Understanding social-ecological change and transformation through community perceptions of system identity

We developed an empirical approach to consider social-ecological system change and transformation by drawing on resource users’ knowledge and perceptions. We applied this approach in the Cau Hai lagoon, a coastal area dominated by small-scale fisheries in central Vietnam. Nine focus groups with more...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Ecology and society Vol. 20; no. 4; p. 26
Main Authors:	Andrachuk, Mark, Armitage, Derek
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Resilience Alliance 01.01.2015
Subjects:	aquaculture Coastal ecology Ecological sustainability Ecology Ecosystems environmental change Fish culture Fishers governance Human ecology Lagoons local knowledge systems Marine ecology perceptions resilience small scale fisheries social-ecological transformations Socioeconomic status ISEW, Vietnam
ISSN:	1708-3087, 1708-3087
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Abstract	We developed an empirical approach to consider social-ecological system change and transformation by drawing on resource users’ knowledge and perceptions. We applied this approach in the Cau Hai lagoon, a coastal area dominated by small-scale fisheries in central Vietnam. Nine focus groups with more than 70 fishers were used to gather information about key social-ecological system elements and interactions, historical social-ecological dynamics, and possible thresholds between distinct social-ecological system identities. The patterns of change in livelihoods and resource exploitation in the Cau Hai lagoon are similar to those seen in other coastal lagoon and small-scale fishery contexts. Our findings show some promise for the use of local knowledge and the perceptions of resource user communities to understand and characterize social-ecological transformations. Importantly, however, we also demonstrate how social-ecological transformations are complicated processes driven by many factors beyond the control of any singular individual or group. We argue that (1) the occurrence of social-ecological transformations can result in either positive or negative outcomes and (2) that we need to direct our thinking away from drawing tidy conclusions about if and when social-ecological transformations take place. Our research also encourages scholars to carefully consider how we frame the benefits of participatory, community-based governance initiatives. Importantly, we need to examine the ways that governance initiatives will be beneficial for some people and detrimental for others, and we need to be fully aware of locally contested interests and acknowledge competing priorities for fisheries management and human well-being. Community-oriented assessments informed by resilience thinking can help to open up questions about economic, political, cultural, and environmental aspects of undesirable path dependencies and traps.
AbstractList	We developed an empirical approach to consider social-ecological system change and transformation by drawing on resource users' knowledge and perceptions. We applied this approach in the Cau Hai lagoon, a coastal area dominated by small-scale fisheries in central Vietnam. Nine focus groups with more than 70 fishers were used to gather information about key social-ecological system elements and interactions, historical social-ecological dynamics, and possible thresholds between distinct social-ecological system identities. The patterns of change in livelihoods and resource exploitation in the Cau Hai lagoon are similar to those seen in other coastal lagoon and small-scale fishery contexts. Our findings show some promise for the use of local knowledge and the perceptions of resource user communities to understand and characterize social-ecological transformations. Importantly, however, we also demonstrate how social-ecological transformations are complicated processes driven by many factors beyond the control of any singular individual or group. We argue that (1) the occurrence of social-ecological transformations can result in either positive or negative outcomes and (2) that we need to direct our thinking away from drawing tidy conclusions about if and when social-ecological transformations take place. Our research also encourages scholars to carefully consider how we frame the benefits of participatory, community-based governance initiatives. Importantly, we need to examine the ways that governance initiatives will be beneficial for some people and detrimental for others, and we need to be fully aware of locally contested interests and acknowledge competing priorities for fisheries management and human well-being. Community-oriented assessments informed by resilience thinking can help to open up questions about economic, political, cultural, and environmental aspects of undesirable path dependencies and traps.
ArticleNumber	art26
Author	Armitage, Derek Andrachuk, Mark
Author_xml	– sequence: 1 givenname: Mark surname: Andrachuk fullname: Andrachuk, Mark organization: University of Waterloo – sequence: 2 givenname: Derek surname: Armitage fullname: Armitage, Derek organization: University of Waterloo
BookMark	eNp9UU1r3DAQNSGBfDTnngo69uJm9C0fS9imgUAPac5CliWvFlvaStrD_vt61yWUHnqaYd6894Z5t81lTNE1zUcMX7jk-GHz2oKUvGsJACPiornBElRLQcnLv_rr5raUHQDpmCI3ze4tDi6XauIQ4ohKssFMrbNpSmOwZkJ2a-Lo0IKjmk0sPuXZ1JAiqtucDuMW2TTPhxjqEe1dtm5_AgtKHpVjqW5GYXCxLvCH5sqbqbj7P_Wuefu2-fn4vX358fT8-PWltQxobQXtqeC9IAOjnooelLHKWumEBcWgF5h7L8XArRTcGysU7jGmRPiOmY44etc8r7pDMju9z2E2-aiTCfo8SHnUJtdgJ6cHSTB1SkjaCwad6xXrBit7xYHRTsCi9XnV2uf06-BK1XMo1k2TiS4disbLDR0jIE-rD-uqzamU7Py7NQZ9SkhvXvU5Ib0mtDD4Pwwb6vm3y6fD9B_ep5W3KzXldxsiiFxiBfobeVmhfg
CitedBy_id	crossref_primary_10_3390_su12176866 crossref_primary_10_1002_fee_1974 crossref_primary_10_1007_s10584_018_2144_z crossref_primary_10_1007_s13280_024_02064_x crossref_primary_10_1016_j_cosust_2016_04_001 crossref_primary_10_1016_j_polar_2019_06_002 crossref_primary_10_1016_j_rsma_2022_102800 crossref_primary_10_1080_08920753_2019_1596677 crossref_primary_10_3390_w12061518 crossref_primary_10_1016_j_ocecoaman_2018_04_020 crossref_primary_10_1016_j_marpol_2024_106408 crossref_primary_10_1002_rra_3423 crossref_primary_10_1371_journal_pstr_0000028 crossref_primary_10_1007_s00267_024_01979_1 crossref_primary_10_1080_07900627_2018_1457513 crossref_primary_10_3390_su13158276 crossref_primary_10_3389_fmars_2021_659699 crossref_primary_10_1007_s40152_023_00318_0 crossref_primary_10_1111_1745_5871_12267 crossref_primary_10_1016_j_cosust_2020_09_012 crossref_primary_10_1088_1748_9326_adf127 crossref_primary_10_1016_j_ocecoaman_2022_106065 crossref_primary_10_1016_j_scitotenv_2019_135838 crossref_primary_10_1177_13563890251363232 crossref_primary_10_3390_su14031066 crossref_primary_10_1177_2053019618817928 crossref_primary_10_1016_j_marpol_2019_02_047 crossref_primary_10_1016_j_eiar_2024_107537 crossref_primary_10_1007_s11625_021_01075_x crossref_primary_10_1111_cobi_70003 crossref_primary_10_3390_su12155895 crossref_primary_10_1007_s10113_024_02294_5 crossref_primary_10_1080_17477891_2021_1873098 crossref_primary_10_1080_13549839_2020_1849077 crossref_primary_10_1007_s13280_018_1129_5 crossref_primary_10_1016_j_ecolecon_2018_10_013 crossref_primary_10_1016_j_marpol_2021_104688 crossref_primary_10_1002_fee_70004 crossref_primary_10_1139_facets_2022_0048 crossref_primary_10_1007_s10661_022_10841_y crossref_primary_10_1016_j_jenvman_2022_116644 crossref_primary_10_1080_1943815X_2023_2228393 crossref_primary_10_1002_fee_1251 crossref_primary_10_1016_j_gloenvcha_2020_102115 crossref_primary_10_1016_j_worlddev_2020_105219 crossref_primary_10_1088_1755_1315_1028_1_012001
ContentType	Journal Article
Copyright	Copyright © 2015 by the author(s)
Copyright_xml	– notice: Copyright © 2015 by the author(s)
DBID	JFNAL AAYXX CITATION 7SN C1K F1W H95 L.G DOA
DOI	10.5751/ES-07759-200426
DatabaseName	JSTOR Journals Open Access CrossRef Ecology Abstracts Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management ASFA: Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) 1: Biological Sciences & Living Resources Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) Professional DOAJ Open Access Full Text
DatabaseTitle	CrossRef Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) Professional Ecology Abstracts Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) 1: Biological Sciences & Living Resources ASFA: Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management
DatabaseTitleList	Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) Professional
Database_xml	– sequence: 1 dbid: DOA name: Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) url: https://www.doaj.org/ sourceTypes: Open Website
DeliveryMethod	fulltext_linktorsrc
Discipline	Ecology
EISSN	1708-3087
ExternalDocumentID	oai_doaj_org_article_d7213e8673b6409eb849dc7b85043960 10_5751_ES_07759_200426 26270290
GeographicLocations	ISEW, Vietnam
GeographicLocations_xml	– name: ISEW, Vietnam
GroupedDBID	29G 2WC 4P2 5GY 5VS AAEFR AAFWJ ABBHK ABPVG ABXSQ ACHQT ACPRK ADBBV AEKFB AENEX AEUPB AFPKN AFRAH AIFVT ALMA_UNASSIGNED_HOLDINGS BCNDV E3Z EBD EBS EDH EJD FRP GROUPED_DOAJ GX1 IZHOT JENOY JFNAL JPL KQ8 M2O ML. M~E OVT PQQKQ QF4 QN7 RNS SA0 SWMRO XSB 7X2 8FQ 8G5 AAYXX ABUWG AEUYN AFFHD AFKRA ATCPS AZQEC BANNL BBNVY BENPR BHPHI BKSAR C1A CCPQU CITATION DWQXO GNUQQ GUQSH HCIFZ IPNFZ JST M0K M7P PADUT PATMY PCBAR PHGZM PHGZT PIMPY PQGLB PYCSY RIG 7SN C1K F1W H95 L.G
ID	FETCH-LOGICAL-c403t-63b365b62d43f36b08ac8cc7e6c0840b615ff76d5c765fac681b11326f94a92e3
IEDL.DBID	DOA
ISICitedReferencesCount	65
ISICitedReferencesURI	http://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=Summon&SrcAuth=ProQuest&DestLinkType=CitingArticles&DestApp=WOS_CPL&KeyUT=000367628900004&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcvtisr.summon.serialssolutions.com%2F%23%21%2Fsearch%3Fho%3Df%26include.ft.matches%3Dt%26l%3Dnull%26q%3D
ISSN	1708-3087
IngestDate	Fri Oct 03 12:50:44 EDT 2025 Tue Oct 07 09:21:14 EDT 2025 Sat Nov 29 05:35:20 EST 2025 Tue Nov 18 21:26:01 EST 2025 Thu Jul 03 21:52:33 EDT 2025
IsDoiOpenAccess	true
IsOpenAccess	true
IsPeerReviewed	true
IsScholarly	true
Issue	4
Language	English
LinkModel	DirectLink
MergedId	FETCHMERGED-LOGICAL-c403t-63b365b62d43f36b08ac8cc7e6c0840b615ff76d5c765fac681b11326f94a92e3
Notes	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
OpenAccessLink	https://doaj.org/article/d7213e8673b6409eb849dc7b85043960
PQID	1765942070
PQPubID	23462
ParticipantIDs	doaj_primary_oai_doaj_org_article_d7213e8673b6409eb849dc7b85043960 proquest_miscellaneous_1765942070 crossref_primary_10_5751_ES_07759_200426 crossref_citationtrail_10_5751_ES_07759_200426 jstor_primary_26270290
PublicationCentury	2000
PublicationDate	2015-01-01
PublicationDateYYYYMMDD	2015-01-01
PublicationDate_xml	– month: 01 year: 2015 text: 2015-01-01 day: 01
PublicationDecade	2010
PublicationTitle	Ecology and society
PublicationYear	2015
Publisher	Resilience Alliance
Publisher_xml	– name: Resilience Alliance
SSID	ssj0029482
Score	2.3855212
Snippet	We developed an empirical approach to consider social-ecological system change and transformation by drawing on resource users’ knowledge and perceptions. We... We developed an empirical approach to consider social-ecological system change and transformation by drawing on resource users' knowledge and perceptions. We...
SourceID	doaj proquest crossref jstor
SourceType	Open Website Aggregation Database Enrichment Source Index Database Publisher
StartPage	26
SubjectTerms	aquaculture Coastal ecology Ecological sustainability Ecology Ecosystems environmental change Fish culture Fishers governance Human ecology Lagoons local knowledge systems Marine ecology perceptions resilience small scale fisheries social-ecological transformations Socioeconomic status
Title	Understanding social-ecological change and transformation through community perceptions of system identity
URI	https://www.jstor.org/stable/26270290 https://www.proquest.com/docview/1765942070 https://doaj.org/article/d7213e8673b6409eb849dc7b85043960
Volume	20
WOSCitedRecordID	wos000367628900004&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcvtisr.summon.serialssolutions.com%2F%23%21%2Fsearch%3Fho%3Df%26include.ft.matches%3Dt%26l%3Dnull%26q%3D
hasFullText	1
inHoldings	1
isFullTextHit
isPrint
journalDatabaseRights	– providerCode: PRVAON databaseName: Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) customDbUrl: eissn: 1708-3087 dateEnd: 99991231 omitProxy: false ssIdentifier: ssj0029482 issn: 1708-3087 databaseCode: DOA dateStart: 20040101 isFulltext: true titleUrlDefault: https://www.doaj.org/ providerName: Directory of Open Access Journals – providerCode: PRVHPJ databaseName: ROAD: Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources customDbUrl: eissn: 1708-3087 dateEnd: 99991231 omitProxy: false ssIdentifier: ssj0029482 issn: 1708-3087 databaseCode: M~E dateStart: 20040101 isFulltext: true titleUrlDefault: https://road.issn.org providerName: ISSN International Centre
link	http://cvtisr.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwrV1LS8QwEA4iCl7EJ64vInjwEu02aR5HlYoHFcEH3kI7TUGRrmgV9uJvd5K064KIFy89NGkpX6aTmSTzfYTsF26YVZwLhp5OMSESzjRow3QppHMpZFWohbm_UFdX-uHBXE9JffkzYZEeOAJ3VGGKwp2WipcScxFXamEqUKX21FsYfnvvmyjTJ1NdqmVEkIkaKr_6l2gVSX38HsNRfsM87ZsJ9uE5Fabmo0Db359M_OGdw5RztkQWu1iRHsdvXCYzrlkh83ngmR6vkqe76cIUGle_mYPendFY1EuxnbZT8emooZ06D4VYHtKO6cv3ARc6qmkkeKaPsYx3vEbuzvLb03PWSScwQLhbJnnJZVbKtBK85rJMdAEaQDkJCaZ0JcYxda1klYGSWV2AxOjVa87L2ojCpI6vk9lm1LgNQsHoqhBeOiVTAjKpK3QSTmMCm6JvGsKAHPYAWuh4xb28xbPF_MIjbvMbGxC3EfEBOZg88BIpNX7veuJHZNLNc2GHG2ghtrMQ-5eFDMh6GM_JW1Lpi_AMNuz1A2zxp_I7JUXjRu9vdoioGIF2lWz-xxdskQWMs7K4crNNZtvXd7dD5uCjfXx73Q2Wi9fLz_wLOUnvBw
linkProvider	Directory of Open Access Journals
openUrl	ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Understanding+social-ecological+change+and+transformation+through+community+perceptions+of+system+identity&rft.jtitle=Ecology+and+society&rft.au=Andrachuk%2C+Mark&rft.au=Armitage%2C+Derek&rft.date=2015-01-01&rft.issn=1708-3087&rft.eissn=1708-3087&rft.volume=20&rft.issue=4&rft_id=info:doi/10.5751%2FES-07759-200426&rft.externalDBID=NO_FULL_TEXT
thumbnail_l	http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/lc.gif&issn=1708-3087&client=summon
thumbnail_m	http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/mc.gif&issn=1708-3087&client=summon
thumbnail_s	http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/sc.gif&issn=1708-3087&client=summon