A social network approach for assessing the sustainability of traditionally managed grasslands in a policy-driven management context- LandGov
Project number: PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0483
Contract number: 19/2017
Funding body: Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI)
Budget: 849 159 RON
Period: 2017-2019
Research team
Laurentiu Rozylowicz, principal investigator
Viorel D. Popescu, principal investigator
Hartel Tibor, principal investigator
Andreea Nita, postdoctoral researcher
Cristiana Maria Ciocanea, postdoctoral researcher
Steluta Manolache, PhD student
Iulia Miu, PhD student
Abstract
Traditionally managed grasslands are vital arenas for social-ecological sustainability because of their significant coverage and potential to integrate food production with biodiversity conservation. However, the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) simplifies the management of grasslands, change traditional connections and disrupt traditional land use, leading to the rapid degradation of these landscapes. Network governance allows the analysis of informal and formal arrangements where independent people or organization work together for a common goal, such as management of grasslands. Our project centered on social network analysis will explore novel approaches for investigating changes in landscape management by contrasting two landscapes (Iron Gates Natural Park and Dobrogea, Romania) over time (during the communist period, transition period and EU membership). The main goal is to better understand the evolution of community networks dealing with the management of grasslands in the context of changes induced by the EU CAP. Using network governance and social networks methods, we will identify actors of grasslands’ governance, actors with leadership roles, analyze the performance of landscape governance in a policy-driven management context, and evaluate the perception of CAP measures influencing traditionally managed grasslands. The results will enable us to explore barriers and opportunities for successful governance by taking into account the influences of typical practices regarding landscape governance and performance and to understand how formal policy networks influence informal social networks. We hypothesized differences between the regions, especially related to network formation, leadership structure, evolution under CAP influence and resilience to degradation. The results will allow rethinking the landscape policies leading to planning and managing by taking into account past experiences, traditions, and public attitudes.
Aim and objectives
The goal of the project is to better understand the suitability of community networks for maintaining grasslands sustainability in the context of changes induced by the EU Common Agricultural Policy for rural development, by exploring novel approaches for the investigation of network structures in traditionally managed landscapes. Using Iron Gates Natural Park and Dobrogea (Romania) as case studies, the specific project’s objectives are: (1) to identify actors of grasslands’ governance (i.e., organisations, local people) and analyse management networks using social network metrics; (2) to identify actors or groups of actors with leadership roles, mainly those promoting sustainability of traditionally managed grasslands in a EU policy-driven management context (e.g., pioneer, sponsor, networker, steward, facilitator of a network); (3) to explore barriers to, and options for successful governance in traditionally managed grasslands in the context of CAP measures-driven management; (4) to understand how formal policy networks influence informal social networks using grasslands as case studies; and (5) to promote the use of social network analysis for studying land-use management practices in Romania and worldwide.
Activities
WP1 – Data collection for analyzing management policies and grasslands governance networks
Deliverables: Network data – grasslands governance networks, actors’ covariates (3 time periods × 2 regions); Database with the perception of governance performance in studied communities; Report and database on the ecological status of analyzed grasslands.
WP2 – Grasslands landscape governance at community and landscape scale
Deliverables: Report on main actors and management structures in the 2 study areas; Report on the difference between management regimes in two areas; Report on centrality and power of actors; Report on multilevel network analysis.
WP3 – Analysing the performance of landscape governance in a policy-driven management context
Deliverables: Analysis of the performance of networks at community and landscape levels; Identification of best practice case studies from social and ecological points of view; Characterisation of best practice studies using social network theory.
WP4 – Analysing the perception of Common Agricultural Policy measures influencing traditionally managed grasslands
Deliverables: Report on the perception of CAP measures influencing traditionally managed networks; Report on the effectiveness of social network for the assessment of landscape governance (pro and cons, future research needs).
WP5 – Dissemination of results, policies guidance, and project management
Deliverables: 4 articles in international journals, 2 articles in peer-reviewed Romanian journals; 6 presentations at international conferences; 2 presentations at Romanian conferences, Workshop entitled “Social network analysis and grasslands landscape governance”.
Results:
Articles:
Hartel T., Nita A., Rozylowicz L. (2020) Understanding human-nature connections through value networks: the case of ancient wood-pastures from Central Romania, Sustainability Science
Hartel T., Scheele B.C., Rozylowicz L., Horcea-Milcu A., Cogalniceanu D. (2020) The social context for conservation: amphibians in human shaped landscapes with high nature values. Journal for Nature Conservation 53: 125762
Hartel T., Scheele B.C., Vanak A.T., Rozylowicz L., Linnell J.D.C., Ritchie E.G. (2019) Mainstreaming large carnivore-human coexistence through institutional collaboration. Conservation Biology 33(6): 1256-1265.
