Polycentric governance of commons through multi-stakeholder platforms: insights from two case studies in India

Hagar ElDidi (), Shivanyaa Rawat (), Ruth Meinzen-Dick (), Rahul Chaturvedi () and Richu Sanil ()
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Hagar ElDidi: International Food Policy Research Institute, Natural Resources and Resilience Unit
Shivanyaa Rawat: Foundation for Ecological Security
Ruth Meinzen-Dick: International Food Policy Research Institute, Natural Resources and Resilience Unit
Rahul Chaturvedi: Foundation for Ecological Security
Richu Sanil: Foundation for Ecological Security

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2025, vol. 27, issue 12, No 52, 29797-29823

Abstract: Abstract Commons governance is complex and polycentric, involving a range of actors, working at different scales with different concepts of development, and different types of power. Multistakeholder platforms (MSPs) have generated considerable attention as a way to address these tensions among multiple and overlapping decision-making centers operating on different administrative levels. Yet establishing MSPs that effectively involve community, various government actors, and private sector actors is far from straightforward. This paper analyzes the Indian NGO Foundation for Ecological Security’s (FES) experience of strengthening polycentric governance through case studies of two MSPs in Gujarat and Odisha working at the block (sub-district) level—encompassing multiple communities situated around a commons landscape. We gather information from a variety of sources including a survey of MSP participants, focus groups and semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, media articles, as well as institutional knowledge such as FES project reports. By analyzing local environments, institutional arrangements, stakeholder interactions, governance processes and the evolution of MSPs in the two cases, it distills lessons on the tangible and intangible benefits of multi-stakeholder engagement, scale, and enabling conditions useful for scaling up MSPs. We argue that the groundwork carried out to build community-level collective action supports effective polycentric governance of resources on the landscape-level, especially through block-level MSPs that facilitate inter-community collaboration and learning, strengthening local voices and building trust between stakeholders over time. The cases also highlight that MSPs can evolve in different ways as the various actors interact and exercise influence. External actors like NGOs thus play an important role as facilitators and through mobilizing communities to help them claim their agency. We find that nesting village-level institutions in federations and federations in larger MSPs is important for robust and sustainable collective action and bridging sectoral and institutional boundaries.

Keywords: Commons; Multi-stakeholder platforms; Polycentricity; India; Governance scale (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s10668-024-04896-9

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