Abstract
New and more complex partnerships are emerging to address the sustainability of natural resource use in the Global South. These partnerships variously link donors, governments, community organizations, NGOs, firms, consultancies, certification agencies and other intermediaries. High expectations and many resources have been invested in these initiatives. Yet, we still do not know whether more sophisticated organizational structures, more stakeholders involved, denser social networks and more advanced participatory processes have delivered better sustainability outcomes, and if so, in what sectors and under what circumstances.
To fill this knowledge gap, the collective research project New Partnerships for Sustainability (NEPSUS) assembled a multidisciplinary team to analyse sustainability partnerships in three key natural resource sectors in Tanzania: wildlife, forestry and coastal resources.
This involved carrying out a total of 331 key informant interviews, 81 focus group discussions, a survey with 1019 respondents, participant observation, and the collection of secondary documents, statistics, remote sensing and social network data.
In each of these sectors, we assessed whether co-management with local communities and private and civil society actors, and putatively more participatory processes in the governance ofnatural resources, result in positive environmental outcomes and improved livelihoods. We compared institutionally ‘more complex’ partnerships to relatively ‘simpler’ (more traditional top-down and centralized) management systems – and to ‘control’ locations where there are no partnerships in place.
We also assessed network complexity – as actors can use social networks to share their experiences, values, interests, knowledge and resources, but also to facilitate resource exchange and handle possible tensions. At the same time, networks may survive only when the most powerful and influential members of a partnership keep them alive, thus possibly reinforcing existing power imbalances. Our interest was to assess whether partnership complexity (in its institutional and network aspects) affects the ability to deliver sustainability outcomes.
To fill this knowledge gap, the collective research project New Partnerships for Sustainability (NEPSUS) assembled a multidisciplinary team to analyse sustainability partnerships in three key natural resource sectors in Tanzania: wildlife, forestry and coastal resources.
This involved carrying out a total of 331 key informant interviews, 81 focus group discussions, a survey with 1019 respondents, participant observation, and the collection of secondary documents, statistics, remote sensing and social network data.
In each of these sectors, we assessed whether co-management with local communities and private and civil society actors, and putatively more participatory processes in the governance ofnatural resources, result in positive environmental outcomes and improved livelihoods. We compared institutionally ‘more complex’ partnerships to relatively ‘simpler’ (more traditional top-down and centralized) management systems – and to ‘control’ locations where there are no partnerships in place.
We also assessed network complexity – as actors can use social networks to share their experiences, values, interests, knowledge and resources, but also to facilitate resource exchange and handle possible tensions. At the same time, networks may survive only when the most powerful and influential members of a partnership keep them alive, thus possibly reinforcing existing power imbalances. Our interest was to assess whether partnership complexity (in its institutional and network aspects) affects the ability to deliver sustainability outcomes.
| Originalsprog | Engelsk |
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| Udgivelsessted | Frederiksberg |
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| Forlag | New Partnerships for Sustainability (NEPSUS) |
| Antal sider | 4 |
| Status | Udgivet - jan. 2022 |
| Navn | NEPSUS Overall Policy Brief |
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