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In a world characterized by ongoing overexploitation of finite resources—such as land and forests—stakeholder conflicts over use of remaining resources occur frequently and are likely to intensify. There is increasing awareness of the need to better understand individual stakeholders’ perspectives, which often condition behavior, in order to address conflicts and inform wider policymaking. We used the Q method to capture the perspectives of diverse stakeholders and highlight consensus and distinguishing statements. Our results bring to the fore three main perspectives on deforestation (development, family agriculture, and subsistence) and several points of agreement and disagreement. The strongest disagreement concerns the benefits and costs of deforestation: the development perspective portrays benefits as mutual and costs as marginal, whereas the family agriculture and subsistence perspectives associate no benefits and extreme costs with deforestation—including loss of livelihoods and culture. Nevertheless, stakeholder consensus emerges on other points—especially the need for participatory long-term strategies of land use. This paper shows how the Q method can be applied to better understand land-use conflicts.
Elena Zepharovich; Michele Ceddia; Stephan Rist. Land-Use Conflict in the Gran Chaco: Finding Common Ground through Use of the Q Method. Sustainability 2020, 12, 7788 .
AMA StyleElena Zepharovich, Michele Ceddia, Stephan Rist. Land-Use Conflict in the Gran Chaco: Finding Common Ground through Use of the Q Method. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (18):7788.
Chicago/Turabian StyleElena Zepharovich; Michele Ceddia; Stephan Rist. 2020. "Land-Use Conflict in the Gran Chaco: Finding Common Ground through Use of the Q Method." Sustainability 12, no. 18: 7788.
The ongoing expansion of agro-industrial food systems is associated with severe socio-ecological problems. For a closer look at the socio-ecological impacts, we analyze the capacity of six food systems to provide farm-based agroecosystem services with the Agroecosystem Service Capacity (ASC) approach. At the same time, we analyze how food systems affect the management of common pool resources (CPR). Our findings show that indigenous peoples and agroecological food systems can have up to three times the ASC-index of agro-industrial food systems. Through their contribution to the sustainable management of cultural landscapes with robust institutions for the management of CPRs, food systems contribute to socio-ecological integrity. On the other hand, regional and agro-industrial food systems with a lower ASC-index contribute less to socio-ecological integrity, and they undermine and open up common property institutions for robust CPR management. As a result, they appropriate (or grab) access to CPRs that are vital for food systems with higher ASC-indexes resulting from a robust management of CPRs. Strengthening a robust management of CPRs could put a halt to the ongoing expansion of food systems with a low ASC-index by replacing them with a high ASC-index to prevent an exacerbation of the current socio-ecological situation.
Horacio Augstburger; Fabian Käser; Stephan Rist. Assessing Food Systems and Their Impact on Common Pool Resources and Resilience. Land 2019, 8, 71 .
AMA StyleHoracio Augstburger, Fabian Käser, Stephan Rist. Assessing Food Systems and Their Impact on Common Pool Resources and Resilience. Land. 2019; 8 (4):71.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHoracio Augstburger; Fabian Käser; Stephan Rist. 2019. "Assessing Food Systems and Their Impact on Common Pool Resources and Resilience." Land 8, no. 4: 71.
Sustainability has become a key term for linking environmental, economic and social issues, in both the sciences and politics. Conceptions and frameworks of sustainability have thus arisen to evaluate agricultural systems on their sustainability. Within these conceptions and in political and scientific discourses, what can be understood as the social pillar of sustainability in agriculture varies greatly, especially in regards to the scope and the sustainability standards applied. While rural inhabitants have been subject of various ‘sustainability studies’, the consideration of the social dimension in agriculture is still rather underrepresented. Our conceptual framework can contribute to enhance the understanding of the social dimension of sustainability by utilizing a social science-based approach to comprehend the complexity of social interaction in agriculture: Based on Parsons' system approach, we capture the components of a social system that encompasses agriculture and its embeddedness in society. This includes all major actors, their interactions and institutions. Further, we develop Maslow's hierarchy of needs as well as the rights approach into a sustainability scale. We call the conceptual framework the sustainable agricultural social system. This general framework can later be adapted to local cultural and social settings, serving as a more comprehensive and flexible sustainability framework.
