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. 2016 Nov 1:41:399-423.

Transformative Environmental Governance

Brian C Chaffin  1 , Ahjond S Garmestani  2 , Lance H Gunderson  3 , Melinda Harm Benson  4 , David G Angeler  5 , Craig Anthony Tony Arnold  6 , Barbara Cosens  7 , Robin Kundis Craig  8 , J B Ruhl  9 , Craig R Allen  10
Affiliations

Transformative Environmental Governance

Brian C Chaffin et al. Annu Rev Environ Resour. .

Abstract

Transformative governance is an approach to environmental governance that has the capacity to respond to, manage, and trigger regime shifts in coupled social-ecological systems (SESs) at multiple scales. The goal of transformative governance is to actively shift degraded SESs to alternative, more desirable, or more functional regimes by altering the structures and processes that define the system. Transformative governance is rooted in ecological theories to explain cross-scale dynamics in complex systems, as well as social theories of change, innovation, and technological transformation. Similar to adaptive governance, transformative governance involves a broad set of governance components, but requires additional capacity to foster new social-ecological regimes including increased risk tolerance, significant systemic investment, and restructured economies and power relations. Transformative governance has the potential to actively respond to regime shifts triggered by climate change, and thus future research should focus on identifying system drivers and leading indicators associated with social-ecological thresholds.

Keywords: adaptive governance; governance; panarchy; regime shifts; resilience; social-ecological systems; transformation; transformative governance.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Although adaptive governance seeks to maintain the “essence and integrity of an incumbent system” (59, p. 119) through changes in actor organization (e.g., networks) and institutional arrangements, the goal of transformative governance is to achieve a fundamentally new system through similar changes that collectively reorganize the fundamental controlling mechanisms of the SES.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Combined sewer overflows from Cleveland’s urban watershed significantly endanger the water quality of Lake Erie (in addition to nonpoint source pollution). As a result, the greater Lake Erie SES is approaching a threshold and potential regime shift toward decreased water quality dominated by anoxic conditions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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