The Struggle to Govern the Commons

Abstract

Human institutions--ways of organizing activities--affect the resilience of the environment. Locally evolved institutional arrangements governed by stable communities and buffered from outside forces have sustained resources successfully for centuries, although they often fail when rapid change occurs. Ideal conditions for governance are increasingly rare. Critical problems, such as transboundary pollution, tropical deforestation, and climate change, are at larger scales and involve nonlocal influences. Promising strategies for addressing these problems include dialogue among interested parties, officials, and scientists; complex, redundant, and layered institutions; a mix of institutional types; and designs that facilitate experimentation, learning, and change.

A safe operating space for humanity

“…Current governance and management paradigms are often oblivious to or lack a mandate to act upon these planetary risks (Walker et al, 2009), despite the evidence of an acceleration of anthropogenic pressures on the biophysical processes of the Earth System. Moreover, the planetary boundary framework presented here suggests the need for novel and adaptive governance approaches at global, regional and local scales (Dietz et al 2003, Berkman and Young 2009). …”

Tipping Toward Sustainability: Emerging Pathways of Transformation

“…All this points to the need for ''adaptive governance'' in situations, such as ecosystem-based management that require integrated management approaches (Dietz et al 2003;Folke et al 2005). The more successful adaptive governance systems, often emergent and self-organizing, connect individuals, networks, organizations, agencies, and institutions at multiple organizational levels with ecosystem dynamics (Folke et al 2005;Bodin and Crona 2009;Berkes 2010).…”

Integrating Developed and Developing World Knowledge into Global Discussions and Strategies for Sustainability. 2. Economics and Governance

“…For more than two decades, developing world knowledge in these two system areas has sparked important dialogue and furthered the fields of cooperative community-based commons governance and PAR/CBPR in developed nations (4,5,19). The practical experiences of many traditional communities in governing their commons has been distilled into Ostrom's eight design principles (9) that guide the structure and arrangement of institutions for managing commons resources.…”

“…However, there is a growing awareness of several limitations associated with regulatory and market-based approaches to commons governance, such as cost inefficiencies to ensure compliance, and issues of coverage, monitoring, and validation (4). Simultaneously, human behavior studies based on game theory are providing strong evidence that, in addition to self-interest, humans also exhibit a strong preference for reciprocity and fairness (8).…”

“…Part 1 focused on science and technology innovations originating in the developing world that can be enhanced through further quantification and analysis in the developed world for sustainable use of water, energy, and materials (1). While technology innovations are critical for sustainable development, the widespread diffusion of sustainable technologies greatly depends on suitable financial vehicles (2,3) as well as robust governance for long-term management and maintenance of technologies and infrastructure that continuously adapt to the changing natural environment (4). As the number of scientists and engineers engaged in sustainability increases, knowledge of key governance, participation, and economic models will be critical for effective implementation and dissemination of science and technology for sustainability.…”