Judith Janker; Stefan Mann; Stephan Rist. Social sustainability in agriculture – A system-based framework. Journal of Rural Studies 2018, 65, 32 -42.
AMA StyleJudith Janker, Stefan Mann, Stephan Rist. Social sustainability in agriculture – A system-based framework. Journal of Rural Studies. 2018; 65 ():32-42.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJudith Janker; Stefan Mann; Stephan Rist. 2018. "Social sustainability in agriculture – A system-based framework." Journal of Rural Studies 65, no. : 32-42.
The concepts, ‘sustainable development’ and ‘sustainable agriculture’, have been shaped by both political discourses of the United Nations and scientific discourses. Using critical discourse and content analysis, we trace the meaning of ‘sustainable agriculture’ in both international political and in scientific discourses to examine and identify key elements of the representation of sustainable agriculture. We found that the meanings of the concept of sustainable agriculture vary markedly: International political actors primarily produce discourses on sustainable development in agriculture and on sustainable agricultural intensification. Scientists tend to emphasise issues of environmental management. Based on our findings, we highlight the differences in the meaning of sustainable agriculture between the political and scientific discourses and attempt to explain them. In addition, discursive gaps are shown that have the potential to hinder the systematic operationalization of ‘sustainable agriculture’, such as the integration of a social dimension of sustainable agriculture.
Judith Janker; Stefan Mann; Stephan Rist. What is Sustainable Agriculture? Critical Analysis of the International Political Discourse. Sustainability 2018, 10, 4707 .
AMA StyleJudith Janker, Stefan Mann, Stephan Rist. What is Sustainable Agriculture? Critical Analysis of the International Political Discourse. Sustainability. 2018; 10 (12):4707.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJudith Janker; Stefan Mann; Stephan Rist. 2018. "What is Sustainable Agriculture? Critical Analysis of the International Political Discourse." Sustainability 10, no. 12: 4707.
Equity has become a major concern in efforts to conserve nature. However, in the Global South, inequitable social impacts of conservation usually prevail. We investigate barriers to equitable governance of four protected areas through an innovative approach linking the tri-dimensional framing of environmental justice with the notion of telecoupling. We conceptualize the creation, support, and implementation of protected areas as telecoupling processes that involve flows, actors, and action situations, and assess them based on a set of indicators of procedural justice, distributive justice, and recognition. We perform the analysis for parallel or competing telecoupling processes that affect the areas and we then investigate the scope and reach of resistance actions to attain more equitable outcomes. Identified barriers include dependence of the PAs on transnational financial flows, presence of competing extractive demands, negative narratives on local practices, wilderness and Malthusian framings, authoritarian rule, narrow development options, and socio-cultural discrimination. These combined barriers create multiple forms of exclusion. Resistance actions are likely to succeed when actors can mobilize alliances and resources across distance. We conclude that justice framings can make power relationships in telecouplings more visible, and that considering distant interactions can elucidate causes of (in)equity in conservation.
Sébastien Boillat; Jean-David Gerber; Christoph Oberlack; Julie Zaehringer; Chinwe Ifejika Speranza; Stephan Rist. Distant Interactions, Power, and Environmental Justice in Protected Area Governance: A Telecoupling Perspective. Sustainability 2018, 10, 3954 .
AMA StyleSébastien Boillat, Jean-David Gerber, Christoph Oberlack, Julie Zaehringer, Chinwe Ifejika Speranza, Stephan Rist. Distant Interactions, Power, and Environmental Justice in Protected Area Governance: A Telecoupling Perspective. Sustainability. 2018; 10 (11):3954.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSébastien Boillat; Jean-David Gerber; Christoph Oberlack; Julie Zaehringer; Chinwe Ifejika Speranza; Stephan Rist. 2018. "Distant Interactions, Power, and Environmental Justice in Protected Area Governance: A Telecoupling Perspective." Sustainability 10, no. 11: 3954.
Maurice Tschopp; Sabin Bieri; Stephan Rist. Quinoa and production rules: how are cooperatives contributing to governance of natural resources? International Journal of the Commons 2018, 12, 402 -427.
