Barbara Cosens | University of Idaho (original) (raw)
Papers by Barbara Cosens
The book reviews the history, current status, and case law related to western water while reveali... more The book reviews the history, current status, and case law related to western water while revealing strategies for addressing water conflicts among tribes, cities, farms, environmentalists, and public agencies. Drawing insights from the process, structure, and implementation of water rights settlements currently under negotiation or already agreed to, it presents a detailed analysis of how these cases evolve over time. It also provides a wide range of contextual materials, from the nuts and bolts of a Freedom of Information Act request to the hydrology of irrigation. It also includes contributed essays by expert authors on special topics, as well as interviews with key individuals active in water management and tribal water cases.https://digitalcommons.law.uidaho.edu/facw_bkcntri/1073/thumbnail.jp
digitalcommons.law.uidaho.edu/idaho-law-review This Article is brought to you for free and open a... more digitalcommons.law.uidaho.edu/idaho-law-review This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ UIdaho Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Idaho Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ UIdaho Law. For more information, please contact
Practical Panarchy for Adaptive Water Governance, 2018
This chapter introduces the volume on Practical Panarchy: Linking Law, Resilience, and Adaptive W... more This chapter introduces the volume on Practical Panarchy: Linking Law, Resilience, and Adaptive Water Governance of Regional Scale Social-Ecological Systems. It begins by defining the terminology and theoretical concepts to present the bridging framework among ecological resilience, governance, and law relied on throughout this volume and then introduces this three-part volume. Part I presents the effort to assess resilience and transformation in riverine and wetland social-ecological systems in six US watersheds (the Anacostia River, Columbia River, Everglades wetlands, Klamath River, Middle Rio Grand River, and central Platte River) and one Australian system (the Lake Eyre and Great Artesian basin). Part II focuses on the legal dimensions of watershed governance that directly relate to ecological resilience and transformability of the social-ecological systems and synthesizes the results of the basin assessments to advance the understanding of the role of law and governance as a trigger, facilitator, or barrier to adaptation and transformation in the face of rapid environmental change, including shifting climate. Part III looks at the broader relation between social-ecological resilience and governance through synthesis of the basin assessments and resort to the broader literature on institutions and governance. As a whole, this volume presents the results of a 3-year pursuit on the cross-scale interactions among law, ecosystem dynamics, and governance to address the adaptive capacity of regional scale watersheds as they respond to accelerating environmental change.
For 48 years, the United States and Canada have cooperatively shared the management of the Columb... more For 48 years, the United States and Canada have cooperatively shared the management of the Columbia River under the Columbia River Treaty (CRT). The Treaty has provided both parties with significant direct benefits from flood control and power generation and indirect benefits of economic growth in the Pacific Northwest. While not without flaws, the CRT has been hailed as “one of the most successful trans-boundary water treaties based on equitable sharing of downstream benefits”. In 2012, it is time to think about the future of the Columbia River Treaty. Under international law, the U.S. and Canada may agree to modify or terminate the Treaty at any time. The CRT contains no automatic expiration date but either party may unilaterally terminate portions of the Treaty beginning in 2024 by providing notice by 2014. The parties and other stakeholders in the Columbia River Basin have already begun to think about what a future treaty might look like. Should the status quo continue? If not, ...
Practical Panarchy for Adaptive Water Governance, 2018
The six North American case studies described in Part I of this volume provide the opportunity to... more The six North American case studies described in Part I of this volume provide the opportunity to explore patterns of change over time associated with the development and management of social-ecological systems. The historical assessments show the trajectories that have led to the current heavily regulated and developed social-ecological systems nested within a hierarchical governmental system. This chapter uses Panarchy theory as a general framework to evaluate the interactions between societal and ecological regime shifts and the governance regimes that mediate those interactions. The resilience assessments indicate that complex interactions among the governance and ecosystem components of these systems can produce different trajectories, which include patterns of (a) development and stabilization, (b) cycles of crisis and recovery which include lurches in adaptation and learning, and (c) periods of innovation, novelty, and transformation. Exploration of cross-scale interactions (Panarchy) among levels and sectors of government and society reveals that larger-scale processes and structures may constrain development and growth, but may also provide resources for recovery and renewal following crises or create windows or opportunities for system change. Smaller-scale processes provide opportunities for innovation and novelty, but may also be the source of revolts or crises that lead to broader system transformations. The case studies illustrate different ways that adaptive governance may be triggered, facilitated, or constrained by ecological and social (and particularly legal) processes.
