Finding shared solutions in landscape or natural resource management through social learning: A quasi-experimental evaluation in an Alpine region

Abstract

Abstract Context The implementation of landscape-management decisions is often blocked because actors disagree in their perception of the problem at hand. These conflicts can be explained with the concept of problem framing, which argues that actors’ problem perspectives are shaped by their interests. Recent literature suggests that social learning through deliberative processes among actors enables shared solutions to complex landscape-management conflicts. Methods To examine these assumptions, a participatory process on integrated water-resource-management in a Swiss Alpine region was systematically evaluated using a quasi-experimental intervention-research design. The involved actors’ problem perspectives were elicited before and after the participatory processes using qualitative interviews and standardized questionnaires. Furthermore, a standardized survey was sent to a sample of regional residents (N = 2000) after the participatory process to measure the diffusion of actors’ social learning to the wider public. Results The data analysis provided systematic evidence that a convergence of involved actors’ problem perspectives, which were found to differ considerably before the intervention, had taken place during the participatory process. Furthermore, it determined diffusion effects of actors’ social learning to the wider public in terms of its attitude towards participatory regional planning. Conclusions The findings confirm the expected mechanism of social learning through deliberative processes and demonstrate it as a promising approach to implementing landscape-management decisions successfully. The catalyzing role of shared interests among actors suggests that landscape-management decisions should be implemented by participatory integrated planning on the regional level, which would require a new, strategic role of regional institutions.