Open access publications in the SLU publication database

Abstract

Building the adaptive capacity of interlinked social and ecological systems is assumed to
improve implementation of sustainable forest management (SFM) policies. One mechanism is collaborative
learning by continuous evaluation, communication, and transdisciplinary knowledge production. The
Model Forest (MF) concept, developed in Canada, is intended to encourage all dimensions of sustainable
development through collaboration among stakeholders of forest resources in a geographical area. Because
the MF approach encompasses both social and ecological systems, it can be seen as a process aimed at
improving adaptive capacity to deal with uncertainty and change. We analyzed multi-stakeholder
approaches used in four MF initiatives representing social–ecological systems with different governance
legacies and economic histories in the northwest of the Russian Federation (Komi MF and Pskov MF) and
in Sweden (Vilhelmina MF and the Foundation Säfsen Forests in the Bergslagen region). To describe the
motivations behind development of the initiative and the governance systems, we used qualitative openended
interviews and analyzed reports and official documents. The initial driving forces for establishing
new local governance arrangements were different in all four cases. All MFs were characterized by multilevel
and multi-sector collaboration. However, the distribution of power among stakeholders ranged from
clearly top down in the Russian Federation to largely bottom up in Sweden. All MF initiatives shared three
main challenges: (a) to develop governance arrangements that include representative actors and
stakeholders, (b) to combine top-down and bottom-up approaches to governance, and (c) to coordinate
different sectors’ modes of landscape governance. We conclude that, in principle, the MF concept is a
promising approach to multi-stakeholder collaboration. However, to understand the local and regional
dimensions of sustainability, and the level of adaptability of such multi-stakeholder collaboration initiatives,
empirical studies of outcomes are needed. To assess the adaptive capacity, the states and trends of economic,
ecological, social, and cultural dimensions in actual landscapes need to be linked to how the multistakeholder
collaboration develops and performs over the long term.