AMA StyleMaurice Tschopp, Sabin Bieri, Stephan Rist. Quinoa and production rules: how are cooperatives contributing to governance of natural resources? International Journal of the Commons. 2018; 12 (1):402-427.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMaurice Tschopp; Sabin Bieri; Stephan Rist. 2018. "Quinoa and production rules: how are cooperatives contributing to governance of natural resources?" International Journal of the Commons 12, no. 1: 402-427.
Governance of food systems is a poorly understood determinant of food security. Much scholarship on food systems governance is non-empirical, while existing empirical research is often case study-based and theoretically and methodologically incommensurable. This complicates aggregation of evidence and generalization. This paper presents a review of literature to identify a core set of methodological indicators to study food systems governance in future research. Indicators were identified from literature gathered through a structured consultation and sampling from recent systematic reviews and were classified according to governance levels and the food system activity domain they investigate. We found a concentration of indicators in food production at local to national levels and with less literature investigating how food governance affects food distribution and consumption. Many indicators of institutional structure were found, while indicators capturing social agency and indicators of cross-scale dynamics were moderately represented but critical perspectives on governance were lacking. These gaps present an opportunity for future empirical research to investigate more comprehensively the diverse components of food systems and how governance arrangements at different scales affect them.
Aogán Delaney; Tom Evans; John McGreevy; Jordan Blekking; Tyler Schlachter; Kaisa Korhonen-Kurki; Peter Tamás; Todd A. Crane; Hallie Eakin; Wiebke Förch; Lindsey Jones; Donald R. Nelson; Christoph Oberlack; Mark Purdon; Stephan Rist. Governance of food systems across scales in times of social-ecological change: a review of indicators. Food Security 2018, 10, 287 -310.
AMA StyleAogán Delaney, Tom Evans, John McGreevy, Jordan Blekking, Tyler Schlachter, Kaisa Korhonen-Kurki, Peter Tamás, Todd A. Crane, Hallie Eakin, Wiebke Förch, Lindsey Jones, Donald R. Nelson, Christoph Oberlack, Mark Purdon, Stephan Rist. Governance of food systems across scales in times of social-ecological change: a review of indicators. Food Security. 2018; 10 (2):287-310.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAogán Delaney; Tom Evans; John McGreevy; Jordan Blekking; Tyler Schlachter; Kaisa Korhonen-Kurki; Peter Tamás; Todd A. Crane; Hallie Eakin; Wiebke Förch; Lindsey Jones; Donald R. Nelson; Christoph Oberlack; Mark Purdon; Stephan Rist. 2018. "Governance of food systems across scales in times of social-ecological change: a review of indicators." Food Security 10, no. 2: 287-310.
Multi-stakeholder participation (MSP) has become a central feature in several institutions and processes of global governance. Those who promote them trust that these arrangements can advance the deliberative quality of international institutions, and thereby improve the democratic quality, legitimacy and effectiveness of both the institutional landscape, as well as decisions made within it. This paper employs a heuristic framework to analyze the deliberative quality of MSP. Specifically, it applies Dryzek’s deliberative systems framework to the case of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). The assessment shows that the CFS improves the deliberative quality of food security governance by including and facilitating the transmission of discourses from the public to the empowered spaces. However, the deliberative quality of CFS could be higher with stronger accountability mechanisms in place, more meta-deliberation and adoption of CFS outcomes at national and local levels. Reflecting on the limitations of using this heuristic framework to assess MSP, we conclude that the analysis would benefit from more explicit consideration of different forms of power that are part of the social relations between actors involved in such settings. By proposing this analytical approach, we expect to advance a heuristic framework for assessing deliberation in an international context of the growing importance of MSP in sustainability and global governance.
Matheus Alves Zanella; Ariane Goetz; Stephan Rist; Oscar Schmidt; Jes Weigelt. Deliberation in Multi-Stakeholder Participation: A Heuristic Framework Applied to the Committee on World Food Security. Sustainability 2018, 10, 428 .
AMA StyleMatheus Alves Zanella, Ariane Goetz, Stephan Rist, Oscar Schmidt, Jes Weigelt. Deliberation in Multi-Stakeholder Participation: A Heuristic Framework Applied to the Committee on World Food Security. Sustainability. 2018; 10 (2):428.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMatheus Alves Zanella; Ariane Goetz; Stephan Rist; Oscar Schmidt; Jes Weigelt. 2018. "Deliberation in Multi-Stakeholder Participation: A Heuristic Framework Applied to the Committee on World Food Security." Sustainability 10, no. 2: 428.
