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Theory and Research to Study the Legal and Institutional Foundations of Adaptive Governance

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Practical Panarchy for Adaptive Water Governance

Abstract

Adaptation to major social and ecological changes requires the participation, innovation, social learning, and political deliberation of many stakeholders, doing many different governance activities at different scales. Legal and institutional systems set the ground rules for this governance activity, establishing boundaries and opportunities for widespread innovation and cooperation. However, the enabling conditions for adaptive governance are poorly understood, making it difficult to facilitate. Candidate design principles that describe enabling conditions for adaptive environmental governance are proposed. Research opportunities are outlined to study the effects of these factors in different social-ecological systems and to further refine the principles.

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Acknowledgments

This work was developed in part under the Adaptive Water Governance Project, funded by the US National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) under funding from the US National Science Foundation, NSF DBI-1052875. The views set forth by contributors to this volume represent their own and do not represent the views of any public or private entity the contributor is affiliated with.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urban and Public Affairs, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA

    Daniel A. DeCaro

  2. W. A. Frank College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA

    Brian C. Chaffin

  3. School of Government and Public Policy, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Edella Schlager

  4. School of Natural Resources, University of Nebrasksa, Lincoln, NE, USA

    Ahjond S. Garmestani

  5. Vanderbilt University Law School, Nashville, TN, USA

    J. B. Ruhl

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  1. Daniel A. DeCaro
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  2. Brian C. Chaffin
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  3. Edella Schlager
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  4. Ahjond S. Garmestani
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  5. J. B. Ruhl
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel A. DeCaro .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Law and Waters of the West Program, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, USA

    Barbara Cosens

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Lance Gunderson

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DeCaro, D.A., Chaffin, B.C., Schlager, E., Garmestani, A.S., Ruhl, J.B. (2018). Theory and Research to Study the Legal and Institutional Foundations of Adaptive Governance. In: Cosens, B., Gunderson, L. (eds) Practical Panarchy for Adaptive Water Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72472-0_16

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