Building Transformative Capacity for Ecosystem Stewardship in Social–Ecological Systems

Abstract

To navigate social-ecological change, individuals and societies must develop the capacity to adapt and transform our interactions with ecosystems and ecosystem services. Institutions and multi-level governance arrangements are particularly important in this regard as they can support as well as constrain knowledge building, learning and conflict resolution that may help to reduce vulnerability, build resilience and increase adaptive capacity. However, building adaptive capacity into governance is a daunting challenge. Here, we synthesize the insights of this volume and offer lessons for practice and further research. These lessons include the need to: (1) define and understand social-ecological change; (2) avoid panaceas; (3) recognize relational spaces and the role of institutions; (4) consider the influence of scale; (5) link actors and networks of actors; (6) rethink the role of government; (7) benefit from bridging organizations; (8) promote knowledge co-production and learning processes; (9) highlight the role of ecosystems; and (10) ensure integrative approaches.