Traps and Transformations of Social-Ecological Systems: Commentary from the Caribbean

Speaker: Mr. Brian Neff, Ph.D. candidate, University of Waterloo
Title: Traps and Transformations of Social-Ecological Systems: Commentary from the Caribbean
Date: Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Category: Seminar

Abstract:
The adaptive cycle metaphor provides insight into how and why social-ecological systems change. Social-ecological systems literature has built upon these insights and further developed the concepts of resilience, adaptation, and transformation to describe social-ecological system behavior. Furthermore, this literature describes systems that do not change, even when such change is desirable, as being in a trapped state. However, relatively little research has explored why such systems are trapped and how to free them.
In this talk, Mr. Neff summarizes recent research to resolve how to identify, evaluate, and free a system caught in a trapped state, using water management in the small island developing state of Grenada as a case study. Nomenclature to quantify and describe traps is provided and a framework is presented to assess transformability of a given system based on the 3-phase process of transformation described in the social-ecological systems literature. When applied empirically, this framework enables a quantifiable assessment of transformability and illuminates points of failure of transformation, which Mr. Neff defines as the cause of a given trap. Once identified, policy entrepreneurs can devise specific strategies to address the points of failure, advance transformation, and break free of a trap. In the Grenadian water management case, the point of failure of transformation is an inability to seize windows of opportunity to pass key legislation which would provide legitimacy to integrating management of the water sector. Policy entrepreneurs and networks of system actors actively advocated for policy reforms, but were limited in scope. Critical failures in seizing windows of opportunity are explained within the three streams model of policy change. Mr. Neff concludes the talk by exploring options for policy entrepreneurs and networks to seize future windows of opportunity.

Speaker Biography:
Brian Neff lives in Grenada and is completing a PhD in Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo. He earned a B.S. in Biological Sciences at Colorado State University and an M.S. in Environmental Science at the University of Colorado. The bulk of his prior research experience is in Great Lakes region hydrology. His current research interests include the resilience of social-ecological systems, water resources management, and climate change adaptation, all with regard to small island developing states (SIDS).