Author(s): Kiparsky, Michael; Owen, Dave; Green Nylen, Nell; Doremus, Holly; Christian-Smith, Jul... more Author(s): Kiparsky, Michael; Owen, Dave; Green Nylen, Nell; Doremus, Holly; Christian-Smith, Juliet; Cosens, Barbara; Fisher, Andrew; Milman, Anita
The headwaters of the Columbia River are in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Idaho, and M... more The headwaters of the Columbia River are in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana. From its headwaters, the Columbia River's mainstem flows 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) crossing the U.S.-Canada border before it empties into the Pacific Ocean along the border between Oregon and Washington (Figure 1). It is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest and the fourth largest in the United States. The Columbia River Basin ("the Basin") covers 671,000 square kilometers (259,500 square miles), an area roughly the size of France. About fifteen percent of the Basin lies in Canada (all within British Columbia), and the remainder is in the United States. 2 The Basin encompasses portions of seven states: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming. The U.S. portion of the Basin includes the lands of fifteen tribal nations and the Canadian portion of the Basin includes the fifteen First Nations with interests in the Basin. 3 Although only fifteen percent of the Basin lies within Canada, thirtyeight percent of the average annual flow and fifty percent of the peak flow measured at The Dalles (located on the mainstem between Oregon and Washington) originates in Canada. 4 In addition, due to the delayed runoff from snowpack at higher latitudes, flow originating in Canada can account for half of the flow in late summer. 5 The Columbia River produces more hydroelectric power than any other river on the continent. The average annual runoff for the Columbia River Basin is 200 MAF, but there is significant year-to-year variability. 6 This variability led to a 2. James Barton & Kelvin Ketchum, Columbia River Treaty: Managing for Uncertainty, in TRANSBOUNDARY RIVER GOVERNANCE IN THE FACE OF UNCERTAINTY:
Biological Conservation, 2015
In the face of a myriad of complex water resource issues, traditional disciplinary separation is ... more In the face of a myriad of complex water resource issues, traditional disciplinary separation is ineffective in developing approaches to promote a sustainable water future. As part of a new graduate program in water resources, faculty at the University of Idaho have developed a course on interdisciplinary methods designed to prepare students for team ⴀbased interdisciplinary
Part of the Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons, Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, Environmental... more Part of the Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons, Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, Environmental Health and Protection Commons, Environmental Policy Commons, Hydrology Commons, Indian and Aboriginal Law Commons, Law and Society Commons, Native American Studies Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons, Social Policy Commons, Transnational Law Commons, and the Water Resource Management Commons
Multisystemic Resilience, 2021
Resilience theory, also known as resilience thinking, has emerged as a powerful theoretical frame... more Resilience theory, also known as resilience thinking, has emerged as a powerful theoretical framework for many disciplines. Legal theorists have, however, only in the past decade begun to contextualize resilience thinking for legal systems. This chapter summarizes where resilience thinking has gone thus far in legal theory and recommends where it should go from here. The authors start by asking the two fundamental questions of resilience thinking, putting them in the context of legal systems: resilience of what and resilience to what? Because of the special role legal systems play in the governance of complex social-ecological systems, the authors add a third question: resilience for what? We then explore five key features of system resilience as they relate to legal systems: (a) reliability, (b) efficiency, (c) scalability, (d) modularity, and (e) evolvability. Using environmental law as a case study, the discussion offers concrete examples of how each property manifests and operat...
Frontiers in Environmental Science, 2018
object-oriented modeling system. This project represents a starting point for a continued researc... more object-oriented modeling system. This project represents a starting point for a continued research agenda that incorporates social dynamics into FEW system resilience modeling and management in the CRB.
