Practical use of full-spectrum sustainability in the Bay of Fundy

Abstract

It is increasingly recognized that sustainability is composed of four key components: environmental, economic, social (including cultural), and institutional (or governance). Fisheries and coastal management systems, however, are heavily weighted toward biophysical and ecological aspects, thus leaving the "human dimension," i.e., social, economic, and institutional, relatively neglected. Full-spectrum sustainability (FSS) is an approach to resource management that aims to address this imbalance. Management plans are beginning to include elements of FSS, yet there are very few practical examples of successfully implemented FSS strategies. We examined and compared the potential application of two proposed FSS frameworks in the Bay of Fundy, one based on the Southwest New Brunswick Marine Advisory Committee Community Values Criteria, and the other on the Framework for Comprehensive Evaluation from the Canadian Fisheries Research Network. These were compared in structure and in their practical application to evaluation of plans for herring (Clupea harengus) management and the recovery of the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalena glacialis) in the Maritime region of Canada. Although the two frameworks differ in specific structure, both frameworks are useful in demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of current management plans. This evaluation demonstrates that the management plans are strong in attention to ecological objectives but have gaps in the spectrum of considerations in current management planning, especially in relation to social, economic, and governance considerations. We propose that FSS frameworks can provide and should be used routinely as the basis for analysis of policies and management plans, engagement and discussion among stakeholders in participatory governance, comparison of alternative management scenarios, and the generation of advice. Use of FSS frameworks will allow better decisions on coastal activities within the context of "balanced" FSS.

The Blue Economy–Cultural Livelihood–Ecosystem Conservation Triangle: The African Experience

“…Success was defined in terms of the sustainability balance among ecological, social and economic aspects. We adopted the full spectrum sustainability (FSS) approach described by Jones and Stephenson (2019) (Table 1) to express balance or imbalance. We selected various African case studies which are well documented with information from a variety of accessible sources and compared them using a desktop FSS framework.…”

“…The literature is replete with approaches for addressing challenges arising from the management of natural resources, especially in relation to coastal and fisheries governance. Much of these studies have proposed frameworks pointing to the need for an integrated approach that combines the top-down and bottom-up approaches (Christie, 2005;Curtin and Prellezo, 2010;Fulton et al, 2014;Butler et al, 2015;Jones and Stephenson, 2019;Stephenson et al, 2019b). Though more emphasis is given to the ecological objectives and less on the economic, social, cultural and institutional facets (Jones and Stephenson, 2019;Stephenson et al, 2019a), these guiding principles can be a useful tool for assessing the outcome of BE projects as either successful or unsuccessful, through the lenses of their ecological, economic and social outcomes (Curtin and Prellezo, 2010;Benson and Stephenson, 2018).…”

“…Summary of full spectrum sustainability (FSS) for assessment of BE activities in Africa, adapted fromJones and Stephenson (2019).…”

The Blue Economy–Cultural Livelihood–Ecosystem Conservation Triangle: The African Experience

“…Success was defined in terms of the sustainability balance among ecological, social and economic aspects. We adopted the full spectrum sustainability (FSS) approach described by Jones and Stephenson (2019) (Table 1) to express balance or imbalance. We selected various African case studies which are well documented with information from a variety of accessible sources and compared them using a desktop FSS framework.…”

“…The literature is replete with approaches for addressing challenges arising from the management of natural resources, especially in relation to coastal and fisheries governance. Much of these studies have proposed frameworks pointing to the need for an integrated approach that combines the top-down and bottom-up approaches (Christie, 2005;Curtin and Prellezo, 2010;Fulton et al, 2014;Butler et al, 2015;Jones and Stephenson, 2019;Stephenson et al, 2019b). Though more emphasis is given to the ecological objectives and less on the economic, social, cultural and institutional facets (Jones and Stephenson, 2019;Stephenson et al, 2019a), these guiding principles can be a useful tool for assessing the outcome of BE projects as either successful or unsuccessful, through the lenses of their ecological, economic and social outcomes (Curtin and Prellezo, 2010;Benson and Stephenson, 2018).…”

“…Summary of full spectrum sustainability (FSS) for assessment of BE activities in Africa, adapted fromJones and Stephenson (2019).…”

Collaborations in Environmental Initiatives for an Effective “Adaptive Governance” of Social–Ecological Systems: What Existing Literature Suggests

“…Therefore, moderators or facilitators have the fundamental role in assuring equity through an objective and impartial management of trade-offs on interests and needs among actors [26,99,106]. The need for equity explains why collective initiatives are often sustained by external groups of experts, mostly NGOs and universities [100,110] who involve local stakeholders through, e.g., citizen-science tools, trips, workshops, and practical exercises of participative multicriteria assessments [24,26,90,93,94,100,111,112]. In order to guarantee equity in participative decision-making processes, facilitators and moderators have to assure the respect of privacy and allocate time allowing all actors to equally express their opinions and values [42,89].…”

“…This is why the State and third sector actors are requested to comprehend real problems dealt by local stakeholders (both community and market) [92,100,110]. In addition, public interventions need to be culturally contextualized, and they have to respect traditions (e.g., everyday practices and taboos) of communities where they are placed, especially in non-Western countries, in order to build trust and legitimation [24,41,91,98,99,108,111,128,132]. To do so, the literature invites the promotion of participative evaluations processes [108,133].…”

