michaelschoon Michael Schoon's Personal Website

Hi All,

Here is a recording of our latest webinar for the PECS webinar series.

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Title 

Critical institutionalism and institutional bricolage

Abstract

This presentation talks about the development of critical institutional thinking and the concept of institutional bricolage during my research. Critical institutionalism (CI) is a contemporary body of thought that explores how institutions dynamically mediate relationships between people, natural resources and society. Critical institutional approaches have potentially much to offer natural resource governance studies, particularly through the explanatory power of the concept of bricolage for better understanding institutional change. Together with Frances Cleaver, I have been working with and working on critical institutional thinking in research in Papua New Guinea, the Bolivian and Ecuadorian Amazon and the Netherlands. This presentation defines key themes of critical institutionalism, outline the concept of institutional bricolage and identity some key challenges facing this school of thought.

Bio

I am a lecturer at Van Hall Larenstein in Leeuwarden. I teach policy issues related to marine management. My work focusses on local governance processes related to issues of natural resources, sustainability and climate change. I look at how policies impact people, their daily practices and their place. How policies “travel” from their institute to the daily reality and how they are transformed in the process. In others, I am interested in these dynamic processes where policy can lead to unexpected outcomes and governance is fluid. I have studied these issues related to forest management in the Amazon of Bolivia and Ecuador, nature governance in Europe, ecotourism in Papua New Guinea and at global policy platforms such as the climate change conventions. See my research projects for an overview of that work. Recently, I am looking at coastal communities and how they manage themselves in relation to climate change and marine policies. I hold a PhD. on forest governance in the Amazon (Wageningen University, 2010). I have a MSc. in policy and organization (Utrecht University, 2006) and a BSc and MSc in rural development sociology (Wageningen University, 2001). In my free time, I love to be outdoors: walking, running and sailing.

__________________________________________________________________________________

This is the latest in a series of webinars. Past recordings can be found here.

Hi All,

Here is a recording of our latest webinar for the PECS webinar series.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Title 

Changing institutions and changing forests in West Africa? A historical examination

Abstract

In this study, we examine to what extent and in what ways institutional change drives forest change in West Africa. The focus is on forests outside protected areas. The West African rainforest and forest zones are habitat for various endangered plant and animal species but are also crucial for forest-dependent livelihoods. Yet, forest fragmentation is widespread in the region and forests remain under threat of conversion to agriculture and other land uses. While the important roles of formal and informal institutions are widely acknowledged, we do not know which institutions have changed over time, which ones have persisted and why, which institutional gaps remain and with what consequences for forests and their sustainable use. What roles did informal and formal institutions play in the past, what roles are they playing now? We use a qualitative approach to examine data collected in nine agriculture-forest landscapes in Togo, Benin, Cameroon and Nigeria. Framing institutions as both structures and processes, we examine changes in authorities and decision-making, rules and norms, other historical drivers and their consequences for forests and the sustainable use of forest resources. 

Brief Bio

Chinwe Ifejika Speranza is a Professor of Geography and Sustainable Development at the Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Switzerland. She heads the research unit on land systems and sustainable land management. Her research aims to advance understanding of the interactions between land use and management, natural resources and ecosystem functioning, and how to foster sustainability in land systems. 

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This is the latest in a series of webinars. Past recordings can be found here.