The Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society: an emergent community of practice
- Biggs, Reinette, Reyers, Belinda, Blanchard, Ryan, Clements, Hayley S, Cockburn, Jessica J, Cumming, Graeme S, Cundill, Georgina, de Vos, Alta, Dziba, Luthando E, Esler, Karen J, Fabricius, Christo, Hamann, Maike, Henriksson, Rebecka, Kotschy, Karen, Lindborg, Regina, Luvuno, Linda, Masterson, Vanessa A, Nel, Jeanne L, O'Farrell, Patrick, Palmer, Carolyn G, Pereira, Laura, Pollard, Sharon, Preiser, Rika, Roux, Dirk J, Scholes, Robert J, Selomane, Odirlwe, Shackleton, Charlie M, Shackleton, Sheona E, Sitas, Nadia, Slingsby, Jasper A, Spierenburg, Marja, Tengö, Maria
- Authors: Biggs, Reinette , Reyers, Belinda , Blanchard, Ryan , Clements, Hayley S , Cockburn, Jessica J , Cumming, Graeme S , Cundill, Georgina , de Vos, Alta , Dziba, Luthando E , Esler, Karen J , Fabricius, Christo , Hamann, Maike , Henriksson, Rebecka , Kotschy, Karen , Lindborg, Regina , Luvuno, Linda , Masterson, Vanessa A , Nel, Jeanne L , O'Farrell, Patrick , Palmer, Carolyn G , Pereira, Laura , Pollard, Sharon , Preiser, Rika , Roux, Dirk J , Scholes, Robert J , Selomane, Odirlwe , Shackleton, Charlie M , Shackleton, Sheona E , Sitas, Nadia , Slingsby, Jasper A , Spierenburg, Marja , Tengö, Maria
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/401330 , vital:69726 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2022.2150317"
- Description: Sustainability-focused research networks and communities of practice have emerged as a key response and strategy to build capacity and knowledge to support transformation towards more sustainable, just and equitable futures. This paper synthesises insights from the development of a community of practice on social-ecological systems (SES) research in southern Africa over the past decade, linked to the international Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS). This community consists of a network of researchers who carry out place-based SES research in the southern African region. They interact through various cross-cutting working groups and also host a variety of public colloquia and student and practitioner training events. Known as the Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (SAPECS), its core objectives are to: (1) derive new approaches and empirical insights on SES dynamics in the southern African context; (2) have a tangible impact by mainstreaming knowledge into policy and practice; and (3) grow the community of practice engaged in SES research and governance, including researchers, students and practitioners. This paper reflects on experiences in building the SAPECS community, with the aim of supporting the development of similar networks elsewhere in the world, particularly in the Global South.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
- Authors: Biggs, Reinette , Reyers, Belinda , Blanchard, Ryan , Clements, Hayley S , Cockburn, Jessica J , Cumming, Graeme S , Cundill, Georgina , de Vos, Alta , Dziba, Luthando E , Esler, Karen J , Fabricius, Christo , Hamann, Maike , Henriksson, Rebecka , Kotschy, Karen , Lindborg, Regina , Luvuno, Linda , Masterson, Vanessa A , Nel, Jeanne L , O'Farrell, Patrick , Palmer, Carolyn G , Pereira, Laura , Pollard, Sharon , Preiser, Rika , Roux, Dirk J , Scholes, Robert J , Selomane, Odirlwe , Shackleton, Charlie M , Shackleton, Sheona E , Sitas, Nadia , Slingsby, Jasper A , Spierenburg, Marja , Tengö, Maria
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/401330 , vital:69726 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2022.2150317"
- Description: Sustainability-focused research networks and communities of practice have emerged as a key response and strategy to build capacity and knowledge to support transformation towards more sustainable, just and equitable futures. This paper synthesises insights from the development of a community of practice on social-ecological systems (SES) research in southern Africa over the past decade, linked to the international Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS). This community consists of a network of researchers who carry out place-based SES research in the southern African region. They interact through various cross-cutting working groups and also host a variety of public colloquia and student and practitioner training events. Known as the Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (SAPECS), its core objectives are to: (1) derive new approaches and empirical insights on SES dynamics in the southern African context; (2) have a tangible impact by mainstreaming knowledge into policy and practice; and (3) grow the community of practice engaged in SES research and governance, including researchers, students and practitioners. This paper reflects on experiences in building the SAPECS community, with the aim of supporting the development of similar networks elsewhere in the world, particularly in the Global South.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
