Bridging Ostrom's governance theory to dynamic adaptive policy pathway (DAPP) maps: theory and application example

Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathway (DAPP) maps help guide management decisions when the future of a critical asset is deeply uncertain due to environmental changes. Recent discussions have highlighted the importance of creating DAPPs that better consider social-ecological factors for managing common-pool ecosystem services adaptively. Our focus was on evaluating how DAPPs could address three key challenges identified by Ostrom in adaptive governance of social-ecological systems (SES): (i) avoiding one-size-fits-all solutions (i.e. the panacea dilemma), (ii) ensuring resilience to system-wide shocks (i.e. systemic robustness), and (iii) coordinating different levels of governance initiatives effectively (i.e. operational, collective and constitutional-choice levels).Here, we demonstrate that balancing these three goals hinges upon understanding the connection between DAPP and other key analytical frameworks: Ostrom's SES framework, the Coupled Infrastructure System (CIS) framework, the Complex Dynamical Systems theory, and the Viable Control Theory. We developed this connection and applied it to investigate potential governance transition pathways designed to manage hedgerow networks that provide a wide range of ecosystem services. Our focus was on two SES characterized by distinct community constraints and needs: a rural and a peri-urban SES located in the French Auvergne region. There, the viable delivery in hedgerows’ ecosystem services faces threats from climate change, prompting our exploration of possible viable or optimal adaptation pathways between nine alternative nested governance arrangements. We developed indicators to pinpoint the key drivers influencing DAPP map differences, in response to changes in SES context and climate stress level.Our research underscores the efficacy of this approach in addressing simultaneously the three adaptation problems. We discuss the advantages and limitations of this approach to accommodate increasingly complex SES and semi-natural infrastructures with diverse plant species, diverse stakeholders, and various ecosystem (dis)services. Additionally, we emphasize how this complexity may affect ease of use and testability in practical applications.