Transformative learning for better resource management: the role of critical reflection

Abstract

Since 1992, integrated management has been promoted as the solution to challenges facing governments and civil society around the world when managing natural resources. It was argued that integrated management could lead to sustainable development if new participatory approaches to social learning could be developed. Since that time, social learning theory has been an important component of resource management literature. This paper argues that until social learning theory leans more heavily on group processes of transformative learning, sustainable development will elude us. Further, a process of systematic, critical reflection is key to transformative learning, as we illustrate using a five-year research project into the role of communities in integrated management in the Canadian Maritimes. Our experience shows how critical reflection processes can strengthen participatory research to further inform the practice of integrated management. We conclude by observing that room must be made for critical reflection and for true social learning in all integrated management institutions, whether community-based or government-initiated.

Using Transformative Learning Theory to Explore the Mechanisms of Citizen Participation for Environmental Education on the Removal of Invasive Species: The Case of Green Island, Taiwan

“…However, since transformative learning has actual benefits for environmental education, how should communities carry out transformative learning? Wilner et al (2012) provided a useful approach to the aforementioned question by examining the issue from a resource management perspective. They argued that the critical reflection in transformative learning can strengthen participatory research and that transformative learning must be carried out on an integrated management institution platform (Wilner et al, 2012).…”

“…Wilner et al (2012) provided a useful approach to the aforementioned question by examining the issue from a resource management perspective. They argued that the critical reflection in transformative learning can strengthen participatory research and that transformative learning must be carried out on an integrated management institution platform (Wilner et al, 2012). In their study, Wilner et al (2012) addressed previous deficiencies in the process of promoting transformative learning.…”

The role of social learning for social-ecological systems in Korean village groves restoration

“…The role of social learning for social-ecological systems resilience Social learning incorporates not only reflection, but also a planning process and action that lead to desirable changes and sometimes transformative outcomes in resource management (Keen et al 2005, Dyball et al 2007, Wilner et al 2012). In the face of change, social learning is expected to enhance the flexibility of management structures and the systems' ability to respond to change for systems resilience, for example, through multiple-loop learning (Loeber et al 2007, Plummer and Armitage 2007, Armitage et al 2008.…”

“…Reflection is a key process in multiple-loop learning (Wilner et al 2012). Because we found evidence of reflection only in Cases A and B, we limited this aspect of the study to these two cases.…”

“…A system in its general sense is an integrated whole whose essential properties arise from the relationship between its parts (The Open University 1999, as cited in Keen et al 2005), while the term social-ecological system is particularly used to emphasize the integrated concept of "humans-in-nature" (Berkes and Folke 1998). Within the systems resilience context, social learning is described as an iterative process that enhances the flexibility of management structures and a system's ability to respond to change, for example, through critical reflection and multiple-loop learning (Armitage et al 2008, Wilner et al 2012. Modifications made in an ongoing process of reflection and collective action in resource management are expected to contribute to social-ecological resilience (Plummer and Armitage 2007), and the outcomes of such social learning processes are expected to go beyond personal transformation directed toward the evolution of social structures (Wenger 2000).…”