Abstract
Nature resource management is often characterised with high level of conflicts.There are strong tensions between the local and (inter)national level in management and between interest groups in interpreation of sustainable developent and was does local particiaption means. However, neither local participation nor sustainable development are clearly and well defined terms. This project aims to develop new knowledge on local managament, compare local management models and develop models for adaptiv management. We ask: What forms of local management approach is to be found in international literature? What are the advantages and drawbacks of different models? To what extent does local management manage to solve conflicts and find a sustainable balance between protection and development? How can new and dynamic models based on adaptive management improve local management, sustainable development and participation? The research is interdisiplinary and includes a post doctor fellowship. The research group is mulit-disiplinary. In the empirical research we will compare different management models such as local regional parks and local management of protected areas in mountain regions in Norway. The cases will be compared with co-management models as in Alaksa and local participation in state management as in Sweden and regional parks/adaptiv management in Switzerland. The research is organized in three modules: A critical approach to different management models; A comparison of management models and its practice in Norway and Sweden; where we also learn from adaptive models in Switzerland; Development of adaptive management models. The project gives high attention to dissemination. The dissemation of the researh will cover scientific articles, popular articles, training of all user groups and students as well as arrangement of/particiaption in conferences and seminars.
Norway