Opportunities for better use of collective action theory in research and governance for invasive species management
By: Sonia Graham , Alexander L. Metcalf , Nicholas Gill, Rebecca Niemiec ,Carlo Moreno, Thomas Bach, Victoria Ikutegbe, Lars Hallstrom, Zhao Ma, and Alice Lubec
Abstract
Controlling invasive species presents a public-good dilemma. Although environmental, social, and economic benefits of control accrue to society, costs are borne by only a few individuals and organizations. For decades, policy makers have used incentives and sanctions to encourage or coerce individual actors to contribute to the public good, with limited success. Diverse, subnational efforts to collectively manage invasive plants, insects, and animals provide effective alternatives to traditional command-and-control approaches. Read more>>
Expectations and Realities of Engaged Scholarship: Evaluating a Social Economy Collaborative Research Partnership
By: Karen Heisler, Mary Beckie and Sean Markey
Abstract
This paper examines and evaluates the dynamics of engaged scholarship within a complex community-university research partnership. The British Columbia–Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) brings together academics and practitioners with the goal of advancing understanding of the social economy and contributing to the development of a social economy research network in western Canada. Engagement in BALTA refers to both internal (academic and practitioner research partnerships) and external (research process) project components. Our findings indicate that the structure of the project, dictated in large part by funder requirements and the professional cultures of research participants, greatly influenced the nature and quality of engagement. This paper examines the BALTA initiative and the reflexive and adaptive process it has undergone as it responds to various challenges and seeks to realize the ideals and potential of engaged scholarship. Read more>>
Bending the arc of the staples trap: Negotiating rural resource revenues in an age of policy incoherence
By: Sean Marley, Greg Halseth, Laura Ryser, Neil Argent and Jonathan Boron
Abstract
Different political and economic contexts are shaping how resource royalties/revenues are collected and distributed back into the regions from which the resources are extracted. Within the context of peripheral resource community and regional development lifecycles, and drawing from staples theory and evolutionary economic geography, we look at the changing power relationships between the Province of British Columbia and the communities of the Peace River region in Canada through two sets of revenue sharing negotiations: the Fair Share Agreement and the Peace River Agreement. In the former case, the lack of an explicit provincial policy regime around the redistribution of state royalties and taxes created space for the region’s communities to seize the agenda and maximize benefits from their negotiations with the Province. Read more>>