Integration for the better? Local networks and natural resources management in Swiss mountain regions

Ingold, Karin; Hirschi, Christian (2 July 2010). Integration for the better? Local networks and natural resources management in Swiss mountain regions (Unpublished). In: Sunbelt XXX International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA) Conference. Riva del Garda, Italy. 29.06-04.07.2010.

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Current strategies of natural resource management attempt to address the often proclaimed lack between the design of political institutions and the scales of environmental problems. At the local level, these governance approaches try to better include a broader range of state and non-state actors representing different societal sectors. This paper explores to what extent horizontal and vertical actor integration improves the political acceptance of new policies as an important precondition for an effective implementation of the policies.
In formal social network analysis, actor integration and inclusion are typically formalized through the concept of interconnectivity. More specifically, structural cohesion and the degree of closure give an insight into how actors are connected and integrated in environmental policy networks. Our paper examines the challenges of social network analysis in the evaluation of governance structures by comparing selected resource management projects in Swiss mountain regions. These cases are all characterized by a participatory principle introduced by higher authority levels with the objective to adapt regional resource management systems better to new challenges such environmental degradation, climate change and loss of biodiversity. We will investigate if the more integrated and cohesive projects have also resulted in constructive cooperation and more efficient policy solutions. Since the projects have been introduced just recently or implementation is still pending, we will focus on the projects’ acceptance rather than their effectiveness as a crucial intermediary step. Our preliminary results indicate that better integrated actors do not necessarily show a higher acceptance of the project as theoretical assumptions would suggest.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Division/Institute:	03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Institute of Political Science 10 Strategic Research Centers > Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR)
UniBE Contributor:	Ingold, Karin Mirjam
Subjects:	300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 320 Political science
Language:	English
Submitter:	Karin Mirjam Ingold Michel
Date Deposited:	14 Aug 2017 16:20
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 15:04
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/98411