ReviewA review of assertions about the processes and outcomes of social learning in natural resource management
Highlights
► We trace the origins of different approaches to social learning in natural resource management. ► We synthesise assertions about social learning and assess consensus on these assertions. ► Social learning is supported by sustained interaction and on-going deliberation among actors. ► Outcomes include improved decision making, growing awareness and improved relationships.
Introduction
Learning has become ubiquitous in natural resource management. One is hard pressed to find recent writings on the subject of natural resource management that do not include at least some reference to learning, and in recent years specifically to social learning. The burgeoning interest in social learning is reflected in recent edited volumes (Keen et al., 2005a; Wals, 2007; Blackmore, 2010) and special issues (e.g. Environmental Science and Policy Vol. 10 2007; Ecology and Society Vol. 10 2009; Environmental Policy and Governance Vol. 19 2009; Environmental Education Research Vol. 16 2010). This growing interest is fuelled by recurrent, but often untested, assertions about the outcomes of social learning for people and ecosystems, and about the processes that support these outcomes.
In an era of interdisciplinary science, where researchers increasingly borrow ideas, and sometimes just words, from other disciplines, a growing sense of concern has emerged about the myriad ways in which the term social learning is used. This concern is reflected in a critical review of social learning in the participatory literature (Muro and Jeffrey, 2008), and in a multi-authored response article seeking to highlight the need for a common definition (Reed et al., 2010). In an attempt to shift the social learning discourse towards greater empirical analysis, the latter authors define social learning as “a change in understanding that goes beyond the individual to become situated within wider social units or communities of practice through social interactions between actors within social networks” (2010: r1). Despite these calls for greater empirical rigour, efforts at empirical evaluation of social learning have been hindered by the rapidly growing literature on this topic, which is replete with contrasting assertions about the outcomes and processes that support social learning. These contrasting assertions make it difficult for researchers and practitioners to decide where to focus their attention.
The objective of this paper is to identify the roots of current assertions about the processes and outcomes of social learning in natural resource management, and to assess the extent to which there is an emerging consensus on these assertions. By synthesising these assertions, and by revealing their many roots within different management paradigms, we hope to assist researchers and practitioners who are interested in either facilitating a social learning process, or who seek to evaluate the outcomes of such a process. We do not assess evidence for or against these assertions here, but hope that this review will spark an interest in doing so. We begin by tracing the emergence of social learning as a central concern in natural resource management, contextualise the assertions that have been made over time, and reveal significant differences in understanding about how social learning takes place (processes), and what the anticipated outcomes are. Based on this historical review, we synthesise the dominant claims about the processes and outcomes of social learning into five core assertions, and assess the extent to which there is emerging consensus around them.
Section snippets
Material and methods
The scope of this review is limited to the natural resource management literature. This does not negate the importance of the other bodies of literature on this topic, most notably in pedagogy and politics. Rather, the limited scope of this review indicates the challenge of summarising a large and rapidly growing discourse. The review was conducted in an iterative manner, involving a number of activities that were largely, but not always, sequential.
- (1)
An initial analysis of the social learning
Social learning in historical perspective
Over time, social learning has been advanced for different reasons in natural resource management. In order to fully understand the ways in which social learning is conceptualised in different management paradigms, and why these differences exist, it is important to understand the historical context from which each approach emerged. Here, attention is paid to the broader discourses and theoretical orientations that have influenced the emergence of different management paradigms over time (Fig. 1
Following the thread: prevalence of assertions and emerging research directions
Table 1 contains five distinguishable assertions regarding the processes and outcomes of social learning, these can be stated as follows, with the first three relating to processes and the last two relating to outcomes: (1) Social learning takes place through deliberative processes involving sustained interaction between individuals, and the sharing of knowledge and perspectives in a trusting environment; (2) Learning takes place through deliberate experimentation and reflective practice
Conclusions
The term social learning is used in different ways in the natural resource management literature. Key differences can be traced to the different reasons behind the perceived need for learning within different management paradigms. In the case of adaptive management, ecological complexity, and the resultant uncertainty faced by resource managers, has been the major factor driving an interest in learning. As a result, the term social learning in this literature has been used increasingly to
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge funding received from the following bodies and/or programmes: Rhodes University post doctoral fellowship, SANPAD and the IDRC (Georgina Cundill) and the FP7-Marie Cure Actions-IEF of the European Commission (Romina Rodela). An earlier version of this work was presented on the 22th September 2011 at the “Researching learning professional development workshop” organised by the Environmental Learning Research Centre at Rhodes University. The authors would like to
References (73)
- et al.
