2. Interactive governance and the resilience of aquatic resource exploitation systems Chair: Svein Jentoft, Centre for Marine Resource Management, University of Tromso, Norway Maarten Bavinck, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands Panel members: Jan Kooiman, University of Amsterdam, the Netherland Ratana Chuenpagdee, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada Description: Interactive Governance is a promising new approach to natural resource management and has been up till now systematically applied to capture fisheries and aquaculture. The panel is particularly interested in investigating the interface with resilience thinking in the context of adaptive management as well as in the context of Interactive Governance. Both of these approaches are comprehensive and interdisciplinary in nature - 'resilience' would seem, on first sight, to fit with the principles espoused by adaptive management as well as the interactive governance approach. But to what extent are the approaches truly compatible, and what conceptual benefits could be derived from cross-fertilization with resilience as a conceptual bridge? The panel members belong to the Fisheries Governance Network, which is also exploring the possibilities of ‘governability’ as a key concept for assessing the quality of natural resource management practices. The panel will reflect on the above issues. It will also discuss the potential application of Interactive Governance theory and the governability concept to other areas of natural resource management than capture fisheries and aquaculture. Abstracts: Governability Assessment for Fisheries and Coastal Systems: A Reality Check Ratana Chuenpagdee Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada and Svein Jentoft Centre for Marine Resource Management, Norwegian College of Fisheries Science, University of Tromsø, Norway Abstract In this paper we argue that good governance as a measure of the performance of a governing system, as suggested by standard indicator measurement theory, is only a measure of symptom, not a cause. In order to understand why some governance systems deliver what they are expected of (in other words, good governance performance) while others do not, we need to assess contributions and limitations of governability. Here, governability refers to a measure of how governable a particular fisheries and coastal system is. Such system comprises always of two parts: a system-to-be-governed and a governing system. Moreover, measure of governability applies to interactions between these two systems. We provide key variables that must be assessed in order to measure governability related to these systems and their interactions. A governability assessment framework is proposed here to suggest that governance performance can only be judged from what is in the potential of the governing system, given the limitations of the governabiltiy of the systems to be governed, the governing system itself, and their interactions. Such assessment helps identify what exactly governing systems can and should do in order to enhance their performance. The governability of governing systems: institutional adaptation as seen from interactive governance and complex adaptive systems perspectives Derek Johnson and Jan Kooiman This paper compares adaptation in three frameworks for assessing the governability of social-ecological systems: interactive governance, resilience, and adaptive co-management. We adhere to the interactive governance definition of governability, where governability is the overall capacity for governance of any societal entity or system. The system in this definition is held to consist of a system to be governed, a governing system, and interactions between the two. Our attention is focused on the governing system, composed of state, market, and civil society institutions and their interactions. The governing system is concerned with problem solving and opportunity creation, care for the institutions enabling and controlling governance activities and what we call meta-governance: the phrasing and implementing normative principles guiding governance and its constituent parts. Adaptation is perceived as a desirable system property in the three perspectives we compare. In interactive governance theory, a governing system is adaptive if it is successful in engaging in and integrating its full range of responsibilities. In the other two perspectives, adaptation is more explicitly linked to its conceptual origins in ecology. In reflecting on these different understandings of adaptation, the paper notes that the human element in human-ecological systems brings two complications that deserve additional attention. First, the sophistication and importance of the symbolic aspect of human systems acts are central to its importance as a filter for adaptive action. Second, relations of power among human groups profoundly shape capacity for adaptive response. Title: Introductory notes on interactive governance theory Authors: S. Jentoft (University of Tromso), M. Bavinck (University of Amsterdam), and J. Kooiman (University of Amsterdam) Abstract Governance became a fashionable concept in the 1990s and has continued as such until today. In many cases, the term left relatively undefined and used more or less as a synonym for management. Jan Kooiman, emeritus professor of public administration at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, is one of the few academics who has developed a stringent theory of governance. His perspective emphasizes the existence of, and real need for, interaction between societal actors in the context of governance. This paper presents an overview of interactive governance theory and its relevance to environmental issues such as in capture fisheries and aquaculture. After a run-through of the model and its dynamics, attention shifts to the principles that underlie, and should underlie, its performance. The final section discusses opportunities available for an improvement of governance, such as the development of partnership and learning. Title: Systems as slippery as fish: perspectives from interactive governance, resilience, and social functionalist theory Authors: M. Bavinck (University of Amsterdam), J. Kooiman (University of Amsterdam), and D. Johnson (University of Manitoba) Abstract: Interactive governance theory, which has emerged from the domains of public administration and sociology, distinguishes systems-to-be-governed from governing systems and argues that the former join together a natural and a social realm. In the areas of capture fisheries and aquaculture, the system-to-be-governed can be studied as a ‘fish chain’ running from ecosystem to the consumer’s plate. All fish chains are characterized by diversity, complexity and dynamics, and bridge different scale levels. This paper compares recent perspectives on systems-to-be-governed, paying special attention to issues of identity and boundaries. Turning to the social dimension, it explores the theoretical legacy of functionalism and its relevance to present-day debates on resilience and interactive governance. The paper argues that although social scientists largely – and for good reasons too - abandoned functionalist theory in the late 1960s, it has a renewed contribution to make. The functionalist interpretation of the nature of social systems adds depth to and raises challenging questions for resilience and interactive governance theory alike.