Handbook on Adaptive Governance

The interconnectedness of global society is increasingly visible through crises such as the current global health pandemic, emerging climate change impacts and increasing erosion of biodiversity. This timely Handbook navigates the challenges of adaptive governance in these complex contexts, stressing the necessarily compounded nature of biophysical and social systems to ensure more desirable governance outcomes.

Highlighting the dynamics and diversity of governance systems across the globe, leading experts in the field examine the successes and failures of these systems. Synthesising theory with methodology and practical case studies, chapters explore adaptive governance in forest management, marine environments and open data ecosystems, looking closely at the role of adaptive governance in climate mitigation and disaster risk reduction. Answering the call for large-scale transformations that move societies away from unsustainable development trajectories, this prescriptive Handbook explores the existing adaptive governance measures that have driven reflexive, sustainable change. Reflecting on the past decade of research in the field, it concludes by outlining new areas of contention and inquiry for the next decade of adaptive governance research.

Interdisciplinary in scope, this comprehensive Handbook will prove an invigorating read for students and scholars of environmental law, governance and regulation, and political science and public policy. Policymakers looking to innovate their adaptive governance approaches will also find this a beneficial companion.