文章基本信息

标题：Identifying Legal, Ecological and Governance Obstacles, and Opportunities for Adapting to Climate Change
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作者：Cosens, Barbara ; Gunderson, Lance ; Allen, Craig 等
期刊名称：Sustainability
印刷版ISSN：2071-1050
出版年度：2014
卷号：6
期号：4
页码：2338-2356
出版社：MDPI, Open Access Journal
摘要：Current governance of regional scale water management systems in the United States has not placed them on a path toward sustainability, as conflict and gridlock characterize the social arena and ecosystem services continue to erode. Changing climate may continue this trajectory, but it also provides a catalyst for renewal of ecosystems and a window of opportunity for change in institutions. Resilience provides a bridging concept that predicts that change in ecological and social systems is often dramatic, abrupt, and surprising. Adapting to the uncertainty of climate driven change must be done in a manner perceived as legitimate by the participants in a democratic society. Adaptation must begin with the current hierarchical and fragmented social-ecological system as a baseline from which new approaches must be applied. Achieving a level of integration between ecological concepts and governance requires a dialogue across multiple disciplines, including ecologists with expertise in ecological resilience, hydrologists and climate experts, with social scientists and legal scholars. Criteria and models that link ecological dynamics with policies in complex, multi-jurisdictional water basins with adaptive management and governance frameworks may move these social-ecological systems toward greater sustainability.
关键词：adaptive governance; ecological resilience; water law; sustainability; social-ecological system