Multi-level governance and resilience of social-ecological systems

Abstract

Belief structures get transformed into society and economic structure by institutions - both formal rules and informal norms of behaviour. The relationship between mental models and institutions is an intimate one. Mental models are the internal representation that individual cognitive systems create to interpret the environment; institutions are the external (to the mind) mechanisms individuals create to structure and order the environment (North 1996: 348). © 2005 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.