Social Learning as a Basis for Cooperative Small-Scale Forest Management

Abstract

This paper analyses the governance characteristics of an innovative policy instrument for sustainable forest management in Flanders, namely a mechanism based on social learning and collaborative planning within joint forest management organizations. These organizations have been successful in involving non-industrial private forest owners in managing the transition towards sustainable management in small-scale forestry. Why was this innovative scheme successful? And what are its shortcomings and possible limitations? The hypothesis developed in this paper is that the success of the forest groups has been made possible by the explicit organization of a process of social learning, leading to change in the beliefs and the social norms of forest owners and users. Based on the analysis of this case of cooperative forestry, and on theoretical insights from governance theory, the contribution to fostering social learning from three distinct mechanisms is established, these being (1) the recourse to sustainability criteria and indicators as an open-ended learning device, (2) the experimentation with disruptive action strategies to put new beliefs into practice, and (3) the building of new forms of social cooperation around these new beliefs and practices.

Learning for social-ecological change: a qualitative review of outcomes across empirical literature in natural resource management

“…Notions of learning are gaining attention across the literature on natural resource management (NRM), e.g., adaptive co-management (Berkes 2009;Fabricius and Cundill 2014), but also in specific research fields as is water management ), forestry (Dedeurwaerdere 2009) and others. One of the main arguments for expanding these research domains to the study of learning is the assumption that there is potential in learning, as experienced by resource users, to address challenges associated with complexity and uncertainty in NRM (Armitage et al 2008;Brugnach and Ingram 2012).…”

Regional forest organizations and their innovation impact on forestry and regional development in central Switzerland

“…It is rather unusual in the European forest sector that small-scale forest owners are innovative, since the general assumption is that those owning more than 500 ha are more prepared to introduce innovations (Rametsteiner and Weiss, 2006a). What kind of innovation small-scale forest owners throughout Europe can achieve has been shown in various recent surveys (Boon and Meilby, 2007, Niskanen et al, 2007a, 2007b, Selter et al 2009, Dedeurwaerdere, 2009.…”

Money and the Commons: An Investigation of Complementary Currencies and Their Ethical Implications

“…Key elements are collective-choice arrangements, which enable users to participate in setting rules, as well as monitoring conditions and recognition of rights by authorities. The biophysical dimension of the resources is also essential as it will ensure that the shared resources are renewed (Dedeurwaerdere, 2009).…”