ACCESS Seminar: Using systems thinking to make sense of complex environmental governance dynamics

Using Systems Thinking to Make Sense of Complex Environmental Governance Dynamics presented by Assistant Professor Jesse Abrams, University of Georgia

Abstract

The growing urgency of contemporary environmental management dilemmas has catalysed scholarly interest and activity on processes of governance. Management of risks associated with climate change and other global environmental change dynamics increasingly occurs via networks that span multiple scalar levels and include diverse state, private firm, community, and civil society actors. The complexity of these systems can present challenges for research: what elements are most important to study and how do we study them? “Systems thinking” approaches to studying governance processes contribute to our understanding by focusing on causal pathways and feedback dynamics. In this talk Jesse will consider the advantages and shortcomings of different approaches to the study of complex environmental governance scenarios and present an example of the application of a systems thinking approach to forest governance in the United States. By tracing the causal processes and outcomes of various actors over time and at multiple scales, we can better understand both the promises and perils of prevailing environmental governance models.

Biography

Dr Jesse Abrams is an Assistant Professor of Natural Resource Policy and Sustainability at the University of Georgia's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. His research focuses on the intersection of formal and informal governance processes in forest and rangeland systems of the Americas.

Access

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm, Wednesday 2 September

Join the lecture (Zoom)
Password: 397654

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