Achieving Social and Ecological Outcomes in Collaborative Environmental Governance: Good Examples from Swedish Moose Management

Sabrina Dressel, Annelie Sjölander-Lindqvist, Maria Johansson, Göran Ericsson and Camilla Sandström
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Sabrina Dressel: Department of Wildlife, Fish & Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-90183 Umeå, Sweden
Annelie Sjölander-Lindqvist: School of Global Studies & Gothenburg Research Institute (GRI), University of Gothenburg, SE-40530 Gothenburg, Sweden
Maria Johansson: Environmental Psychology, Department of Architecture and the Built Environment, Lund University, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
Göran Ericsson: Department of Wildlife, Fish & Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-90183 Umeå, Sweden
Camilla Sandström: Department of Political Science, Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-21

Abstract: Collaborative governance approaches have been suggested as strategies to handle wicked environmental problems. Evaluations have found promising examples of effective natural resource governance, but also highlighted the importance of social-ecological context and institutional design. The aim of this study was to identify factors that contribute to the achievement of social and ecological sustainability within Swedish moose ( Alces alces ) management. In 2012, a multi-level collaborative governance regime was implemented to decrease conflicts among stakeholders. We carried out semi-structured interviews with six ‘good examples’ (i.e., Moose Management Groups that showed positive social and ecological outcomes). We found that ‘good examples’ collectively identified existing knowledge gaps and management challenges and used their discretionary power to develop procedural arrangements that are adapted to the social-ecological context, their theory of change, and attributes of local actors. This contributed to the creation of bridging social capital and principled engagement across governance levels. Thus, our results indicate the existence of higher-order social learning as well as a positive feedback from within-level collaboration dynamics to between-level collaboration. Furthermore, our study illustrates the importance of institutional flexibility to utilize the existing knowledge across stakeholder groups and to allow for adaptations based on the social learning process.

Keywords: adaptive management; collaborative governance regime; collaboration dynamics; institutional flexibility; leadership; multi-level governance; social capital; social learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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