The Blue Economy–Cultural Livelihood–Ecosystem Conservation Triangle: The African Experience

“…Success was defined in terms of the sustainability balance among ecological, social and economic aspects. We adopted the full spectrum sustainability (FSS) approach described by Jones and Stephenson (2019) (Table 1) to express balance or imbalance. We selected various African case studies which are well documented with information from a variety of accessible sources and compared them using a desktop FSS framework.…”

“…The literature is replete with approaches for addressing challenges arising from the management of natural resources, especially in relation to coastal and fisheries governance. Much of these studies have proposed frameworks pointing to the need for an integrated approach that combines the top-down and bottom-up approaches (Christie, 2005;Curtin and Prellezo, 2010;Fulton et al, 2014;Butler et al, 2015;Jones and Stephenson, 2019;Stephenson et al, 2019b). Though more emphasis is given to the ecological objectives and less on the economic, social, cultural and institutional facets (Jones and Stephenson, 2019;Stephenson et al, 2019a), these guiding principles can be a useful tool for assessing the outcome of BE projects as either successful or unsuccessful, through the lenses of their ecological, economic and social outcomes (Curtin and Prellezo, 2010;Benson and Stephenson, 2018).…”

“…Summary of full spectrum sustainability (FSS) for assessment of BE activities in Africa, adapted fromJones and Stephenson (2019).…”

Collaborations in Environmental Initiatives for an Effective “Adaptive Governance” of Social–Ecological Systems: What Existing Literature Suggests

“…Therefore, moderators or facilitators have the fundamental role in assuring equity through an objective and impartial management of trade-offs on interests and needs among actors [26,99,106]. The need for equity explains why collective initiatives are often sustained by external groups of experts, mostly NGOs and universities [100,110] who involve local stakeholders through, e.g., citizen-science tools, trips, workshops, and practical exercises of participative multicriteria assessments [24,26,90,93,94,100,111,112]. In order to guarantee equity in participative decision-making processes, facilitators and moderators have to assure the respect of privacy and allocate time allowing all actors to equally express their opinions and values [42,89].…”

“…This is why the State and third sector actors are requested to comprehend real problems dealt by local stakeholders (both community and market) [92,100,110]. In addition, public interventions need to be culturally contextualized, and they have to respect traditions (e.g., everyday practices and taboos) of communities where they are placed, especially in non-Western countries, in order to build trust and legitimation [24,41,91,98,99,108,111,128,132]. To do so, the literature invites the promotion of participative evaluations processes [108,133].…”

The Blue Economy–Cultural Livelihood–Ecosystem Conservation Triangle: The African Experience

“…Success was defined in terms of the sustainability balance among ecological, social and economic aspects. We adopted the full spectrum sustainability (FSS) approach described by Jones and Stephenson (2019) (Table 1) to express balance or imbalance. We selected various African case studies which are well documented with information from a variety of accessible sources and compared them using a desktop FSS framework.…”

“…The literature is replete with approaches for addressing challenges arising from the management of natural resources, especially in relation to coastal and fisheries governance. Much of these studies have proposed frameworks pointing to the need for an integrated approach that combines the top-down and bottom-up approaches (Christie, 2005;Curtin and Prellezo, 2010;Fulton et al, 2014;Butler et al, 2015;Jones and Stephenson, 2019;Stephenson et al, 2019b). Though more emphasis is given to the ecological objectives and less on the economic, social, cultural and institutional facets (Jones and Stephenson, 2019;Stephenson et al, 2019a), these guiding principles can be a useful tool for assessing the outcome of BE projects as either successful or unsuccessful, through the lenses of their ecological, economic and social outcomes (Curtin and Prellezo, 2010;Benson and Stephenson, 2018).…”

“…Summary of full spectrum sustainability (FSS) for assessment of BE activities in Africa, adapted fromJones and Stephenson (2019).…”

Collaborations in Environmental Initiatives for an Effective “Adaptive Governance” of Social–Ecological Systems: What Existing Literature Suggests

“…Therefore, moderators or facilitators have the fundamental role in assuring equity through an objective and impartial management of trade-offs on interests and needs among actors [26,99,106]. The need for equity explains why collective initiatives are often sustained by external groups of experts, mostly NGOs and universities [100,110] who involve local stakeholders through, e.g., citizen-science tools, trips, workshops, and practical exercises of participative multicriteria assessments [24,26,90,93,94,100,111,112]. In order to guarantee equity in participative decision-making processes, facilitators and moderators have to assure the respect of privacy and allocate time allowing all actors to equally express their opinions and values [42,89].…”

“…This is why the State and third sector actors are requested to comprehend real problems dealt by local stakeholders (both community and market) [92,100,110]. In addition, public interventions need to be culturally contextualized, and they have to respect traditions (e.g., everyday practices and taboos) of communities where they are placed, especially in non-Western countries, in order to build trust and legitimation [24,41,91,98,99,108,111,128,132]. To do so, the literature invites the promotion of participative evaluations processes [108,133].…”