INTER DISCIPLINA, 2016
| Social-environmental (se) issues often are complex and require an interdisciplinary approach fo... more | Social-environmental (se) issues often are complex and require an interdisciplinary approach for solutions. Currently, scientists and decision-makers trained in graduate programs do not have sufficient training in interdisciplinary tools and methods to achieve effective approaches to se problems. In this paper, we characterize and analyze two interdisciplinary graduate programs in the western US to detail: i) characteristics of institutions and institutionalization; ii) (inter)disciplinary contributions; iii) past and current se projects; iv) curriculum with signature methods, courses, ethics; v) thesis/dissertation requirements; vi) faculty and student characteristics, and vii) market for students. A final synthesis includes five lessons learned for a successful interdisciplinary education and research program: 1) effective leadership; 2) an institutional culture of collaboration; 3) resources; 4) institutional support and assistance in development of administrative structure compatible with the institution, and 5) internal and external communication.
INTER DISCIPLINA, 2016
Los problemas socioambientales a menudo son complejos y sus soluciones requieren de un enfoque in... more Los problemas socioambientales a menudo son complejos y sus soluciones requieren de un enfoque interdisciplinario. En la actualidad, los científicos y tomadores de decisiones formados en programas de posgrado no cuentan con suficiente formación en métodos y herramientas interdisciplinarias que les permita lograr un enfoque efectivo a la solución de problemas socioambientales. En este artículo, caracterizamos y analizamos dos programas interdisciplinarios de posgrado en universidades del oeste de Estados Unidos, y desglosamos: i) las características de las instituciones y de la institucionalización;ii)las contribuciones (inter)disciplinarias; iii) los proyectos socioambientales del pasadoy del presente;iv) los planes de estudio con sus métodos, cursos y éticas propios;v) los requisitos de tesis/trabajo de titulación;vi) las características de los profesores y alumnos, y,vii) el mercado de trabajo para los alumnos. La síntesis final incluye cinco lecciones aprendidas para tener un pro...
Ecology and Society, 2017
In this article we summarize histories of nonlinear, complex interactions among societal, legal, ... more In this article we summarize histories of nonlinear, complex interactions among societal, legal, and ecosystem dynamics in six North American water basins, as they respond to changing climate. These case studies were chosen to explore the conditions for emergence of adaptive governance in heavily regulated and developed social-ecological systems nested within a hierarchical governmental system. We summarize resilience assessments conducted in each system to provide a synthesis and reference by the other articles in this special feature. We also present a general framework used to evaluate the interactions between society and ecosystem regimes and the governance regimes chosen to mediate those interactions. The case studies show different ways that adaptive governance may be triggered, facilitated, or constrained by ecological and/or legal processes. The resilience assessments indicate that complex interactions among the governance and ecosystem components of these systems can produce different trajectories, which include patterns of (a) development and stabilization, (b) cycles of crisis and recovery, which includes lurches in adaptation and learning, and (3) periods of innovation, novelty, and transformation. Exploration of cross scale (Panarchy) interactions among levels and sectors of government and society illustrate that they may constrain development trajectories, but may also provide stability during crisis or innovation at smaller scales; create crises, but may also facilitate recovery; and constrain system transformation, but may also provide windows of opportunity in which transformation, and the resources to accomplish it, may occur. The framework is the starting point for our exploration of how law might play a role in enhancing the capacity of social-ecological systems to adapt to climate change.
Journal of environmental management, Jan 17, 2016
Adaptive governance and adaptive management have developed over the past quarter century in respo... more Adaptive governance and adaptive management have developed over the past quarter century in response to institutional and organizational failures, and unforeseen changes in natural resource dynamics. Adaptive governance provides a context for managing known and unknown consequences of prior management approaches and for increasing legitimacy in the implementation of flexible and adaptive management. Using examples from iconic water systems in the United States, we explore the proposition that adaptive management and adaptive governance are useful for evaluating the complexities of trade-offs among ecosystem goods and services.
Social Science Research Network, 2020
Language is a reflection of a thought world. A worldview that has been shaped by place to describ... more Language is a reflection of a thought world. A worldview that has been shaped by place to describe one's identity in space and time does not equate to species relatedness as a default to know one another. In the legal system of the United States, there is acknowledgement of treaties in colonized lands that there are rights granted from the tribes and not to them, and those rights are landbased. Yet, the Indigenous voice is dead before arrival, before it enters the room of science, justice, academe, or otherwise. The exclusion of Indigenous peoples at the table of knowledge and from the power to make decisions within their homelands has proven a detriment to the land, waterways, flora and fauna, and human beings. Nowhere would tribal peoples have agreed to our own destruction, it is and has been a forced hand. This Article explores the changing interpretation of the U.S. Supreme Court canon to construe treaties with Native American .tribes as the tribe would have understood them, and why mere translation of Native language to English fails to capture a Native understanding. Through the juxtaposition of western legal analysis and the powerful voice of a Native scientist, this Article illustrates how difficult and yet how necessary it will be to bridge that divide if this This Article was made possible by support from the NSF Interdisciplinary Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Award no. 1249400 at the University of Idaho Water Resources Graduate Program: Adaptation to change in water resources: science to inform decision-making across disciplines, cultures and scales.
