Abstract:
It is clear that the environmental issues facing us today are prime manifestations of
complex or “wicked” public problems and, as such, natural resource governance
has to be approached from a complexity science perspective. The rise of adaptive
co-management as an approach to ecosystem management and the emergence
of innovative and novel collaborative governance models are manifestations of
this trend. What is not so clear, however, is how our understanding of complex
adaptive systems, resilience thinking, adaptive management and governance should
be translated in terms of the role institutions of higher learning must play in their
teaching, research and community interaction endeavours. The questions this article
wants to explore are: How can the adaptive capacity of socio-ecological systems
be enhanced through education and learning, and what is (or should be) the role
of institutions of higher learning in this regard? The opportunities and challenges
for universities are reflected upon against the background of the emergence of
collaborative environmental governance models in the Western Cape Province.
