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How Does Socio-institutional Diversity Affect Collaborative Governance of Social–Ecological Systems in Practice?

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Abstract

Social and institutional diversity (“diversity” hereafter) are important dimensions in collaborative environmental governance, but lack empirical assessment. In this paper, we examine three aspects of diversity hypothesized in the literature as being important in collaborative forms of environmental governance—the presence of diverse actors, diverse perspectives, and diverse institutions. The presence of these aspects and formative conjectures were empirically considered using a mixed methods approach in four biosphere reserves in Sweden and Canada. We found that the diversity of actors involved and domains of authority varied among cases, that stakeholder perspectives were highly diverse in all cases, and that institutional variety (in terms of strategies, norms, and rules) was evident in all cases, but differed among them. Empirical support from the cases further affirms that diversity contributes to the ability to engage with a broader set of issues and challenges; diversity contributes to novel approaches to solving problems within the governance group; and diversity contributes to the flexibility of the group involved in governance in terms of addressing challenges. One conjecture, that diversity decreases the efficiency of governance in decision-making and responding to issues, was not supported by the data. However, our analysis indicates that there might be a trade-off between diversity and efficiency. The findings highlight differences in the ways in which diversity is conceptualized in the literature and on the ground, emphasizing the pragmatic advantages of actively seeking diversity in terms of competencies and capacities.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by Vetenskapsrådet, the Swedish Research Council, grant 2012-5498. We also acknowledge funding by MISTRA through a core grant to Stockholm Resilience Centre. Participation by the managers and others from the Frontenac Arch, Georgian Bay, Kristianstads Vattenrike, and Östra Vätterbranterna Biosphere Reserves is gratefully acknowledged. Our thanks are also extended to our colleague, Beatrice Crona, for her insights in conceptualizing the project. Finally, we wish to acknowledge Flor de Luna Estrada, Malena Heinrup, Katrina Krievins, and Kerrie Pickering for their research assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Assistant Professor, Environmental Sustainability Research Centre and the Department of Geography and Tourism Studies, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, L2S 3A1, Canada

    Julia Baird

  2. Professor and Director, Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, L2S 3A1, Canada

    Ryan Plummer

  3. Researcher, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SE, 106 91, Sweden

    Lisen Schultz & Örjan Bodin

  4. Environmental Change and Governance Group, School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Derek Armitage

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Correspondence to Julia Baird.

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Baird, J., Plummer, R., Schultz, L. et al. How Does Socio-institutional Diversity Affect Collaborative Governance of Social–Ecological Systems in Practice?. Environmental Management 63, 200–214 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-018-1123-5

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