Social Science Research Network, Aug 5, 2019
the facilitator, but not central controller, of adaptive governance. To advance the understanding... more the facilitator, but not central controller, of adaptive governance. To advance the understanding of adaptive governance, we argue that it can be understood in the broader context of scholarship covering the observed emergence of new governance, the efforts to develop theoretical understandings through decentered theory, and the refinement of constitutional understanding through democratic experimentalism. Synthesis of these three themes in turn informs the role of law and government in working with emergent governance responses to complexity to manage change and wicked problems. This inter-and transdisciplinary exercise reveals that the role of law and government in adaptive governance is to leave space for local innovation and private governance. Law and government must provide the catalyzation, facilitation, steering, and oversight essential for public and private institutions to respond at the rate and complexity of change in large-scale social-ecological systems, and they must do so while advancing good governance. †
Social Science Research Network, Aug 5, 2019
the facilitator, but not central controller, of adaptive governance. To advance the understanding... more the facilitator, but not central controller, of adaptive governance. To advance the understanding of adaptive governance, we argue that it can be understood in the broader context of scholarship covering the observed emergence of new governance, the efforts to develop theoretical understandings through decentered theory, and the refinement of constitutional understanding through democratic experimentalism. Synthesis of these three themes in turn informs the role of law and government in working with emergent governance responses to complexity to manage change and wicked problems. This inter-and transdisciplinary exercise reveals that the role of law and government in adaptive governance is to leave space for local innovation and private governance. Law and government must provide the catalyzation, facilitation, steering, and oversight essential for public and private institutions to respond at the rate and complexity of change in large-scale social-ecological systems, and they must do so while advancing good governance. †
The book reviews the history, current status, and case law related to western water while reveali... more The book reviews the history, current status, and case law related to western water while revealing strategies for addressing water conflicts among tribes, cities, farms, environmentalists, and public agencies. Drawing insights from the process, structure, and implementation of water rights settlements currently under negotiation or already agreed to, it presents a detailed analysis of how these cases evolve over time. It also provides a wide range of contextual materials, from the nuts and bolts of a Freedom of Information Act request to the hydrology of irrigation. It also includes contributed essays by expert authors on special topics, as well as interviews with key individuals active in water management and tribal water cases.https://digitalcommons.law.uidaho.edu/facw_bkcntri/1073/thumbnail.jp
digitalcommons.law.uidaho.edu/idaho-law-review This Article is brought to you for free and open a... more digitalcommons.law.uidaho.edu/idaho-law-review This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ UIdaho Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Idaho Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ UIdaho Law. For more information, please contact
Practical Panarchy for Adaptive Water Governance, 2018
This chapter introduces the volume on Practical Panarchy: Linking Law, Resilience, and Adaptive W... more This chapter introduces the volume on Practical Panarchy: Linking Law, Resilience, and Adaptive Water Governance of Regional Scale Social-Ecological Systems. It begins by defining the terminology and theoretical concepts to present the bridging framework among ecological resilience, governance, and law relied on throughout this volume and then introduces this three-part volume. Part I presents the effort to assess resilience and transformation in riverine and wetland social-ecological systems in six US watersheds (the Anacostia River, Columbia River, Everglades wetlands, Klamath River, Middle Rio Grand River, and central Platte River) and one Australian system (the Lake Eyre and Great Artesian basin). Part II focuses on the legal dimensions of watershed governance that directly relate to ecological resilience and transformability of the social-ecological systems and synthesizes the results of the basin assessments to advance the understanding of the role of law and governance as a trigger, facilitator, or barrier to adaptation and transformation in the face of rapid environmental change, including shifting climate. Part III looks at the broader relation between social-ecological resilience and governance through synthesis of the basin assessments and resort to the broader literature on institutions and governance. As a whole, this volume presents the results of a 3-year pursuit on the cross-scale interactions among law, ecosystem dynamics, and governance to address the adaptive capacity of regional scale watersheds as they respond to accelerating environmental change.