Social-ecological change: insights from the Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society
- Biggs, Reinette, Clements, Hayley S, Cumming, Graeme S, Cundill, Georgina, de Vos, Alta, Hamann, Maike, Luvuno, Linda, Roux, Dirk J, Selomane, Odirlwe, Blanchard, Ryan, Cockburn, Jessica J, Dziba, Luthando E, Esler, Karen J, Fabricius, Christo, Henriksson, Rebecka, Kotschy, Karen, Lindborg, Regina, Masterson, Vanessa A, Nel, Jeanne L, O'Farrell, Patrick, Palmer, Carolyn G, Pereira, Laura, Pollard, Sharon, Preiser, Rika, Scholes, Robert J, Shackleton, Charlie M, Shackleton, Sheona E, Sitas, Nadia, Slingsby, Jasper A, Spierenburg, Maria, Tengö, Maria, Reyers, Belinda
- Authors: Biggs, Reinette , Clements, Hayley S , Cumming, Graeme S , Cundill, Georgina , de Vos, Alta , Hamann, Maike , Luvuno, Linda , Roux, Dirk J , Selomane, Odirlwe , Blanchard, Ryan , Cockburn, Jessica J , Dziba, Luthando E , Esler, Karen J , Fabricius, Christo , Henriksson, Rebecka , Kotschy, Karen , Lindborg, Regina , Masterson, Vanessa A , Nel, Jeanne L , O'Farrell, Patrick , Palmer, Carolyn G , Pereira, Laura , Pollard, Sharon , Preiser, Rika , Scholes, Robert J , Shackleton, Charlie M , Shackleton, Sheona E , Sitas, Nadia , Slingsby, Jasper A , Spierenburg, Maria , Tengö, Maria , Reyers, Belinda
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/399817 , vital:69561 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2022.2097478"
- Description: Social-ecological systems (SES) research has emerged as an important area of sustainability science, informing and supporting pressing issues of transformation towards more sustainable, just and equitable futures. To date, much SES research has been done in or from the Global North, where the challenges and contexts for supporting sustainability transformations are substantially different from the Global South. This paper synthesises emerging insights on SES dynamics that can inform actions and advance research to support sustainability transformations specifically in the southern African context. The paper draws on work linked to members of the Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (SAPECS), a leading SES research network in the region, synthesizing key insights with respect to the five core themes of SAPECS: (i) transdisciplinary and engaged research, (ii) ecosystem services and human well-being, (iii) governance institutions and management practices, (iv) spatial relationships and cross-scale connections, and (v) regime shifts, traps and transformations. For each theme, we focus on insights that are particularly novel, interesting or important in the southern African context, and reflect on key research gaps and emerging frontiers for SES research in the region going forward. Such place-based insights are important for understanding the variation in SES dynamics around the world, and are crucial for informing a context-sensitive global agenda to foster sustainability transformations at local to global scales.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Social-ecological change: insights from the Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society
- Authors: Biggs, Reinette , Clements, Hayley S , Cumming, Graeme S , Cundill, Georgina , de Vos, Alta , Hamann, Maike , Luvuno, Linda , Roux, Dirk J , Selomane, Odirlwe , Blanchard, Ryan , Cockburn, Jessica J , Dziba, Luthando E , Esler, Karen J , Fabricius, Christo , Henriksson, Rebecka , Kotschy, Karen , Lindborg, Regina , Masterson, Vanessa A , Nel, Jeanne L , O'Farrell, Patrick , Palmer, Carolyn G , Pereira, Laura , Pollard, Sharon , Preiser, Rika , Scholes, Robert J , Shackleton, Charlie M , Shackleton, Sheona E , Sitas, Nadia , Slingsby, Jasper A , Spierenburg, Maria , Tengö, Maria , Reyers, Belinda
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/399817 , vital:69561 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2022.2097478"
