Explore the vast range of titles available.

“Action situations”—events, venues, or physically interdependent instances of decision-making—have become a central unit of analysis in the social–environmental sciences, particularly among scholars interested in bridging the social with the biophysical or ecological side of interdependent decisions. A growing body of empirical studies in social–ecological systems research has recently used case and comparative studies to analyse multiple interdependent action situations, structured into networks. In this article, we take stock of this body of empirical research, synthesize the diverse approaches that scholars have taken to assess “networks of action situations”, and identify fruitful paths forward. We conduct a systematic review of the empirical literature in the field, reviewing and summarizing the key characteristics of the empirical studies, including network features, topologies, methods, and data sources used in each case. We summarize and discuss the conceptualizations, methods, diagnostic procedures, and conclusions used in this body of work in a narrative framework synthesis. The review indicates that an increasingly coherent approach is taking shape, but a systematic, protocol-driven, or formalized approach is only partly emerging. We derive future research needs that could help accumulate knowledge from empirical research.

In the twenty-first century, the world´s demand for natural resources is more pressing and deeply interconnected than ever before. The Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus has gained growing interest as a promising concept for complex resource management challenges. However, knowledge about the root causes of cross-sectoral coordination problems and how they can be shifted towards sustainability is still lacking. This paper fills this gap by conceptualising a WEF nexus case with the Networks of Action Situations approach combined with systems thinking. This approach allows a deep analysis of the root causes of coordination gaps, facilitates a joint understanding of the system dynamics to identify leverage points for shifting the WEF nexus towards sustainability, and to envision the impact of potential interventions on the network of action situations and their outcome. The value and the reciprocal benefits of the combined approach introduced are illustrated for a case in Switzerland, Europe. The results show a coordination gap between the different sectors and that not all sectors were considered equally. This leads to a prioritization of energy production over water-bound biodiversity and food production. The root causes for this outcome are a focus to mitigate climate change and awareness of biodiversity but much less awareness of the impacts of climate change on Swiss water bodies. The study identifies five deep leverage points for interventions, which are expected to ensure a shared systemic problem understanding and more balanced coordination between different sectors resulting in the sustainable and equitable provision and utilization of WEF resources.

Mountains, said to be the world's water towers, are central for the provision of downstream water demands. This provision service is strongly challenged by climate change associated with changes in runoff amount and seasonality caused by the retreat of glaciers, rising snow lines, and changes in precipitation. One potential adaptation strategy is the construction of new water reservoirs or the adjustment of current reservoir management strategies. These strategies need to account for various water uses originating from sectors and governments with different economic interests. Here, we investigate governance processes leading to reservoir management strategies ignoring downstream water needs in one of the most important water towers of the world, the European Alps. We assess why governance processes can lead to a coordination gap between an upstream reservoir and downstream water needs. We show that downstream water deficits could potentially be covered through an upstream reservoir under mean and partially under extremely low inflow conditions. However, these hydrological conditions were neglected in the governance processes. The decision‐making when issuing the new reservoir concession was influenced by (a) a lack of knowledge and of an appropriate reservoir‐management study, (b) an interest to increase renewable energy production, (c) a focus on environmental agreements in the participatory process, and (d) economic interests. Our analyses provide factors, which need to be considered when designing governance processes for the management of reservoirs in world's important and vulnerable water towers. We conclude that immediate action is required toward balancing upstream and downstream water needs in governance processes. Plain Language Summary Mountains are central for the provision of water demands and are therefore commonly referred to as “water towers.” This provision service is strongly challenged by climate change associated with changes in the water cycle caused by the retreat of glaciers, rising snow lines, and changes in precipitation. One potential strategy to cope with these challenges is the construction of water reservoirs or the adjustment of current reservoir management strategies. These strategies need to account for various water uses. Here, we focus on governance processes leading to the (suboptimal) management of a reservoir in one of the most important water towers of the world, the European Alps. We assess why negotiation processes can lead to a coordination gap between an upstream reservoir and downstream water needs. We show that downstream water deficits could potentially be covered through an upstream reservoir, which was neglected when negotiating the concession for the reservoir. The decision‐making was influenced by (a) a lack of knowledge and data, (b) an interest to increase renewable energy production, (c) a focus on environmental agreements in the participatory process, and (d) economic interests. We conclude that immediate action is required toward balancing upstream and downstream water needs in negotiation processes. Key Points Governance processes of upstream reservoirs need to anticipate multiple upstream and downstream water demands Coordination gaps are caused by a lack of water shortage awareness and reservoir‐management studies and by trade‐offs between mitigation and adaptation measures There is a need for integrative governance processes with state and non‐state actors at the spatial scale of affected catchments

Successful collaborative governance (CG) of social-ecological systems (SES) involves multiple stakeholders convening iteratively over the long term to reach a commonly held vision. This often involves building knowledge for social learning processes induced to come to collective decisions about managing complex systems in flux. Because of the complexity of any SES in the Anthropocene, this coproduced knowledge is frequently transdisciplinary, using a convergence of applied and scientific knowledge from a variety of disciplines and stakeholders outside academia. We find evidence that these cases of effective SES CG involve both knowledge coproduction and convergence research. We evaluated seven case studies of CG across four continents using criteria (principles and methods) developed to facilitate and describe convergence research on SES and found them to be largely present. We also assess these CG cases using indicators of knowledge coproduction, and show that they all involved transdisciplinary knowledge coproduction, which can provide an informative lens for deepening our shared understanding of convergence and its application to complex adaptive systems. All the cases selected for this paper are examples of CG of SES in which research was conducted as part of a collaborative effort to improve the social-ecological conditions in a particular place, and several incorporate various forms of knowledge and ways of knowing. We suggest that these cases demonstrate both convergence research and knowledge coproduction because of the overlap and similarity of these concepts, providing a brief comparison and contrasting of these approaches to addressing sustainability problems collaboratively.