For 48 years, the United States and Canada have cooperatively shared the management of the Columb... more For 48 years, the United States and Canada have cooperatively shared the management of the Columbia River under the Columbia River Treaty (CRT). The Treaty has provided both parties with significant direct benefits from flood control and power generation and indirect benefits of economic growth in the Pacific Northwest. While not without flaws, the CRT has been hailed as “one of the most successful trans-boundary water treaties based on equitable sharing of downstream benefits”. In 2012, it is time to think about the future of the Columbia River Treaty. Under international law, the U.S. and Canada may agree to modify or terminate the Treaty at any time. The CRT contains no automatic expiration date but either party may unilaterally terminate portions of the Treaty beginning in 2024 by providing notice by 2014. The parties and other stakeholders in the Columbia River Basin have already begun to think about what a future treaty might look like. Should the status quo continue? If not, ...
Practical Panarchy for Adaptive Water Governance, 2018
The six North American case studies described in Part I of this volume provide the opportunity to... more The six North American case studies described in Part I of this volume provide the opportunity to explore patterns of change over time associated with the development and management of social-ecological systems. The historical assessments show the trajectories that have led to the current heavily regulated and developed social-ecological systems nested within a hierarchical governmental system. This chapter uses Panarchy theory as a general framework to evaluate the interactions between societal and ecological regime shifts and the governance regimes that mediate those interactions. The resilience assessments indicate that complex interactions among the governance and ecosystem components of these systems can produce different trajectories, which include patterns of (a) development and stabilization, (b) cycles of crisis and recovery which include lurches in adaptation and learning, and (c) periods of innovation, novelty, and transformation. Exploration of cross-scale interactions (Panarchy) among levels and sectors of government and society reveals that larger-scale processes and structures may constrain development and growth, but may also provide resources for recovery and renewal following crises or create windows or opportunities for system change. Smaller-scale processes provide opportunities for innovation and novelty, but may also be the source of revolts or crises that lead to broader system transformations. The case studies illustrate different ways that adaptive governance may be triggered, facilitated, or constrained by ecological and social (and particularly legal) processes.
Author(s): Kiparsky, Michael; Owen, Dave; Green Nylen, Nell; Doremus, Holly; Christian-Smith, Jul... more Author(s): Kiparsky, Michael; Owen, Dave; Green Nylen, Nell; Doremus, Holly; Christian-Smith, Juliet; Cosens, Barbara; Fisher, Andrew; Milman, Anita
The headwaters of the Columbia River are in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Idaho, and M... more The headwaters of the Columbia River are in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana. From its headwaters, the Columbia River's mainstem flows 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) crossing the U.S.-Canada border before it empties into the Pacific Ocean along the border between Oregon and Washington (Figure 1). It is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest and the fourth largest in the United States. The Columbia River Basin ("the Basin") covers 671,000 square kilometers (259,500 square miles), an area roughly the size of France. About fifteen percent of the Basin lies in Canada (all within British Columbia), and the remainder is in the United States. 2 The Basin encompasses portions of seven states: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming. The U.S. portion of the Basin includes the lands of fifteen tribal nations and the Canadian portion of the Basin includes the fifteen First Nations with interests in the Basin. 3 Although only fifteen percent of the Basin lies within Canada, thirtyeight percent of the average annual flow and fifty percent of the peak flow measured at The Dalles (located on the mainstem between Oregon and Washington) originates in Canada. 4 In addition, due to the delayed runoff from snowpack at higher latitudes, flow originating in Canada can account for half of the flow in late summer. 5 The Columbia River produces more hydroelectric power than any other river on the continent. The average annual runoff for the Columbia River Basin is 200 MAF, but there is significant year-to-year variability. 6 This variability led to a 2. James Barton & Kelvin Ketchum, Columbia River Treaty: Managing for Uncertainty, in TRANSBOUNDARY RIVER GOVERNANCE IN THE FACE OF UNCERTAINTY:
Biological Conservation, 2015
In the face of a myriad of complex water resource issues, traditional disciplinary separation is ... more In the face of a myriad of complex water resource issues, traditional disciplinary separation is ineffective in developing approaches to promote a sustainable water future. As part of a new graduate program in water resources, faculty at the University of Idaho have developed a course on interdisciplinary methods designed to prepare students for team ⴀbased interdisciplinary
Part of the Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons, Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, Environmental... more Part of the Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons, Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, Environmental Health and Protection Commons, Environmental Policy Commons, Hydrology Commons, Indian and Aboriginal Law Commons, Law and Society Commons, Native American Studies Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons, Social Policy Commons, Transnational Law Commons, and the Water Resource Management Commons
Multisystemic Resilience, 2021
Resilience theory, also known as resilience thinking, has emerged as a powerful theoretical frame... more Resilience theory, also known as resilience thinking, has emerged as a powerful theoretical framework for many disciplines. Legal theorists have, however, only in the past decade begun to contextualize resilience thinking for legal systems. This chapter summarizes where resilience thinking has gone thus far in legal theory and recommends where it should go from here. The authors start by asking the two fundamental questions of resilience thinking, putting them in the context of legal systems: resilience of what and resilience to what? Because of the special role legal systems play in the governance of complex social-ecological systems, the authors add a third question: resilience for what? We then explore five key features of system resilience as they relate to legal systems: (a) reliability, (b) efficiency, (c) scalability, (d) modularity, and (e) evolvability. Using environmental law as a case study, the discussion offers concrete examples of how each property manifests and operat...
Frontiers in Environmental Science, 2018
object-oriented modeling system. This project represents a starting point for a continued researc... more object-oriented modeling system. This project represents a starting point for a continued research agenda that incorporates social dynamics into FEW system resilience modeling and management in the CRB.
INTER DISCIPLINA, 2016
| Social-environmental (se) issues often are complex and require an interdisciplinary approach fo... more | Social-environmental (se) issues often are complex and require an interdisciplinary approach for solutions. Currently, scientists and decision-makers trained in graduate programs do not have sufficient training in interdisciplinary tools and methods to achieve effective approaches to se problems. In this paper, we characterize and analyze two interdisciplinary graduate programs in the western US to detail: i) characteristics of institutions and institutionalization; ii) (inter)disciplinary contributions; iii) past and current se projects; iv) curriculum with signature methods, courses, ethics; v) thesis/dissertation requirements; vi) faculty and student characteristics, and vii) market for students. A final synthesis includes five lessons learned for a successful interdisciplinary education and research program: 1) effective leadership; 2) an institutional culture of collaboration; 3) resources; 4) institutional support and assistance in development of administrative structure compatible with the institution, and 5) internal and external communication.
INTER DISCIPLINA, 2016
Los problemas socioambientales a menudo son complejos y sus soluciones requieren de un enfoque in... more Los problemas socioambientales a menudo son complejos y sus soluciones requieren de un enfoque interdisciplinario. En la actualidad, los científicos y tomadores de decisiones formados en programas de posgrado no cuentan con suficiente formación en métodos y herramientas interdisciplinarias que les permita lograr un enfoque efectivo a la solución de problemas socioambientales. En este artículo, caracterizamos y analizamos dos programas interdisciplinarios de posgrado en universidades del oeste de Estados Unidos, y desglosamos: i) las características de las instituciones y de la institucionalización;ii)las contribuciones (inter)disciplinarias; iii) los proyectos socioambientales del pasadoy del presente;iv) los planes de estudio con sus métodos, cursos y éticas propios;v) los requisitos de tesis/trabajo de titulación;vi) las características de los profesores y alumnos, y,vii) el mercado de trabajo para los alumnos. La síntesis final incluye cinco lecciones aprendidas para tener un pro...
