaisons d’études de cas, ou des suivis — dans le temps — de réseaux d’acteurs. De plus, cette thèse inclut une étude de cas qui fait la lumière sur l’importance de certains groupes institutionnels pour la coordination des collaborations et des échanges de connaissances entre des acteurs aux intérêts potentiellement divergents.
As anthropic activities are slowly pushing many ecosystems towards their functional tipping points, social-ecological resilience has become a pressing concern. Local stakeholders, acting within a diversity of groups — from grassroots organizations to higher-scale institutional structures — may act on these issues and collaborate to develop, promote, and implement more sustainable practices. From these repeated collaborations emerge complex networks, the topologies of which have been shown to either enhance or hinder social-ecological systems’ (SES) resilience. The main topological characteristics of a stakeholder network enhancing SES’s resilience include a combination of: a highly modular community structure, which helps groups of stakeholders develop and propose solutions both more innovative (by reducing knowledge homogeneity in the network), and close to their interest and values; high connectivity and synchronizability, in order to improve consensus building, social capital and learning capacity; and high robustness so as to prevent the first two characteristics from sharply decreasing if some stakeholders were to leave the network. These characteristics are straight-forward both in concept and in their mathematical implementation, and have often been used separately to discuss the structural qualities of stakeholder networks in case studies. However, some of these topological features inherently contradict each other. For example, modularity is in direct conflict with connectivity, which is in conflict with a network’s robustness. This issue makes the creation of a more global measure difficult, as the level to which stakeholders contribute to enhancing SES’s resilience cannot simply be a summation of these features, but instead needs to be the outcome of a delicate trade-off between them. The present study aims to: (1) explore the trade-offs at work between these structural features; (2) produce a measure of how well-suited empirical stakeholder networks are to enhancing the resilience of their SES; and (3) thoroughly analyze an empirical stakeholder network in the context, among other things, of its resilience-enhancing qualities. This dissertation is organized in four parts. The first part (Chapter 2) is a review of the literature on SES resilience. It identifies a series of structural features (as well as their corresponding network metrics) associated with resilience-enhancement in SES. The second part (Chapter 3) is a case study on the Eyre Peninsula (EP), a rural region of South Australia where land-use, as well as climate change, contribute to biodiversity erosion. For this case study, field work was conducted in 2010 and 2011, during which time a series of face-to-face interviews was conducted to populate a list of individuals — and groups of individuals — holding a stake in biodiversity conservation on the EP. The data was thereafter used to develop an online questionnaire documenting interactions between these stakeholders. The two steps led to produce a weighted, directed network of 129 stakeholders interacting through 1180 collaboration links. The third part (Chapter 4) describes a methodology to measure the level to which stakeholder networks contribute to resilience-building in SES. The method is articulated in two steps: (i) an optimization algorithm (simulated annealing — SA —) is used to craft a semi-random archetypal network which scores high in one compromise of modularity, connectivity, synchronizability, and robustness, and (ii) an empirical stakeholder networks (such as our EP network) is compared to the archetypal network through a measure of structural distance. The shorter the distance, the closer the empirical network is to its ideal configuration. The fourth and last part of the dissertation research (Chapter 5) is an improvement on the simulated annealing used in Chapter 4. As is frequently done for this kind of optimization technique, the SA used in Chapter 4 projected the four dimensions of the multi-objective problem into one (as a weighted average). While performing well, this only resolves one of the possible trade-offs between the objectives. To better explore the trade-offs at work in this optimization problem, a true multi-objective simulated annealing (MOSA) is proposed where, instead of optimizing one solution, the algorithm optimizes a multidimensional surface of solutions scoring better than the others in a least one of the objectives. This study, which focuses on the social part of SESs, improves our understanding of the stakeholder collaboration structures which, theoretically, best contribute to resilient SESs. It shows that while some resilience-enhancing topological characteristics are in conflict (modularity vs. connectivity, and connectivity vs. robustness to a lesser extent) others can be easily reconciled (connectivity vs. synchronizability, and, less-so, modularity vs. robustness). It also provides an intuitive method to quantitatively assess empirical stakeholder networks, which opens the way to comparisons between case studies, or monitoring of stakeholder network evolution through time. Additionally, this thesis provides a case study which highlights the importance of a key institutional group in coordinating collaborations and information exchanges among other stakeholders of potentially diverging interests and values.