Oberlack, C., S. Boillat, S. Brönnimann, J.-D. Gerber, A. Heinimann, C. Ifejika Speranza, P. Messerli, S. Rist, and U. Wiesmann. 2018. Polycentric governance in telecoupled resource systems. Ecology and Society 23(1):16. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09902-230116
Christoph Oberlack; Sébastien Boillat; Stefan Brönnimann; Jean-David Gerber; Andreas Heinimann; Chinwe Ifejika Speranza; Peter Messerli; Stephan Rist; Urs Wiesmann. Polycentric governance in telecoupled resource systems. Ecology and Society 2018, 23, 1 .
AMA StyleChristoph Oberlack, Sébastien Boillat, Stefan Brönnimann, Jean-David Gerber, Andreas Heinimann, Chinwe Ifejika Speranza, Peter Messerli, Stephan Rist, Urs Wiesmann. Polycentric governance in telecoupled resource systems. Ecology and Society. 2018; 23 (1):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChristoph Oberlack; Sébastien Boillat; Stefan Brönnimann; Jean-David Gerber; Andreas Heinimann; Chinwe Ifejika Speranza; Peter Messerli; Stephan Rist; Urs Wiesmann. 2018. "Polycentric governance in telecoupled resource systems." Ecology and Society 23, no. 1: 1.
Laura Tejada; Stephan Rist. Seeing land deals through the lens of the ‘land–water nexus’: the case of biofuel production in Piura, Peru. The Journal of Peasant Studies 2017, 45, 1247 -1271.
AMA StyleLaura Tejada, Stephan Rist. Seeing land deals through the lens of the ‘land–water nexus’: the case of biofuel production in Piura, Peru. The Journal of Peasant Studies. 2017; 45 (7):1247-1271.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLaura Tejada; Stephan Rist. 2017. "Seeing land deals through the lens of the ‘land–water nexus’: the case of biofuel production in Piura, Peru." The Journal of Peasant Studies 45, no. 7: 1247-1271.
This study combines legal and anthropological approaches to investigate how the establishment of a large-scale biofuel agro-industry is reinterpreting and potentially transforming customary institutional arrangements in rural Sierra Leone. The contractual relationships established between land acquirers and local authorities can be seen as an ‘institutional innovation’ that aims at interpreting and overcoming the limits of the national land regime. However, by formalizing customary land tenure structures through land registration, such innovations are exacerbating pre-existing social inequalities. We identified four categories of resulting conflicts: interlineage, intervillage, interfamily and intergenerational conflicts. Taken together, these conflicts question the current land-based sociopolitical structures of rural Sierra Leone and could be drivers of societal change.
Patrick Bottazzi; Adam Goguen; Stephan Rist. Conflicts of customary land tenure in rural Africa: is large-scale land acquisition a driver of ‘institutional innovation’? The Journal of Peasant Studies 2016, 43, 971 -988.
AMA StylePatrick Bottazzi, Adam Goguen, Stephan Rist. Conflicts of customary land tenure in rural Africa: is large-scale land acquisition a driver of ‘institutional innovation’? The Journal of Peasant Studies. 2016; 43 (5):971-988.
Chicago/Turabian StylePatrick Bottazzi; Adam Goguen; Stephan Rist. 2016. "Conflicts of customary land tenure in rural Africa: is large-scale land acquisition a driver of ‘institutional innovation’?" The Journal of Peasant Studies 43, no. 5: 971-988.
The first part summarises the origins, definitions and debates around the general notions of development, culture and associated more specific concepts such as identity, tradition, exogenous and endogenous knowledge, institutions, governance or territoriality. A second part highlights how culture and development got related to the debates around sustainable governance of natural resources and forests. The third part illustrates on the basis of a case study from Kenya and Bolivia how culture as a transversal element of forest governance is expressed in empirical terms. Moreover it is shown how the cultural dimension affects positively or negatively the outcomes of culturally shaped forest governance outcomes and the role these effects play in shaping the sustainability of the socio-ecological systems of forests in Africa and South America.
Stephan Rist; Barbara Darr; Patrick Bottazzi. At the Interface of Culture, Development, and Forests: Insights from Bolivia and Kenya. Silviculture of South Asian Priority Bamboos 2013, 9, 167 -204.