Ecology and Society, 2017
In this article we summarize histories of nonlinear, complex interactions among societal, legal, ... more In this article we summarize histories of nonlinear, complex interactions among societal, legal, and ecosystem dynamics in six North American water basins, as they respond to changing climate. These case studies were chosen to explore the conditions for emergence of adaptive governance in heavily regulated and developed social-ecological systems nested within a hierarchical governmental system. We summarize resilience assessments conducted in each system to provide a synthesis and reference by the other articles in this special feature. We also present a general framework used to evaluate the interactions between society and ecosystem regimes and the governance regimes chosen to mediate those interactions. The case studies show different ways that adaptive governance may be triggered, facilitated, or constrained by ecological and/or legal processes. The resilience assessments indicate that complex interactions among the governance and ecosystem components of these systems can produce different trajectories, which include patterns of (a) development and stabilization, (b) cycles of crisis and recovery, which includes lurches in adaptation and learning, and (3) periods of innovation, novelty, and transformation. Exploration of cross scale (Panarchy) interactions among levels and sectors of government and society illustrate that they may constrain development trajectories, but may also provide stability during crisis or innovation at smaller scales; create crises, but may also facilitate recovery; and constrain system transformation, but may also provide windows of opportunity in which transformation, and the resources to accomplish it, may occur. The framework is the starting point for our exploration of how law might play a role in enhancing the capacity of social-ecological systems to adapt to climate change.
Journal of environmental management, Jan 17, 2016
Adaptive governance and adaptive management have developed over the past quarter century in respo... more Adaptive governance and adaptive management have developed over the past quarter century in response to institutional and organizational failures, and unforeseen changes in natural resource dynamics. Adaptive governance provides a context for managing known and unknown consequences of prior management approaches and for increasing legitimacy in the implementation of flexible and adaptive management. Using examples from iconic water systems in the United States, we explore the proposition that adaptive management and adaptive governance are useful for evaluating the complexities of trade-offs among ecosystem goods and services.
Social Science Research Network, 2020
Language is a reflection of a thought world. A worldview that has been shaped by place to describ... more Language is a reflection of a thought world. A worldview that has been shaped by place to describe one's identity in space and time does not equate to species relatedness as a default to know one another. In the legal system of the United States, there is acknowledgement of treaties in colonized lands that there are rights granted from the tribes and not to them, and those rights are landbased. Yet, the Indigenous voice is dead before arrival, before it enters the room of science, justice, academe, or otherwise. The exclusion of Indigenous peoples at the table of knowledge and from the power to make decisions within their homelands has proven a detriment to the land, waterways, flora and fauna, and human beings. Nowhere would tribal peoples have agreed to our own destruction, it is and has been a forced hand. This Article explores the changing interpretation of the U.S. Supreme Court canon to construe treaties with Native American .tribes as the tribe would have understood them, and why mere translation of Native language to English fails to capture a Native understanding. Through the juxtaposition of western legal analysis and the powerful voice of a Native scientist, this Article illustrates how difficult and yet how necessary it will be to bridge that divide if this This Article was made possible by support from the NSF Interdisciplinary Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Award no. 1249400 at the University of Idaho Water Resources Graduate Program: Adaptation to change in water resources: science to inform decision-making across disciplines, cultures and scales.
Social Science Research Network, Aug 5, 2019
the facilitator, but not central controller, of adaptive governance. To advance the understanding... more the facilitator, but not central controller, of adaptive governance. To advance the understanding of adaptive governance, we argue that it can be understood in the broader context of scholarship covering the observed emergence of new governance, the efforts to develop theoretical understandings through decentered theory, and the refinement of constitutional understanding through democratic experimentalism. Synthesis of these three themes in turn informs the role of law and government in working with emergent governance responses to complexity to manage change and wicked problems. This inter-and transdisciplinary exercise reveals that the role of law and government in adaptive governance is to leave space for local innovation and private governance. Law and government must provide the catalyzation, facilitation, steering, and oversight essential for public and private institutions to respond at the rate and complexity of change in large-scale social-ecological systems, and they must do so while advancing good governance. †
Social Science Research Network, Aug 5, 2019
the facilitator, but not central controller, of adaptive governance. To advance the understanding... more the facilitator, but not central controller, of adaptive governance. To advance the understanding of adaptive governance, we argue that it can be understood in the broader context of scholarship covering the observed emergence of new governance, the efforts to develop theoretical understandings through decentered theory, and the refinement of constitutional understanding through democratic experimentalism. Synthesis of these three themes in turn informs the role of law and government in working with emergent governance responses to complexity to manage change and wicked problems. This inter-and transdisciplinary exercise reveals that the role of law and government in adaptive governance is to leave space for local innovation and private governance. Law and government must provide the catalyzation, facilitation, steering, and oversight essential for public and private institutions to respond at the rate and complexity of change in large-scale social-ecological systems, and they must do so while advancing good governance. †