TY - JOUR

T1 - Formalised and Non-Formalised Methods in Resource Management-Knowledge and Social Learning in Participatory Processes

T2 - An Introduction

AU - Newig, Jens

AU - Haberl, Helmut

AU - Pahl-Wostl, Claudia

AU - Rothman, Dale S.

N1 - Funding Information: The European Concerted Action Harmoni-CA—Harmonised Modelling Tools for Integrated River Basin Management was funded by the European Union under grant no. EVK1-CT1-2002-00192; 10/2002–09/ 2007. See www.harmoni-ca.info. Funding Information: The project ‘‘PartizipA—Participative Modelling, Actor and Ecosystem Analysis in Regions of Intensive Agriculture’’ (10/2003–03/2007) was funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research under grant no. 07 VPS 10) and by the Austrian Ministry of Science within the research programme ‘‘Cultural Landscapes Research’’. See www.partizipa.net.

PY - 2008/12/1

Y1 - 2008/12/1

N2 - The participation of non-state actors in public decision-making and transdisciplinary research is increasingly regarded as an effective means to cope with growing uncertainties and complexities in human-nature interactions. The management of natural resources is expected to profit from a broader knowledge base and processes of social learning, thus allowing for potentially more informed and creative decision-making. Communication is a key element of transmitting knowledge and fostering social learning. This article introduces the special issue, which assembles contributions that discuss different methods, instruments, tools, and models that have been developed in order to facilitate the transmission of information as well its selection and aggregation. Each of the contributions is briefly reviewed. The approaches discussed here and in the individual papers aim to foster learning in participatory processes. We argue that a key aspect is the degree to which methods are formalised. Formalisation refers to the extent to which information is channelled in a certain way, leaving more or less scope for open communication. Depending on the goals and context, more or less formalised methods can be employed. We conclude by highlighting the context-dependency of participatory processes in natural resource management and indicate some directions for future research. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

AB - The participation of non-state actors in public decision-making and transdisciplinary research is increasingly regarded as an effective means to cope with growing uncertainties and complexities in human-nature interactions. The management of natural resources is expected to profit from a broader knowledge base and processes of social learning, thus allowing for potentially more informed and creative decision-making. Communication is a key element of transmitting knowledge and fostering social learning. This article introduces the special issue, which assembles contributions that discuss different methods, instruments, tools, and models that have been developed in order to facilitate the transmission of information as well its selection and aggregation. Each of the contributions is briefly reviewed. The approaches discussed here and in the individual papers aim to foster learning in participatory processes. We argue that a key aspect is the degree to which methods are formalised. Formalisation refers to the extent to which information is channelled in a certain way, leaving more or less scope for open communication. Depending on the goals and context, more or less formalised methods can be employed. We conclude by highlighting the context-dependency of participatory processes in natural resource management and indicate some directions for future research. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

KW - Sustainability sciences, Communication

KW - Information

KW - Communication

KW - Public and stakeholder involvement

KW - Transdisciplinary research

KW - Collective learning

KW - Uncertainty

KW - Complexity

KW - Modelling

KW - Land-use planning

KW - Water management

KW - System dynamics

KW - Conflicts of interest

KW - Collective learning

KW - Communication

KW - Complexity

KW - Conflicts of interest

KW - Information

KW - Land-use planning

KW - Modelling

KW - Public and stakeholder involvement

KW - System dynamics

KW - Transdisciplinary research

KW - Uncertainty

KW - Water management

UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-57249095677&origin=inward&txGid=0

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/5d670430-e49d-3bb3-b1a2-8412f4909038/

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=57249095677&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s11213-008-9112-x

DO - 10.1007/s11213-008-9112-x

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 21

SP - 381

EP - 387

JO - Systemic Practice and Action Research

JF - Systemic Practice and Action Research

SN - 1094-429X

IS - 6

ER -