AMA StyleStephan Rist, Barbara Darr, Patrick Bottazzi. At the Interface of Culture, Development, and Forests: Insights from Bolivia and Kenya. Silviculture of South Asian Priority Bamboos. 2013; 9 ():167-204.
Chicago/Turabian StyleStephan Rist; Barbara Darr; Patrick Bottazzi. 2013. "At the Interface of Culture, Development, and Forests: Insights from Bolivia and Kenya." Silviculture of South Asian Priority Bamboos 9, no. : 167-204.
Sébastien Boillat; Sarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel; Stephan Rist. Linking local knowledge, conservation practices and ecosystem diversity: comparing two communities in the Tunari National Park (Bolivia). Ethnobiology and Conservation 2013, 2, 1 .
AMA StyleSébastien Boillat, Sarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel, Stephan Rist. Linking local knowledge, conservation practices and ecosystem diversity: comparing two communities in the Tunari National Park (Bolivia). Ethnobiology and Conservation. 2013; 2 ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSébastien Boillat; Sarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel; Stephan Rist. 2013. "Linking local knowledge, conservation practices and ecosystem diversity: comparing two communities in the Tunari National Park (Bolivia)." Ethnobiology and Conservation 2, no. : 1.
Agroforestry is a sustainable land use method with a long tradition in the Bolivian Andes. A better understanding of people’s knowledge and valuation of woody species can help to adjust actor-oriented agroforestry systems. In this case study, carried out in a peasant community of the Bolivian Andes, we aimed at calculating the cultural importance of selected agroforestry species, and at analysing the intracultural variation in the cultural importance and knowledge of plants according to peasants’ sex, age, and migration. Data collection was based on semi-structured interviews and freelisting exercises. Two ethnobotanical indices (Composite Salience, Cultural Importance) were used for calculating the cultural importance of plants. Intracultural variation in the cultural importance and knowledge of plants was detected by using linear and generalised linear (mixed) models. The culturally most important woody species were mainly trees and exotic species (e.g. Schinus molle, Prosopis laevigata, Eucalyptus globulus). We found that knowledge and valuation of plants increased with age but that they were lower for migrants; sex, by contrast, played a minor role. The age effects possibly result from decreasing ecological apparency of valuable native species, and their substitution by exotic marketable trees, loss of traditional plant uses or the use of other materials (e.g. plastic) instead of wood. Decreasing dedication to traditional farming may have led to successive abandonment of traditional tool uses, and the overall transformation of woody plant use is possibly related to diminishing medicinal knowledge. Age and migration affect how people value woody species and what they know about their uses. For this reason, we recommend paying particular attention to the potential of native species, which could open promising perspectives especially for the young migrating peasant generation and draw their interest in agroforestry. These native species should be ecologically sound and selected on their potential to provide subsistence and promising commercial uses. In addition to offering socio-economic and environmental services, agroforestry initiatives using native trees and shrubs can play a crucial role in recovering elements of the lost ancient landscape that still forms part of local people’s collective identity.
Regine Brandt; Sarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel; Susanne Lachmuth; Isabell Hensen; Stephan Rist. Knowledge and valuation of Andean agroforestry species: the role of sex, age, and migration among members of a rural community in Bolivia. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2013, 9, 83 -83.
AMA StyleRegine Brandt, Sarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel, Susanne Lachmuth, Isabell Hensen, Stephan Rist. Knowledge and valuation of Andean agroforestry species: the role of sex, age, and migration among members of a rural community in Bolivia. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 2013; 9 (1):83-83.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRegine Brandt; Sarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel; Susanne Lachmuth; Isabell Hensen; Stephan Rist. 2013. "Knowledge and valuation of Andean agroforestry species: the role of sex, age, and migration among members of a rural community in Bolivia." Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 9, no. 1: 83-83.
Sarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel; Regine Brandt; Susanne Lachmuth; Stephan Rist. Are the Young Less Knowledgeable? Local Knowledge of Natural Remedies and Its Transformations in the Andean Highlands. Human Ecology 2012, 40, 909 -930.
