Governance of Sustainable System Transformation. Pathways for Climate Adaptation in Intertidal Lagoons. Case study Venice and Its Lagoon
Anthropogenic climate change in European aquatic-terrestrial ecosystems affects ecosystem services and livability in coastal cities (IPCC, 2022). The study examines the vulnerability of the UNESCO heritage site Venice and its Lagoon in the Northern Adriatic Sea.
The critical literature review provides a framework for understanding the nature of the wicked problem of the threat of Sea Level Rise arising at the nexus of society and nature. It shows the scope of action for climate change adaptation employing a tentative governance model derived from synthesising literature.
Essential governance principles of participation, adaptation, and anticipation deriving from Organisational Cybernetics are tested in this complex and highly dynamic setting of a managed intertidal wetland. The analysis of the research unit Venice and its Lagoon shows how adopting governance principles determines the definition of the problem and the target image, resulting in a specific operationalisation of environmental governance.
The study shows the evolving pathway and path dependencies in a site-specific context and provides a research design for implementing high-level concepts. It adds to research on analysing and designing transformational governance programs and integrative environmental strategies. The generic model of pathway analysis is an ideal case in the Weberian tradition that can be further tested in comparative and empirical studies.
Management Questions:
- How can we implement high policy concepts like the Nature Restoration Law and the Paris Climate Targets?
- How can we understand and mitigate conflicts of ecosystem ecology and socioeconomic development?
- What are relevant tipping points in transformational pathways? How good are we at modelling and predicting system behaviour?
- How can we employ system tools like the Viable System Model, Syntegration and Sensitivity Analysis for pathway design?
Registration link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYrc-6orTIpE93LPq621YbrVdLr1sIF4afh
