#Ostrom has presented us, based on much observation and research, with eight design principles of stable local common pool resource management that are also relevant to communities: Clearly defined boundaries (effective exclusion of external un-entitled parties); Rules regarding the appropriation and provision of common resources that are adapted to local conditions; Collective-choice arrangements that allow most resource appropriators to participate in the decision-making process; Effective monitoring by monitors who are part of or accountable to the appropriators; A scale of graduated sanctions for resource appropriators who violate community rules; Mechanisms of conflict resolution that are cheap and of easy access; Self-determination of the community recognized by higher-level authorities; and In the case of larger common-pool resources, organization in the form of multiple layers of nested enterprises, with small local CPRs at the base level. These principles have since been slightly modified and expanded to include a number of additional variables believed to affect the success of self-organized governance systems, including effective communication, internal trust and reciprocity, and the nature of the resource system as a whole. Ostrom and her many co-researchers have developed a comprehensive Social-Ecological Systems (SES) framework, within which much of the still-evolving theory of common-pool resources and collective self-governance is now located.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 07:43:49 +0000