AMA StyleSarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel, Regine Brandt, Susanne Lachmuth, Stephan Rist. Are the Young Less Knowledgeable? Local Knowledge of Natural Remedies and Its Transformations in the Andean Highlands. Human Ecology. 2012; 40 (6):909-930.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel; Regine Brandt; Susanne Lachmuth; Stephan Rist. 2012. "Are the Young Less Knowledgeable? Local Knowledge of Natural Remedies and Its Transformations in the Andean Highlands." Human Ecology 40, no. 6: 909-930.
Agrarian reform cannot be limited to a linear process of land distribution. It involves a societal restructuration that affects power relations, multi‐level governance structures, the (re)spatialization of juridical legitimacy and symbolic boundaries between sociocultural groups (ethnicity). This paper analyses the consequences of the major Bolivian agrarian reforms of 1953, 1996 and 2006 for the current process of setting up the ‘plurinational’ state under the government of Evo Morales. Using a historical and sociopolitical approach, we show that the ethnically differentiated devolution of individual and collective tenure rights has resulted in an institutional segmentation along ethnic boundaries that gives rise to a growing polarization between the two socially constructed categories of indigenous people and peasants. This institutional segmentation is not limited to agrarian questions but also affects other domains, such as political processes related to territorial autonomies. The current government is trying to maintain a neutral position by giving priority to large‐scale national programmes of economic development.
Patrick Bottazzi; Stephan Rist. Changing Land Rights Means Changing Society: The Sociopolitical Effects of Agrarian Reforms under the Government of Evo Morales. Journal of Agrarian Change 2012, 12, 528 -551.
AMA StylePatrick Bottazzi, Stephan Rist. Changing Land Rights Means Changing Society: The Sociopolitical Effects of Agrarian Reforms under the Government of Evo Morales. Journal of Agrarian Change. 2012; 12 (4):528-551.
Chicago/Turabian StylePatrick Bottazzi; Stephan Rist. 2012. "Changing Land Rights Means Changing Society: The Sociopolitical Effects of Agrarian Reforms under the Government of Evo Morales." Journal of Agrarian Change 12, no. 4: 528-551.
It is commonly assumed that indigenous medical systems remain strong in developing countries because biomedicine is physically inaccessible or financially not affordable. This paper compares the health-seeking behavior of households from rural Andean communities at a Peruvian and a Bolivian study site. The main research question was whether the increased presence of biomedicine led to a displacement of Andean indigenous medical practices or to coexistence of the two healing traditions.
Sarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel; Ina Vandebroek; Stephan Rist. Can Andean medicine coexist with biomedical healthcare? A comparison of two rural communities in Peru and Bolivia. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2012, 8, 26 -26.
AMA StyleSarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel, Ina Vandebroek, Stephan Rist. Can Andean medicine coexist with biomedical healthcare? A comparison of two rural communities in Peru and Bolivia. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 2012; 8 (1):26-26.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel; Ina Vandebroek; Stephan Rist. 2012. "Can Andean medicine coexist with biomedical healthcare? A comparison of two rural communities in Peru and Bolivia." Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 8, no. 1: 26-26.
The present paper discusses a conceptual, methodological and practical framework within which the limitations of the conventional notion of natural resource management (NRM) can be overcome. NRM is understood as the application of scientific ecological knowledge to resource management. By including a consideration of the normative imperatives that arise from scientific ecological knowledge and submitting them to public scrutiny, ‘sustainable management of natural resources’ can be recontextualised as ‘sustainable governance of natural resources’. This in turn makes it possible to place the politically neutralising discourse of ‘management’ in a space for wider societal debate, in which the different actors involved can deliberate and negotiate the norms, rules and power relations related to natural resource use and sustainable development. The transformation of sustainable management into sustainable governance of natural resources can be conceptualised as a social learning process involving scientists, experts, politicians and local actors, and their corresponding scientific and non-scientific knowledges. The social learning process is the result of what Habermas has described as ‘communicative action’, in contrast to ‘strategic action’. Sustainable governance of natural resources thus requires a new space for communicative action aiming at shared, intersubjectively validated definitions of actual situations and the goals and means required for transforming current norms, rules and power relations in order to achieve sustainable development. Case studies from rural India, Bolivia and Mali explore the potentials and limitations for broadening communicative action through an intensification of social learning processes at the interface of local and external knowledge. Key factors that enable or hinder the transformation of sustainable management into sustainable governance of natural resources through social learning processes and communicative action are discussed.