Adaptive co-management and the paradox of learning
Global Environmental Change
(2008) Participatory rural appraisal (PRA): analysis and experience
World Development
(1994)- et al.
A systemic approach to managing multiple perspectives and stakeholding in water catchments: three UK studies
Environmental Science and Policy
(2007) - et al.
Collaborative learning: improving public deliberation in ecosystem-based management
Environmental Impact Assessment Review
(1996) - et al.
Concepts and methods for analysing the role of Information and Communication tools (IC-tools) in social learning processes for river basin management
Environmental Modelling & Software
(2007) - et al.
What is social learning
Ecology and Society
(2010) - et al.
Moving from sustainable management to sustainable governance of natural resources: the role of social learning processes in rural India, Bolivia and Mali
Journal of Rural Studies
(2007) - et al.
Methodological underpinnings of social learning research in natural resource management: a review
Ecological Economics
(2012) - et al.
The role of knowledge and research in facilitating social learning among stakeholders in natural resources management in the French Atlantic coastal wetlands
Environmental Science and Policy
(2007) - et al.
If community conservation is the answer in Africa, what is the question?
Oryx
(2001)
Hierarchy: Perspectives for Ecological Complexity
Introduction: moving beyond co-management
Common Property Resources: Ecological and Community Based Sustainable Development
Social Learning Systems and Communities of Practice
Sharing Power. Learning by Doing in Co-management of Natural Resources throughout the World
Fortress Conservation: the Preservation of the Mkomazi Game Reserve, Tanzania
Environment and Economy: Property Rights and Public Policy
Governance and social learning in the management of non-wood forest products in community forests in Cameroon
International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology
Social learning in a policy-mandated collaboration
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management
Social learning in the collaborative management of community forests: lessons from the field
Place-based planning as a platform for social learning: insights from a national forest landscape assessment process in western Colorado
Society & Natural Resources
Soft systems thinking and social learning for adaptive management
Conservation Biology
Creating a national park: 1910 to 1926
Journal of Southern African Studies
Getting to co-management: social learning in the redesign of fisheries management
Social learning as a basis for cooperative small-scale forest management
Small-Scale Forestry
Gaming across scale in peri-urban water management: contribution from two experiences in Bolivia and Brazil
International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology
The third generation of deliberative democracy
Political Studies Review
The fundamentals of community-based natural resource management
Adaptive management and social learning in collaborative and community-based monitoring: a study of five community-based forestry organisations in the western USA
Ecology and Society
Adaptive governance of social–ecological resources
Annual Review of Environment and Resources
Landscape-scale approaches for integrated natural resource management in tropical forest landscapes
Ecology and Society
Surface water availability: implications for heterogeneity and ecosystems processes
Barriers and Bridges to the Renewal of Ecosystems and Institutions
The tragedy of the commons
Science
Resilience and stability of ecological systems
Annual Review of Ecology and Systematic
Adaptive Environmental Assessment and Management
Cited by (195)
Building trust in environmental co-management: Social embeddedness in a contested German biodiversity conservation governance process
2024, Environmental Science and PolicyDesigning role-play simulations for climate change decision-making: A step-by-step approach to facilitate cooperation between science and policy
2024, Environmental Science and PolicyFacebook for digital agricultural extension services: The case of rooftop gardeners in Bangladesh
2023, Smart Agricultural TechnologyShifting power through participation in post-disaster recovery: A scoping review
2023, International Journal of Disaster Risk ReductionSignposts on the road toward transformative governance: how a stronger focus on diverse values can enhance environmental policies
2023, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability