Open AccessSocial Networks in Natural Resource Management: What Is There to Learn from a Structural Perspective?
Author(s) -
Örjan Bodin,
Beatrice Crona,
Henrik Ernstson
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
ecology and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.528
H-Index - 141
ISSN - 1708-3087
DOI - 10.5751/es-01808-1102r02
Subject(s) - perspective (graphical) , natural resource management , natural resource , ecosystem management , environmental resource management , natural (archaeology) , resource management (computing) , knowledge management , resource (disambiguation) , business , computer science , ecology , geography , ecosystem , economics , biology , artificial intelligence , computer network , archaeology
Social networks among actors and stakeholders are gaining attention in studies of natural resource management, particularly those of adaptive management based on different forms of participation and co-management. In this sense, social networks have primarily been envisioned as enabling different actors to collaborate and coordinate management efforts. Here, we continue the discussion initiated by Newman and Dale (2005), which highlighted the fact that not all social networks are created equal. We discuss the relation between some structural characteristics and functions of social networks with respect to natural resource management, thus focusing on structural implications that are often overlooked when studying social networks within the context of natural resource management. We present several network measures used to quantify structural characteristics of social networks and link them to a number of features such as learning, leadership, and trust, which are identified as important in natural resource management. We show schematically that there may be inherent juxtapositions among different structural characteristics that need to be balanced in what we envision as social network structures conducive to adaptive co-management of natural resources. We argue that it is essential to develop an understanding of the effects that different structural characteristics of social networks have on natural resource management