Network approaches for understanding rainwater management from a social-ecological systems perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The premise of this research is to better understand how approaches to implementing rainwater management practices can be informed by understanding how the people living and working in agroecosystems are connected to one another. Because these connections are via both social interactions and functional characteristics of the landscape, a social-ecological network emerges. Using social-ecological network theory, we ask how understanding the structure of interactions can lead to improved rainwater management interventions. Using a case study situated within a small sub-basin in the Fogera area of the Blue Nile Basin of Ethiopia, we build networks of smallholders based both on the biophysical and social-institutional landscapes present in the study site, with the smallholders themselves as the common element between the networks. In turn we explore how structures present in the networks may serve to guide decision making regarding both where and with whom rainwater management interventions could be developed. This research thus illustrates an approach for constructing a social-ecological network and demonstrates how the structures of the network yield insights for tailoring the implementation of rainwater management practices to the social and ecological setting.

The social structural foundations of adaptation and transformation in social–ecological systems

“…2a) offers a fruitful approach for theorizing and empirically investigating these social-ecological interactions. To date, this approach has been applied to studies of land and water management in addition to studies of landscape conservation (Bergsten et al 2014, Guerrero et al 2015b, Kininmonth et al 2015, Prager and Pfeifer 2015, Sayles and Baggio 2017. When coupled with relevant theory, full multilevel social-ecological networks can be disassembled into a set of precisely defined, key social-ecological network configurations (Fig.…”

Reconceptualising Person-Centered Service Models as Social Ecology Networks in Supporting Integrated Care

“…The theory has been extended recently as an algorithmic computer-based analysis by Lipina and colleagues [3839] and used extensively as the basis for implementation of service provision that overlays and integrates individual needs and interactions within four (and sometimes five) system levels. Although the exploration of DSEs shares considerable synergy with explorations of social-ecological systems [101140], the DSEs are generally confined to elaborations in terms of social systems rather than systems that include physical factors, such as water (although see some ecological considerations as they relate to DSEs) [39].…”

Studying human–nature relationships through a network lens: A systematic review

“…Examples includeOssola, Locke, Lin, and Minor (2019), who analysed tree canopy connectivity with node attributes being human use type, and Genc, Van Capelleveen, Erdis, Yildiz, and Yazan (2019), who applied both ENA and SNA metrics to a social network consisting of waste flows between companies. One study combined social network analysis with agent-based modelling to investigate human behaviour as to inform conservation interventions(Dobson, De Lange, Keane, Ibbett, & Milner-Gulland, 2019) Prager and Pfeifer (2015),. as a third methodological example, constructed two separate networks comprising of social and ecological components, respectively, and then compared the findings of structural analysis with a spatial reference.…”