Toward Viable Landscape Governance Systems

Overview

Big challenges exist for communities seeking to govern their landscapes.

Power dynamics between actors of various levels must be balanced. Social and ecological boundaries and scales have to be reconciled and stakeholders must agree on shared values and metrics by which to evaluate performance.

Research has failed to address these challenges at a landscape level.

Researchers have examined the obstacles faced in the management of land, livestock, forests, biodiversity, water and ecosystems. Landscape scientists have fruitfully explored the behavior of individuals and society regarding land management decisions. But findings have not been compiled across disciplines and sectors, or scaled up to a landscape level.

Report connects the dots for governance.

By incorporating the experiences of landscape actors, practitioners and researchers, this paper serves as a collection of innovations, lessons and best practices.