- Description: Social-ecological systems (SES) research has emerged as an important area of sustainability science, informing and supporting pressing issues of transformation towards more sustainable, just and equitable futures. To date, much SES research has been done in or from the Global North, where the challenges and contexts for supporting sustainability transformations are substantially different from the Global South. This paper synthesises emerging insights on SES dynamics that can inform actions and advance research to support sustainability transformations specifically in the southern African context. The paper draws on work linked to members of the Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (SAPECS), a leading SES research network in the region, synthesizing key insights with respect to the five core themes of SAPECS: (i) transdisciplinary and engaged research, (ii) ecosystem services and human well-being, (iii) governance institutions and management practices, (iv) spatial relationships and cross-scale connections, and (v) regime shifts, traps and transformations. For each theme, we focus on insights that are particularly novel, interesting or important in the southern African context, and reflect on key research gaps and emerging frontiers for SES research in the region going forward. Such place-based insights are important for understanding the variation in SES dynamics around the world, and are crucial for informing a context-sensitive global agenda to foster sustainability transformations at local to global scales.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Interviews and surveys
- Shackleton, Sheona E, Bezerra, Joana C, Cockburn, Jessica J, Reed, Maureen G, Abu, Razak
- Authors: Shackleton, Sheona E , Bezerra, Joana C , Cockburn, Jessica J , Reed, Maureen G , Abu, Razak
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433914 , vital:73009 , ISBN 9781000401516 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/49560
- Description: This chapter is closely related to the following approaches and methods in this handbook: systems scoping (Chapter 5), participatory data collection (Chapter 8), facilitated dialogues (Chapter 9), futures analysis (Chapter 10), qualitative content analysis (Chapter 19), comparative case study analysis (Chapter 20), institutional analysis (Chapter 22), network analysis (Chapter 23), spatial mapping and analysis (Chapter 24), historical assessment (Chapter 25), and livelihood and vulnerability analysis (Chapter 32).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Shackleton, Sheona E , Bezerra, Joana C , Cockburn, Jessica J , Reed, Maureen G , Abu, Razak
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433914 , vital:73009 , ISBN 9781000401516 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/49560
- Description: This chapter is closely related to the following approaches and methods in this handbook: systems scoping (Chapter 5), participatory data collection (Chapter 8), facilitated dialogues (Chapter 9), futures analysis (Chapter 10), qualitative content analysis (Chapter 19), comparative case study analysis (Chapter 20), institutional analysis (Chapter 22), network analysis (Chapter 23), spatial mapping and analysis (Chapter 24), historical assessment (Chapter 25), and livelihood and vulnerability analysis (Chapter 32).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
Relational hubs for collaborative landscape stewardship
- Cockburn, Jessica J, Cundill, Georgina, Shackleton, Sheona E, Cele, Ayanda, Cornelius, Susanna F, Koopman, Vaughan, Le Roux, Jean-Pierre, McLeod, Nicky, Rouget, Mathieu, Schroder, Samantha, Van den Broek, Dieter, Wright, Dale R, Zwinkelse, Marijn
- Authors: Cockburn, Jessica J , Cundill, Georgina , Shackleton, Sheona E , Cele, Ayanda , Cornelius, Susanna F , Koopman, Vaughan , Le Roux, Jean-Pierre , McLeod, Nicky , Rouget, Mathieu , Schroder, Samantha , Van den Broek, Dieter , Wright, Dale R , Zwinkelse, Marijn
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/392748 , vital:68789 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2019.1658141"
- Description: Landscape stewardship is considered an important place-based approach to addressing sustainability challenges. Working at landscape-level requires collaboration between diverse landscape stakeholders. In this study, we partnered with local stewardship practitioners across six cases in South Africa to investigate how they facilitate collaboration towards social-ecological sustainability outcomes. We found that practitioners facilitate collaboration among stakeholders by operating as relational hubs in the landscape. Through these hubs, they build new inter-personal relationships among stakeholders, creating social networks which enable stewardship practice. The hubs deepen human-nature relationships by creating enabling conditions for stewards to put stewardship ethics into action. Drawing on insights from these cases, we call for a relational approach to landscape stewardship which focuses on human-to-human and human-to-nature relationships. Moreover, we argue that landscape stewardship initiatives need to re-focus stewardship on stewards, recognizing them as key agents of change in addressing the conflict between agriculture and conservation inherent in many landscapes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Cockburn, Jessica J , Cundill, Georgina , Shackleton, Sheona E , Cele, Ayanda , Cornelius, Susanna F , Koopman, Vaughan , Le Roux, Jean-Pierre , McLeod, Nicky , Rouget, Mathieu , Schroder, Samantha , Van den Broek, Dieter , Wright, Dale R , Zwinkelse, Marijn
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/392748 , vital:68789 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2019.1658141"
- Description: Landscape stewardship is considered an important place-based approach to addressing sustainability challenges. Working at landscape-level requires collaboration between diverse landscape stakeholders. In this study, we partnered with local stewardship practitioners across six cases in South Africa to investigate how they facilitate collaboration towards social-ecological sustainability outcomes. We found that practitioners facilitate collaboration among stakeholders by operating as relational hubs in the landscape. Through these hubs, they build new inter-personal relationships among stakeholders, creating social networks which enable stewardship practice. The hubs deepen human-nature relationships by creating enabling conditions for stewards to put stewardship ethics into action. Drawing on insights from these cases, we call for a relational approach to landscape stewardship which focuses on human-to-human and human-to-nature relationships. Moreover, we argue that landscape stewardship initiatives need to re-focus stewardship on stewards, recognizing them as key agents of change in addressing the conflict between agriculture and conservation inherent in many landscapes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Collaborative stewardship in multifunctional landscapes: toward relational, pluralistic approaches
- Cockburn, Jessica J, Cundell, Georgina, Shackleton, Sheona E, Rouget, Mathieu, Zwinkels, Marijn, Cornelius, Susanna A, Metcalf, Liz, Van den Broek, D
- Authors: Cockburn, Jessica J , Cundell, Georgina , Shackleton, Sheona E , Rouget, Mathieu , Zwinkels, Marijn , Cornelius, Susanna A , Metcalf, Liz , Van den Broek, D
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/390297 , vital:68535 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11085-240432"
- Description: Landscape stewardship offers a means to put social-ecological approaches to stewardship into practice. The growing interest in landscape stewardship has led to a focus on multistakeholder collaboration. Although there is a significant body of literature on collaborative management and governance of natural resources, the particular challenges posed by multifunctional landscapes, in which there are often contested interests, require closer attention. We present a case study from South Africa to investigate how collaborative stewardship can be fostered in contested multifunctional landscapes. We conducted this research through an engaged transdisciplinary research partnership in which we integrated social-ecological practitioner and academic knowledge to gain an in-depth understanding of the challenges of fostering collaboration. We identified five overarching factors that influence collaboration: contextual, institutional, social-relational, individual, and political-historical. Collaborative stewardship approaches focused on the development of formal governance institutions appear to be most successful if enabling individual and social-relational conditions are in place. Our case study, characterized by high social diversity, inequity, and contestation, suggests that consensus-driven approaches to collaboration are unlikely to result in equitable and sustainable landscape stewardship in such contexts. We therefore suggest an approach that focuses on enhancing individual and social-relational enablers. Moreover, we propose a bottom-up patchwork approach to collaborative stewardship premised on the notion of pluralism. This would focus on building new interpersonal relationships and collaborative capacity through small collective actions. Taking a relational, pluralistic approach to fostering collaborative stewardship is particularly important in contested, socially heterogeneous landscapes. Drawing on our study and the literature, we propose guiding principles for implementing relational, pluralistic approaches to collaborative stewardship and suggest future research directions for supporting such approaches.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Cockburn, Jessica J , Cundell, Georgina , Shackleton, Sheona E , Rouget, Mathieu , Zwinkels, Marijn , Cornelius, Susanna A , Metcalf, Liz , Van den Broek, D
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/390297 , vital:68535 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11085-240432"
