Evaluation of Multi-level Social Learning for Sustainable Landscapes: Perspective of a Development Initiative in Bergslagen, Sweden
Open Access
- 10 March 2013
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in AMBIO
- Vol. 42 (2), 241-253
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-012-0378-y
Abstract
To implement policies about sustainable landscapes and rural development necessitates social learning about states and trends of sustainability indicators, norms that define sustainability, and adaptive multi-level governance. We evaluate the extent to which social learning at multiple governance levels for sustainable landscapes occur in 18 local development initiatives in the network of Sustainable Bergslagen in Sweden. We mapped activities over time, and interviewed key actors in the network about social learning. While activities resulted in exchange of experiences and some local solutions, a major challenge was to secure systematic social learning and make new knowledge explicit at multiple levels. None of the development initiatives used a systematic approach to secure social learning, and sustainability assessments were not made systematically. We discuss how social learning can be improved, and how a learning network of development initiatives could be realized.Keywords
This publication has 52 references indexed in Scilit:
- Evidence-Based Knowledge Versus Negotiated Indicators for Assessment of Ecological Sustainability: The Swedish Forest Stewardship Council Standard as a Case StudyAMBIO, 2013
- Social and Cultural Sustainability: Criteria, Indicators, Verifier Variables for Measurement and Maps for Visualization to Support PlanningAMBIO, 2013
- Multifaceted Value Profiles of Forest Owner Categories in South Sweden: The River Helge å Catchment as a Case StudyAMBIO, 2013
- Legal Framework for Biosphere Reserves as Learning Sites for Sustainable Development: A Comparative Analysis of Ukraine and SwedenAMBIO, 2013
- Solving Problems in Social–Ecological Systems: Definition, Practice and Barriers of Transdisciplinary ResearchAMBIO, 2013
- Learning About the History of Landscape Use for the Future: Consequences for Ecological and Social Systems in Swedish BergslagenAMBIO, 2013
- Measurement, Collaborative Learning and Research for Sustainable Use of Ecosystem Services: Landscape Concepts and Europe as LaboratoryAMBIO, 2013
- Knowledge Production and Learning for Sustainable Landscapes: Seven Steps Using Social–Ecological Systems as LaboratoriesAMBIO, 2013
- Enhancing Transdisciplinary Research Through Collaborative LeadershipAmerican Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2008
- A Ladder Of Citizen ParticipationJournal of the American Institute of Planners, 1969