Communities and commons: the role of community development support in sustaining the commons

Laerhoven, Frank van; Barnes, Clare

doi:10.1093/cdj/bsu005

Cited by 32 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…As a consequence, science is not providing the kind of knowledge required by society (in this case: which aspects of institutions for collective action in a CPR context can be manipulated by NGOs and how?) (see also: Van Laerhoven and Barnes, 2014). Suggestions from the science-policy interface literature as to how to overcome such a barrier include joint formulation of problem oriented research questions and establishing partnerships across science-policy borders (Kueffer et al, 2012).…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making it last? Analysing the role of NGO interventions in the development of institutions for durable collective action in Indian community forestry

Barnes

Laerhoven

2015

Environmental Science & Policy

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Institutional design India a b s t r a c tCommons scholarship seems preoccupied with self-governance. It focuses on showing that common pool resource (CPR) appropriators do not always need outsider-assistance in order to stay clear of the tragedy of the commons. However, at the same time we observe the presence of a large number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that consider community organisation -i.e. the organisation of collective action in community institutions -their core business. In this research we firstly develop and apply a framework to analyse the activities of 20 NGOs in India and compare these to indicators for collective action in a community-led CPR governance context, derived from the commons literature. Secondly, we assess variation in NGOs' approaches to institutional change, by developing and applying a typology that distinguishes between (i) perspectives that see institutional change as predominantly determined by structure (institutional design) or agency (institutional crafting), respectively, and between (ii) perspectives that perceive institutions as either subjective or objective to the institutional change agent, respectively. Our results show that NGOs do not get involved in activities aimed at influencing functioning collective action such as crafting or designing rules. They do involve themselves in activities aimed at strengthening durable collective action such as forest management trainings. Furthermore, all NGOs show a predominantly subjective approach to institutional change. Their long-term focus puts the communities themselves firmly in the institutional change agent position. The results along the design-crafting dimension show more diversity and dynamicity. Eight NGOs in our sample take a strong institutional crafting approach to their work, whereas only three focus predominantly on institutional design and nine show elements of both crafting and designing. The majority of the NGOs highlighted how their approach can change depending on the stage in the intervention. Our results highlight the dynamic and diverse institutional settings the NGOs operate in which both moderates their approach to institutional change and determines their choice of specific activities.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making it last? Analysing the role of NGO interventions in the development of institutions for durable collective action in Indian community forestry

Barnes

Laerhoven

2015

Environmental Science & Policy

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“…Forests provide a wide variety of benefits to a diversity of stakeholders and so have often been studied as common pool resources (CPR; Agrawal 2007;Van Laerhoven 2010;Van Laerhoven and Barnes 2014). Certainty around the ownership of forestland has long been seen as important for long-term planning and sustainability, with Hardin (1968) famously posing a dichotomy between private and state ownership as a necessary condition for sustainable management of natural resources with a CPR nature.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Indigenous Peoples' Expectations for Forestry in New Brunswick: Are Rights Enough?

Wyatt

Kessels

Laerhoven

2015

Society & Natural Resources

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This article considers how competing interpretations of rights upon forestland affect indigenous peoples' ability to derive benefits from forests, using interviews and an evaluation exercise in 13 First Nations communities in New Brunswick, Canada.We asked first what First Nations expect from provincial forest governance arrangements, and second, what is preventing them from attaining their expectations? Informants attached greatest importance to rights and environmental protection, but tangible outcomes fall far short of expectations. Economic benefits are promoted by the government, but are least important for informants and results are mediocre. Undertaking an access analysis, we observe that governance arrangements do not deliver the benefits sought by First Nations, that control mechanisms provide limited participation in governance, and that power remains firmly with government and private industry. We conclude that rights alone do not enable First Nations to access benefits and that governance arrangements do not provide certainty for sustainable management.

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“…We contribute to CPR scholars' endeavours to look beyond the forest institution in understanding interventions and A&P dilemmas (e.g. Baur et al 2014;Van Laerhoven and Barnes 2014) and suggest SLA scholars pay attention to a community's ability to deal with A&P dilemmas in analysing the sustainability of livelihoods in a CPR context. However, our main message is that we need to look beyond the separate perspectives when analysing interventions in CFM, and most likely in other CPR contexts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uniting forest and livelihood outcomes? Analyzing external actor interventions in sustainable livelihoods in a community forest management context

et al. 2017

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External actor interventions in community forest management (CFM) attempt to support communities with developing forest institutions and/ or improving their livelihoods portfolio. Common pool resource (CPR) scholars Uniting forest and livelihood outcomes? 533 argue that forest institutions are required to prevent overharvesting of the forest resource stock (appropriation dilemma), and to encourage investment in its maintenance (provision dilemma). The sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA) has been widely used to analyse the influence of interventions on rural livelihoods portfolios. As interventions in CFM span the academic divide between CPR and SLA literatures, analysis of such interventions through either a CPR or SLA lens risks overlooking intervention activities, significant outcomes of the intervention, and the interplay between these outcomes. We propose here an analytical framework which combines CPR and SLA insights and ascertain its applicability by analysing interventions in a forest dependent community in Andhra Pradesh, India. We developed multiple indicators to measure the community's ability to deal with appropriation and provision dilemmas, and their livelihoods portfolio. Using data from forest plots, household questionnaires, focus group meetings and interviews, we analysed the intervention approaches, activities and outcomes. Our results show that a community's ability to deal with appropriation and provision dilemmas both affects, and is affected by its livelihoods portfolio. These intricate and dynamic interplays strongly influence the direct and indirect outcomes of intervention activities. Incorporating the synergy between the CPR and SLA perspectives in our analytical framework led us to a much more nuanced understanding of intervention approaches, activities and outcomes than would have otherwise been gained from a single perspective framework.Keywords: Common pool resources, community forestry, India, interventions, rural development, sustainable livelihoods Acknowledgements: We are extremely grateful to all the community members in East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh for sharing their experiences with us, logistical support and hospitality. We also greatly appreciate the time and patience shown by the external actors at the heart of this research whose honest responses to our questions enabled us to gain valuable insights into their daily work. We thank the reviewers for their thoughtful comments and suggestions.

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Communities and commons: the role of community development support in sustaining the commons

Cited by 32 publications

References 62 publications

Making it last? Analysing the role of NGO interventions in the development of institutions for durable collective action in Indian community forestry

Making it last? Analysing the role of NGO interventions in the development of institutions for durable collective action in Indian community forestry

Indigenous Peoples' Expectations for Forestry in New Brunswick: Are Rights Enough?

Uniting forest and livelihood outcomes? Analyzing external actor interventions in sustainable livelihoods in a community forest management context

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