Adaptive Management of the Water Cycle on the Urban Fringe: Three Australian Case Studies

This article explores the role of actors and agency in the literature on sustainability transitions. We reviewed 386 journal articles on transition management and sustainability transitions listed in Scopus from 1995 to 2014. We investigate the thesis that actors have been neglected in this literature in favor of more abstract system concepts. Results show that this thesis cannot be confirmed on a general level. Rather, we find a variety of different approaches, depending on the systemic level, for clustering actors and agency as niche, regime, and landscape actors; the societal realm; different levels of governance; and intermediaries. We also differentiate between supporting and opposing actors. We find that actor roles in transitions are erratic, since their roles can change over the course of time, and that actors can belong to different categories. We conclude by providing recommendations for a comprehensive typology of actors in sustainability transitions.

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“…[35] or Strategic Niche Management [36] since this seemed to be an interesting lead to follow up on in our selected literature.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our qualitative analysis focuses on the functions of actors, their dependencies and their roles in transitions. tive Management [35] or Strategic Niche Management [36] since this seemed to be an interesting lead to follow up on in our selected literature.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Importance of Actors and Agency in Sustainability Transitions: A Systematic Exploration of the Literature

2016

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“…In the literature, the individuals who "make it happen" have been identified variously as champions (Gilmour et al 1999, Napier et al 2005, Stankey et al 2005, policy entrepreneurs (Shannon 1991, Huitema andMeijerink 2009), facilitators (Vasseur et al 1997), dedicated energetic individuals (Wondolleck and Yaffee 2000), change agents (Crawford et al 2006), organizational entrepreneurs (Hahn et al 2006), brokers (Bebbington 1997), knowledgeable individuals or stewards (Olsson and Folke 2001), social innovators (Westley et al 2006), and transformative or visionary leaders (Leach 2001, Westley 2002, Olsson et al 2004. Ultimately, it is questionable whether leadership is the appropriate word for the activity of change agents in such a complex domain of networks, sectors, and scales.…”

Section: Agency and Leadership In Complex Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Theory of Transformative Agency in Linked Social-Ecological Systems

Westley¹,

Tjörnbo²,

Schultz³

et al. 2013

E&S

605

490

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ABSTRACT. We reviewed the literature on leadership in linked social-ecological systems and combined it with the literature on institutional entrepreneurship in complex adaptive systems to develop a new theory of transformative agency in linked socialecological systems. Although there is evidence of the importance of strategic agency in introducing innovation and transforming approaches to management and governance of such systems, there is no coherent theory to explain the wide diversity of strategies identified. Using Holling's adaptive cycle as a model of phases present in innovation and transformation of resilient socialecological systems, overlaid by Dorado's model of opportunity context (opaque, hazy, transparent) in complex adaptive systems, we propose a more coherent theory of strategic agency, which links particular strategies, on the part of transformative agents, to phases of system change.

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“…In each experiment, the presence (or absence) of an institutional champion for the project was identified as a key factor. For example, in the Tuggerah Lakes project, north of Sydney, the presence of such a champion was deemed critical in obtaining acceptance of the adaptive management approach by both the local council and community participants (Gilmour et al 1999). The authors noted that the absence of such a champion, or in one case, the loss of that person to another job, resulted in little enthusiasm and a reduced likelihood of successful implementation.…”

Section: Enhancing Information Flowmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive management? Observations of knowledge coordination in the communication practice of Swedish game management

Hallgren

Westberg

2015

Wildlife Biology

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Modern management of natural resources is guided by the normative theory of adaptive management (AM). Behind this theory lies a strong, albeit implicit, expectation that organisations aiming for AM have the capacity to communicate in a way that facilitates the required coordination of the knowledge perspectives involved. h e aim of this article is to discuss the extent to which the communication practice of Swedish game management organisations facilitates coordination of knowledge corresponding to AM. Based on operationalizations of communicative rationality and agonistic pluralism, we use the concepts ' discursive closure ' and ' discursive opening ' to investigate how the coordination of knowledge is carried out through communication in relatively recently established organisations, the Swedish Game Management Delegations (GMDs). We analyse four communication episodes from GMD meetings and notice that multiple perspectives were expressed (discourse openings) but were not evaluated in a communicative rational way before being closed. h e consequences of these closures were that knowledge perspectives with potential relevance, but with unclear validity for game management, were not elaborated upon, in terms of their truth, intelligibility, legitimacy or sincerity, which inhibited AM. h e concepts of discursive closure and discursive opening proved useful for investigating communicative capacity. An important question which needs to be addressed to improve communicative capacity for AM is whether it would be practically possible to keep to the agenda and rules of the GMD meetings and still admit discursive openings about diff erences in perspectives.

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Adaptive Management of the Water Cycle on the Urban Fringe: Three Australian Case Studies

Abstract: Abstract•

Cited by 53 publications

References 9 publications

Importance of Actors and Agency in Sustainability Transitions: A Systematic Exploration of the Literature

Importance of Actors and Agency in Sustainability Transitions: A Systematic Exploration of the Literature

A Theory of Transformative Agency in Linked Social-Ecological Systems

Adaptive management? Observations of knowledge coordination in the communication practice of Swedish game management

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