Nita A., Hartel T., Manolache S., Ciocanea C.M., Miu I.V., Rozylowicz L. (2019) Who is researching biodiversity hotspots in Eastern Europe? A case study on the grasslands in Romania. PLoS ONE 14(5): e0217638.
Rozylowicz L., Nita A., Manolache S., Popescu V.D., Hartel T. (2019) Navigating protected areas networks for improving diffusion of conservation practices. Journal of Environmental Management 230: 413-421.
Miu I.V., Chisamera G.B., Popescu V.D., Iosif R., Nita A., Manolache S., Gavril V.D., Cobzaru I., Rozylowicz L. (2018) Conservation priorities for terrestrial mammals in Dobrogea region, Romania. Zookeys 792: 133-158.
Manolache S., Nita A., Ciocanea C.M., Popescu V.D., Rozylowicz L. (2018) Power, influence and structure in Natura 2000 governance networks. A comparative analysis of two protected areas in Romania. Journal of Environmental Management, 212: 54–64.
Nita A., Ciocanea C.M., Manolache S., Rozylowicz L. (2018) A network approach for understanding opportunities and barriers to effective public participation in the management of protected areas. Social Network Analysis and Mining 8:31.
Manuscripts under review and in preparation
Nita A., Rozylowicz L., Manolache S., Miu I., Hartel T., Grassland governance at landscape scale in Romania. (submitted to Journal of Environmental Management)
Conferences:
29th International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB 2019), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 21-25 July 2019. Grasslands governance at community and landscape scale – a network approach. Nita A.
2019 Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Louisville, KY, SUA, August 11-16 2019. Grassland governance at a landscape scale in Romania. Rozylowicz L., Nita A., Popescu V.D., Manolache S., Miu I.V., Hartel T. F1000Research 2019, 8:1522, https://doi.org/10.7490/f1000research.1117424.1
5th European Congress of Conservation Biology ECCB 2018, Jyväskylä, Finland, June 12 – 15 2018. “Understanding how the scientific community influences grasslands’ management decisions – a social network approach”. Nita A., Hartel T., Pioarca-Ciocanea C.M., Manolache S., Miu V.I., Rozylowicz L.
5th European Congress of Conservation Biology ECCB 2018, Jyväskylä, Finland, June 12 – 15 2018. “A social network approach for assessing the sustainability of traditionally managed grasslands in a policy-driven management context”. Rozylowicz L., Nita A., Manolache S., Pioarca-Ciocanea C.M., Miu V.I., Hartel T.
Conferința Anuala a Facultății de Geografie ,,Geography in The Romanian Centenary, November 17-18 2018, Abordări ale teoriei rețelelor sociale pentru înțelegerea guvernantei ariilor protejate in Romania. Manolache S., Nita A., Rozylowicz L., Miu I.V., Ciocanea C.M., Popescu V.D.
Conferința Anuala a Facultății de Geografie ,,Geography in The Romanian Centenary”, November 17-18 2018, Prioritizarea spațială a conservării siturilor Natura 2000 la nivel național: Iulia V. Miu.
XXXVIII Sunbelt Conference, June 26 – July 1, 2018, Utrecht Olanda, Exploring the patterns of scientific cooperation on Romania’s grasslands management. Manolache S., Nita A., Ciocanea C.M., Miu I.V., Rozylowicz L., Hartel, T.
Third European Conference on Social Networks – EUSN 2017, Mainz, Germany, 26-29 September 2017. Oral presentation: “ Evaluating and predicting the structure of Natura 2000 sites management through Ego Network Analysis”. Nita A, Rozylowicz L, Manolache S, Ciocanea C.M.
Ecology Across Borders: Joint Annual Meeting 2017, Ghent ICC, Ghent, Belgium, December 11 – 14 2017. Poster presentation: “ Achieving sustainability of traditionally managed grasslands in a policy-driven management context through a social network approach”. Nita A, Rozylowicz L, Manolache S, Miu I, Hartel, T.
Book Chapters
Nita A., Manolache S., Ciocanea C.M., Rozylowicz L. (2019) Real-World Application of Ego-Network Analysis to Evaluate Environmental Management Structures. In: Karampelas P., Kawash J., Özyer T. (eds) From Security to Community Detection in Social Networking Platforms. ASONAM 2017. Lecture Notes in Social Networks. Springer, Cham, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11286-8_1
Other results
Mammals of Dobrogea – database (Miu et al. 2018) GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, http://ipt.pensoft.net/resource?r=mammalsdobrogea
Reports:
Interim report 2017 (pdf file in Romanian)
Interim report 2018 (pdf file in Romanian)
Interim synthetic report 2017-2019 (Interim synthetic report 2017-2019)
Final report 2017-2019 (pdf in Romanian)