An Examination of Collaborative Governance for Complex Adaptive Systems in the St. John River Basin

Abstract

Climactic changes are having devastating impacts on communities and improved collaborative decision-making is required to govern the changing social-ecological system. This research sought to expand understanding of collaborative governance as it relates to social-ecological complex adaptive systems by using a network perspective to examine governance network properties in relation to adaptive governance and social-ecological fit. The collaborative flood planning network in the St. John River Basin was collected and analyzed both independently and within a multilevel social-ecological network. Analysis displayed a broad range of organizations within the network, a tendency for transitivity, and limited social-ecological fit. While collaboration aids in adaptive governance in the basin, the network was strongly impacted by varying jurisdictional roles, responsibilities, and resources. This research contributes to the growing body of literature on network governance for social-ecological systems and further questions the role of top-down governance within collaborative arrangements.