- Description: Landscape stewardship offers a means to put social-ecological approaches to stewardship into practice. The growing interest in landscape stewardship has led to a focus on multistakeholder collaboration. Although there is a significant body of literature on collaborative management and governance of natural resources, the particular challenges posed by multifunctional landscapes, in which there are often contested interests, require closer attention. We present a case study from South Africa to investigate how collaborative stewardship can be fostered in contested multifunctional landscapes. We conducted this research through an engaged transdisciplinary research partnership in which we integrated social-ecological practitioner and academic knowledge to gain an in-depth understanding of the challenges of fostering collaboration. We identified five overarching factors that influence collaboration: contextual, institutional, social-relational, individual, and political-historical. Collaborative stewardship approaches focused on the development of formal governance institutions appear to be most successful if enabling individual and social-relational conditions are in place. Our case study, characterized by high social diversity, inequity, and contestation, suggests that consensus-driven approaches to collaboration are unlikely to result in equitable and sustainable landscape stewardship in such contexts. We therefore suggest an approach that focuses on enhancing individual and social-relational enablers. Moreover, we propose a bottom-up patchwork approach to collaborative stewardship premised on the notion of pluralism. This would focus on building new interpersonal relationships and collaborative capacity through small collective actions. Taking a relational, pluralistic approach to fostering collaborative stewardship is particularly important in contested, socially heterogeneous landscapes. Drawing on our study and the literature, we propose guiding principles for implementing relational, pluralistic approaches to collaborative stewardship and suggest future research directions for supporting such approaches.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
The meaning and practice of stewardship in South Africa
- Cockburn, Jessica J, Cundill, Georgina, Shackleton, Sheona E, Rouget, Mathieu
- Authors: Cockburn, Jessica J , Cundill, Georgina , Shackleton, Sheona E , Rouget, Mathieu
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/390683 , vital:68574 , xlink:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2019/5339"
- Description: Stewardship offers a means of addressing social-ecological sustainability challenges, from the local to the global level. The concept of stewardship has had various meanings attached to it over time, and the links between the theory and practice of stewardship are not well understood. We sought to characterise the practice of stewardship in South Africa, to better understand the relationship between theory and practice. We found that practitioners’ understandings of stewardship coalesce around two core notions: the idea of stewardship as ‘responsible use and care’ of nature, and stewardship as a ‘balancing act’ between stewards’ use of natural resources for agricultural production and their responsibility to protect and manage the wider ecosystem. Stewardship practice in South Africa is strongly influenced by the biodiversity stewardship tool; however, many practitioners are integrating biodiversity stewardship with other approaches. These emerging social-ecological stewardship initiatives operate at landscape-level and work towards integrated social and ecological stewardship outcomes, by facilitating collaboration among diverse stakeholders. Further research is needed to better understand what is required to support these integrated, collaborative and cross-sectoral initiatives. Policy mechanisms that facilitate integrated place-based stewardship practice can contribute to expanding the practice of biodiversity stewardship in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Cockburn, Jessica J , Cundill, Georgina , Shackleton, Sheona E , Rouget, Mathieu
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/390683 , vital:68574 , xlink:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2019/5339"