There is a need to synthesize the vast amount of empirical case study research on social‐ecological systems (SES) to advance theory. Innovative methods are needed to identify patterns of system interactions and outcomes at different levels of ion. Many identifiable patterns may only be relevant to small sets of cases, a sector or regional context, and some more broadly. Theory needs to match these levels while still retaining enough details to inform context‐specific governance. Archetype analysis offers concepts and methods for synthesizing and explaining patterns of interactions across cases. At the most basic level, there is a need to identify two and three independent variable groupings (i.e. dyads and triads) as a starting point for archetype identification (i.e. as theoretical building blocks). The causal explanations of dyads and triads are easier to understand than larger models, and once identified, can be used as building blocks to construct or explain larger theoretical models. We analyse the recurrence of independent variable interactions across 71 quantitative SES models generated from qualitative case study research applying Ostrom's SES framework and examine their relationships to specific outcomes (positive or negative, social or ecological). We use hierarchical clustering, principal component analysis and network analysis tools to identify the frequency and recurrence of dyads and triads across models of different sizes and outcome groups. We also measure the novelty of model composition as models get larger. We support our quantitative model findings with illustrative visual and narrative examples in four case study boxes covering deforestation in Indonesia, pollution in the Rhine River, fisheries management in Chile and renewable wind energy management in Belgium. Findings indicate which pairs of two (dyads) and three (triads) variables are most frequently linked to either positive or negative, social or ecological outcomes. We show which pairs account for most of the variation of interactions across all the models (i.e. the optimal suite). Both the most frequent and optimal suite sets are good starting points for assessing how dyads and triads can fulfil the role of explanatory archetype candidates. We further discuss challenges and opportunities for future SES modelling and synthesis research using archetype analysis. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Climate change impacts such as shrinking glaciers and decreasing snow cover are expected to cause changes in the water balance throughout the 21st century. New proglacial lakes in recently deglaciated areas could be used for mitigation measures such as hydropower production and adaptation measures to temporarily retain water and transfer it seasonally to compensate for seasonal water scarcity. Such multi-purpose reservoirs could counterbalance the water currently provided by glaciers and the seasonal snowpack. However, new dam projects often face various conflicts due to their impact on nature, biodiversity, and the landscape. This article presents the determinants for social acceptance of the first reservoir in a recently deglaciated landscape in the Swiss Alps. Three main determinants were identified: (1) the forthcoming popular vote on the national Swiss Energy Strategy 2050; (2) the participatory process, which contains a polycentric design; and (3) the project area, which does not yet have protected status. The three determinants facilitate social acceptance of the dam project, but lead to less attention on using the stored water for multiple services. These findings have implications on sustainable development, because dams in recently deglaciated areas support the transition to renewable energy sources, but transform a natural resource system into a hydroelectric landscape.

Water, energy, and food are all essential components of human societies. Collectively, their respective resource systems are interconnected in what is called the “nexus”. There is growing consensus that a holistic understanding of the interdependencies and trade-offs between these sectors and other related systems is critical to solving many of the global challenges they present. While nexus research has grown exponentially since 2011, there is no unified, overarching approach, and the implementation of concepts remains hampered by the lack of clear case studies. Here, we present the results of a collaborative thought exercise involving 75 scientists and summarize them into 10 key recommendations covering: the most critical nexus issues of today, emerging themes, and where future efforts should be directed. We conclude that a nexus community of practice to promote open communication among researchers, to maintain and share standardized datasets, and to develop applied case studies will facilitate transparent comparisons of models and encourage the adoption of nexus approaches in practice.

“Action situations”—instances of decision-making and agency—have become central to studying social–ecological systems. This special feature collects research using the network of action situations (NAS) approach to structure the way these action situations are embedded into broader interdependent instances of decision-making in different policy or discursive realms, spatial and jurisdictional context, or at different institutional levels. In this editorial, we summarize the key themes that emerged throughout the collection of the 17 articles included in this special feature. The editorial emphasizes the value of NAS in appropriately and sensitively reconstructing relations while pursuing consistency in modes of analysis. It highlights as key themes the complementarity of and disconnects between situations, temporality of NAS, and how NAS can structure the analysis of power in SES. Going further, we suggest expanding on the relational turn, developing NAS archetypes, and studying polycentric governance theories and hypotheses using the NAS approach.

In 2009, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and the 16 German federal state public health authorities (PHAs) established a weekly epidemiological teleconference (EpiLag) to discuss infectious disease (ID) events and foster horizontal and vertical information exchange. We present the procedure, discussed ID topics and evaluation results of EpiLag after 10 years. We analysed attendance, duration of EpiLag and the frequency of reported events. Participants (RKI and state PHA) were surveyed regarding their satisfaction with logistics, contents and usefulness of EpiLag (Likert scales). Between 2009 and 2018, RKI hosted 484 EpiLag conferences with a mean duration of 25 min (range: 4–60) and high participation (range: 9–16; mean: 15 PHAs). Overall, 2975 ID events (39% international, 9% national and 52% subnational) were presented (mean: 6.1 per EpiLag), most frequently on measles (18%), salmonellosis (8%) and influenza (5%). All responding participants (14/16 PHAs and 9/9 at RKI) were satisfied with the EpiLag's organization and minutes and deemed EpiLag useful for an overview and information distribution on ID events relevant to Germany. EpiLag is time efficient, easily applicable and useful for a low-threshold event communication. It supports PHAs in crises and strengthens the network of surveillance stakeholders. We recommend its implementation to other countries or sectors.