“Everyone Has a Truth”: Forms of Ecological Embeddedness in an Interorganizational Context

Environmental issues involve a wide range of actors often brought together in processes of collaborative environmental governance. Nonetheless, such actors frequently disagree on the definition of these issues. Even sharing an environmental concern does not preclude disagreements. This paper takes t...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Baudoin, Lucie, Arenas, Daniel
Tipo de documento: artigo
Data de publicação:2022
País:España
Recursos:Universitat Ramon Llull (URL)
Repositório:DAU Arxiu Digital de la Universitat Ramon Llull
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:dau_________::581212f2ae3de16ca6433248a0dc6cbe
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14342/6154
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-022-05187-x
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:Ecological embeddedness
Collaborative governance
Environmental disputes
Scientific knowledge
Deliberation
Descrição
Resumo:Environmental issues involve a wide range of actors often brought together in processes of collaborative environmental governance. Nonetheless, such actors frequently disagree on the definition of these issues. Even sharing an environmental concern does not preclude disagreements. This paper takes the concept of ecological embeddedness—so far analyzed in a single community—to explore differences of views among actors involved in collaborative environmental governance. It does so by pursuing a qualitative study of French River Basin Committees. Our findings show that Basin Committee members take radically different approaches to ecological matters and therefore put forward opposing diagnoses and prognoses of their shared ecological context. We identify three dimensions of ecological embeddedness that are critical for collaborative governance, namely: ecological engagement; ecological ontology; and ecological knowledge. Our results indicate that different forms of ecological embeddedness can fuel long-lasting disagreements despite members’ shared appreciation of collaboration. This is especially so if the deliberations focus on ‘facts’—with actors pitting their ecological knowledge against one another—without facilitating discussions on ecological engagement and ontology.