- Description: Stewardship offers a means of addressing social-ecological sustainability challenges, from the local to the global level. The concept of stewardship has had various meanings attached to it over time, and the links between the theory and practice of stewardship are not well understood. We sought to characterise the practice of stewardship in South Africa, to better understand the relationship between theory and practice. We found that practitioners’ understandings of stewardship coalesce around two core notions: the idea of stewardship as ‘responsible use and care’ of nature, and stewardship as a ‘balancing act’ between stewards’ use of natural resources for agricultural production and their responsibility to protect and manage the wider ecosystem. Stewardship practice in South Africa is strongly influenced by the biodiversity stewardship tool; however, many practitioners are integrating biodiversity stewardship with other approaches. These emerging social-ecological stewardship initiatives operate at landscape-level and work towards integrated social and ecological stewardship outcomes, by facilitating collaboration among diverse stakeholders. Further research is needed to better understand what is required to support these integrated, collaborative and cross-sectoral initiatives. Policy mechanisms that facilitate integrated place-based stewardship practice can contribute to expanding the practice of biodiversity stewardship in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Towards place-based research to support social–ecological stewardship
- Cundill, Georgina, Cockburn, Jessica J, Shackleton, Sheona E
- Authors: Cundill, Georgina , Cockburn, Jessica J , Shackleton, Sheona E
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125053 , vital:35724 , https://doi.org/10.3390/su10051434
- Description: Concerns about ecological degradation and social inequalities have prompted increasing calls for stewardship in the social–ecological systems and sustainability science literature. However, how can the ideals of stewardship be realised in practice? The links between the theory and practice of stewardship are under-developed, and research to support place-based stewardship practice is limited. We therefore bring together complementary perspectives to guide research on place-based stewardship practice in the context of multifunctional landscapes. We unpack and synthesise literature on stewardship, landscapes, and collaboration for natural resource management, and highlight the ways in which the pathways approach can deepen research on collaboration and stewardship practice. We propose landscapes as a suitable level of analysis and action for stewardship. Since all landscapes are multifunctional, we argue that collaboration among multiple stakeholders is a necessary focus of such research. Our analysis reveals that existing theory on collaboration could be deepened by further research into the agency of individual human actors, the complex social–relational dynamics among actors, and the situatedness of actors within the social–ecological context. These factors mediate collaborative processes, and a better understanding of them is needed to support place-based stewardship practice. To this end, the pathways approach offers a waymark to advance research on collaboration, particularly in the complex, contested social–ecological systems that tend to characterize multifunctional landscapes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Cundill, Georgina , Cockburn, Jessica J , Shackleton, Sheona E
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125053 , vital:35724 , https://doi.org/10.3390/su10051434
- Description: Concerns about ecological degradation and social inequalities have prompted increasing calls for stewardship in the social–ecological systems and sustainability science literature. However, how can the ideals of stewardship be realised in practice? The links between the theory and practice of stewardship are under-developed, and research to support place-based stewardship practice is limited. We therefore bring together complementary perspectives to guide research on place-based stewardship practice in the context of multifunctional landscapes. We unpack and synthesise literature on stewardship, landscapes, and collaboration for natural resource management, and highlight the ways in which the pathways approach can deepen research on collaboration and stewardship practice. We propose landscapes as a suitable level of analysis and action for stewardship. Since all landscapes are multifunctional, we argue that collaboration among multiple stakeholders is a necessary focus of such research. Our analysis reveals that existing theory on collaboration could be deepened by further research into the agency of individual human actors, the complex social–relational dynamics among actors, and the situatedness of actors within the social–ecological context. These factors mediate collaborative processes, and a better understanding of them is needed to support place-based stewardship practice. To this end, the pathways approach offers a waymark to advance research on collaboration, particularly in the complex, contested social–ecological systems that tend to characterize multifunctional landscapes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
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