Stephan Rist; Mani Chidambaranathan; Cesar Escobar; Urs Wiesmann; Anne Zimmermann. Moving from sustainable management to sustainable governance of natural resources: The role of social learning processes in rural India, Bolivia and Mali. Journal of Rural Studies 2007, 23, 23 -37.
AMA StyleStephan Rist, Mani Chidambaranathan, Cesar Escobar, Urs Wiesmann, Anne Zimmermann. Moving from sustainable management to sustainable governance of natural resources: The role of social learning processes in rural India, Bolivia and Mali. Journal of Rural Studies. 2007; 23 (1):23-37.
Chicago/Turabian StyleStephan Rist; Mani Chidambaranathan; Cesar Escobar; Urs Wiesmann; Anne Zimmermann. 2007. "Moving from sustainable management to sustainable governance of natural resources: The role of social learning processes in rural India, Bolivia and Mali." Journal of Rural Studies 23, no. 1: 23-37.
In ecological economics the terms sustainable development and transdisciplinarity are closely related. It is shown that this close relation is due to the fact that research for sustainable development has to be issue oriented and reflect the diversity, complexity and dynamics of the processes involved as well as their variability between specific problem situations. Furthermore, the knowledge of people involved and their needs and interests at stake have to be taken into account. There are three basic and interrelated questions about issues to be addressed in sustainability research: (1) In which way do processes constitute a problem field and where are the needs for change? (2) What are more sustainable practices? (3) How can existing practices be transformed? To treat them properly, transdisciplinary research is needed. The emergence of transdisciplinary research in the North and the South is described. By distinguishing analytically among basic, applied and transdisciplinary research the challenges that have to be tackled in transdisciplinary projects are analyzed.
Gertrude Hirsch Hadorn; David Bradley; Christian Pohl; Stephan Rist; Urs Wiesmann. Implications of transdisciplinarity for sustainability research. Ecological Economics 2006, 60, 119 -128.
AMA StyleGertrude Hirsch Hadorn, David Bradley, Christian Pohl, Stephan Rist, Urs Wiesmann. Implications of transdisciplinarity for sustainability research. Ecological Economics. 2006; 60 (1):119-128.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGertrude Hirsch Hadorn; David Bradley; Christian Pohl; Stephan Rist; Urs Wiesmann. 2006. "Implications of transdisciplinarity for sustainability research." Ecological Economics 60, no. 1: 119-128.
Integration of indigenous knowledge and ethnoscientific approaches into contemporary frameworks for conservation and sustainable management of natural resources will become increasingly important in policies on an international and national level, both in countries that are industrialised and those that have a developing status. We set the scene on how this can be done by exploring the key conditions and dimensions of a dialogue between ȁ8ontologiesȁ9 and the roles, which ethnosciences could play in this process. First, the roles of ethnosciences in the context of sustainable development were analysed, placing emphasis on the implications arising when western sciences aspire to relate to indigenous forms of␣knowledge. Secondly, the contributions of ethnosciences to such an ȁ8inter- ontological dialogueȁ9 were explored, based on an ethnoecological study of the encounter of sciences and indigenous knowledge in the Andes of Bolivia, and reviewed experiences from mangrove systems in Kenya, India and Sri Lanka, and from case-studies in other ecosystems world-wide, incl. Australia, Burkina Faso, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Nepal, Niger, Philippines, Senegal, South-Africa and Tanzania.
Stephan Rist; Farid Dahdouh-Guebas. Ethnosciences––A step towards the integration of scientific and indigenous forms of knowledge in the management of natural resources for the future. Environment, Development and Sustainability 2006, 8, 467 -493.
AMA StyleStephan Rist, Farid Dahdouh-Guebas. Ethnosciences––A step towards the integration of scientific and indigenous forms of knowledge in the management of natural resources for the future. Environment, Development and Sustainability. 2006; 8 (4):467-493.
Chicago/Turabian StyleStephan Rist; Farid Dahdouh-Guebas. 2006. "Ethnosciences––A step towards the integration of scientific and indigenous forms of knowledge in the management of natural resources for the future." Environment, Development and Sustainability 8, no. 4: 467-493.