Stakeholder meanings and robustness in social-ecological systems : implications for managing change.
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Date
2015
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Abstract
Alignment of stakeholder behaviour with policies and rules is a key concern where natural
resources are managed in the public interest. This thesis is based on the premise that behaviours
are founded upon meanings as meanings direct stakeholder preferences for resource benefits. I
developed a framework representing a social-ecological system and drew on the theories of
symbolic interactionism and ecosystem services to illustrate the dynamic relationship between
meaning, context, behaviour, perception of benefits and public infrastructure (policies). I
propose that by incorporating meanings into the design of institutions, public infrastructure will
continually reflect adjustments in meaning reordering in relation to the meanings of the
collective to promote supportive stakeholder behaviour and enhancing system robustness during
times of slow as well as rapid, disruptive change. The validity of the framework was tested
using a case study from Tokai, South Africa. An interpretive and post-normal paradigm
provided the foundation for the detection of stakeholder meanings brought to the fore by semistructured
narrative interviews. Computer aided software and a combination of inductive and
deductive analysis were used to generate themes and expressions to illustrate the construction
and evolution of meanings during two distinctive phases in the social-ecological history of
Tokai.
Using the framework to interpret results I was able to illustrate how meanings and meaning
prioritisation influence the perception of benefits and how these aspects direct behaviours. The
findings indicated the importance of procedural and distributive justice in the negotiated design
of public infrastructure and I was able to illustrate the implications for sustaining system
robustness. The framework was helpful as a model to interpret the dynamic relationship
between meanings, behaviours and institutional design but additional frameworks were needed
to facilitate the construction of scenarios that incorporate vulnerability of robustness as reflected
by varying levels of relational connectedness and relational capital during cycles of change. I
suggest incorporating relational connectedness together with attention to meanings as an
approach to fostering relational capital that is likely to direct behaviours to align more
constructively with the meanings of the collective, and the associated public infrastructure.
My research exposes opportunities for further inquiry: (1) Deeper insights into the relationship
between meanings, collective identity and behaviours; (2) Understanding the influence of
organisational culture on the adaptive management of collective identity and (3) Greater
understanding of how these theoretical aspects should be applied in the practice of adaptive
management and governance.
Description
Ph. D. Unversity of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2015.
Keywords
Recreation areas--Western Cape--Cape Town., Social ecology--Western Cape--Cape Town., Human ecology--Western Cape--Cape Town., Natural resources--Attitudes., Change., Theses--Environmental science.