As áreas protegidas constituem sistemas socio-ecológicos, complexos e dinâmicos, sujeitos a perturbações que podem alterar as condições ecológicas e socioeconómicas de forma significativa. A capacidade de um sistema se adaptar a novas circunstâncias, mantendo a integridade da sua função e identidade, é designada resiliência, frequentemente associada aos modelos de gestão adaptativa que enfatizam a necessidade de aprendizagem e flexibilidade na tomada de decisão. Esta investigação teve como objetivo perceber como podem as áreas protegidas ser (mais) resilientes, focando-se no contributo do sistema de governança, determinante do modo como os utilizadores interagem com os recursos. O estudo foi centrado na tipologia ‘parque natural’, onde a presença humana existente implica mais interações e potenciais conflitos, tomando como casos de estudo o Parque Natural da Serra da Estrela e o Parque Natural de Sintra-Cascais. Metodologicamente foi privilegiada uma abordagem participativa, com consulta e envolvimento de peritos e stakeholders em diferentes momentos, através de questionários, entrevistas e um workshop. Numa primeira fase, procurou-se clarificar a identidade das áreas protegidas (a manter através da resiliência) e identificar os principais fatores de pressão e respetivas forças motrizes, com base numa adaptação do modelo DPSIR (Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response). Foi possível estabelecer que, embora coexistam múltiplos objetivos, a função identitária das áreas protegidas (incluindo parques naturais) é a conservação da natureza. As principais pressões estão sobretudo relacionadas com usos e atividades humanas e são originadas por uma complexa teia de forças motrizes, na qual a ineficácia/desadequação do sistema de governança assume destaque. Estabelecidas essas bases, foram investigados os atributos que conferem resiliência e analisado o sistema de governança em Portugal, incluindo o papel da entidade gestora e o seu modelo organizacional, bem como os instrumentos de gestão disponíveis. A existência de diferentes níveis de governança, de um capital social diverso e participativo, e de processos de inovação e aprendizagem são indicados pela literatura como atributos dos sistemas resilientes. Contudo, a análise documental e as perceções recolhidas demonstram que o atual sistema de governança não cumpre tais requisitos. O distanciamento da entidade gestora, que já não possui estruturas locais com poder de decisão ao nível da área protegida, constitui a principal fragilidade, estando associado ao desconhecimento do território e à dificuldade de relacionamento com os stakeholders, o que impossibilita a implementação de uma gestão verdadeiramente colaborativa. Para além disso, a ausência de diversidade de instrumentos de gestão e de mecanismos de monitorização e avaliação compromete a inovação e aprendizagem, colocando obstáculos a uma abordagem mais adaptativa para a gestão destes territórios. Esta investigação valida e estrutura problemas antes percecionados e fornece fundamentação a necessidades já identificadas. Acredita-se que as recomendações apresentadas são relevantes para a maioria das áreas, com eventuais adaptações. Futura investigação sobre o funcionamento destes sistemas socio-ecológicos, pressões e forças motrizes, metodologias de participação e de avaliação de resultados poderá contribuir para uma melhor gestão das áreas protegidas em Portugal. No entanto, é fundamental um maior investimento e compromisso político na área da conservação da natureza, capaz de defender e integrar os interesses nacionais e locais.
Protected areas are complex and dynamic socio-ecological systems, subject to disturbances that can significantly change ecological and socio-economic conditions. The ability of a system to adapt to changing circumstances while maintaining the integrity of its function and identity is called resilience, often associated with adaptive management models which emphasise the need for learning and flexibility in decision making. This research aimed to understand how protected areas can be (more) resilient by focusing on the contribution of the governance system, which determines how users interact with resources. The study was centred on the ‘natural park’ typology, where the existing human presence implies more interactions and potential conflicts, taking as case studies the Serra da Estrela Natural Park and the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park. Methodologically, a participatory approach was privileged, with consultation and involvement of experts and stakeholders at different moments, through questionnaires, interviews and a workshop. On a first stage, the aim was to clarify the identity of protected areas (to be maintained through resilience) and to identify the central pressures and their driving forces, based on an adaptation of the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) model. It was established that although multiple objectives coexist, the key function of protected areas (including nature parks) is nature conservation. The main pressures x are mainly related to human uses and activities and originated by a complex web of driving forces, in which the ineffectiveness/inadequacy of the governance system is highlighted. Having established this basis, the attributes that confer resilience were investigated, and the governance system in Portugal was analysed, including the role of the management body and its organisational model, as well as the available management instruments. The existence of different levels of governance, a diverse and participatory social capital, and innovation and learning processes are indicated in the literature as attributes of resilient systems. However, the documentary analysis and the stakeholders’ perceptions show that the current governance system does not meet these requirements. The distance of the management body, which no longer has local structures with decision-making power at the protected area level, is the main weakness, associated with the lack of knowledge of the territory and the difficult relationship with stakeholders, which makes the implementation of a true collaborative management impossible. Moreover, the lack of management tools’ diversity and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms does not promote innovation and learning, hindering a more adaptive approach to managing these territories. This research validates known issues and provides rationale for already identified needs. It is believed that the recommendations presented are relevant to most areas, with possible adaptations. Future research on the functioning of these socio-ecological systems, pressures and driving forces, methodologies for participation and outcome assessment could contribute to better management of protected areas in Portugal. However, it is essential a greater investment and political commitment in nature conservation, capable of defending and integrating national and local interests.