Legitimacy in Co‐Management: The Impact of Preexisting Structures, Social Networks and Governance Strategies

Abstract

With the ambition to contribute to the endeavour of co‐management, this paper focuses on the critical aspect of legitimacy and sets out to explain stakeholder acceptance in natural resource governance. A comparative study of five coastal and marine areas in Sweden is conducted. The empirical results demonstrate, first, how the past and the present institutional landscape set the underlying conditions and affect stakeholders’ acceptance of new co‐management initiatives. Second, the results point to the critical function of network governance. Conscious choices regarding what composition of actors to involve, and in particular the inclusion and commitment of government actors, have significant bearing on stakeholder acceptance. Furthermore, deliberative efforts to reframe the process, adjusting the agenda to ongoing collaborative processes and key stakeholder goals, are seemingly as important. Thus, strivings towards legitimate co‐management require skilful manoeuvring of the present institutional landscape as well as deliberate strategies for the evolution of social networks. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Stakeholder participation and sustainable fisheries: an integrative framework for assessing adaptive comanagement processes

“…Previous, or existing, governance structures can provide or lend trust and legitimacy to new comanagement initiatives. However, in cases where previous collaboration processes have failed or been conflict ridden, these past experiences may instead constitute a significant obstacle in the struggle for successful and legitimate comanagement outcomes (Sandström et al 2014). In Poland, cooperative structures for local fisheries management existed prior to the political reform of the 1990s but have almost completely disappeared, resulting in a highly fragmented condition of the fishing communities and little collaborative governance.…”

“…http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol19/iss3/art14/ Opportunity for deliberation and motivations for involvement A key for any comanagement initiative is the inclusion of most, if not all, relevant stakeholder groups. This is thought to enhance the legitimacy of both the process and outcomes (Dryzek 2000, Sandström et al 2014. Understanding the motivations behind stakeholder participation is therefore relevant.…”

Análisis de redes sociales para la gobernanza de un área protegida y su zona de amortiguación en el bosque templado del sur de Chile

“…Esto es consistente con lo indicado por Sandström et al (2014), quienes indican que la legitimidad es un aspecto relevente en la gobernanza de recursos naturales, lo cual puede ser develado a través de una perspectiva sistémica del análisis de redes sociales.…”

Redes entre dos mares: cofradías y armadores en los caladeros atlántico y mediterráneo de Andalucía

“…The structural perspective is effective in describing the informal relationships between fishermen, ship-owners and other relevant port figures (Sandström and Rova, 2010b) in the assessment of the adaptive capacity of the socio-ecological context (Bodin and Crona, 2009;Hartley, 2010), and in the implementation of participatory government systems for the natural resources (Carlsson and Sandström, 2008;Sandström, Crona and Bodin, 2013). As in other areas of study, in the governance networks, results appear to depend on the type of balance existing between the degree of cohesion of the subgroups and the articulation of the set.…”