Date: Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Language:  English

Moderator:
Matteo Roggero, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin – Germany

Panelists:
Klaus Eisenack, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin – Germany
Marty Anderies, Arizona State University – USA
Sergio Villamayor Tomas, Autonomous University of Barcelona – Spain

Abstract:
Decades of research on collective action and common pool resources (CPRs) have underscored the contextual nature of those arrangements most capable of ensuring cooperative outcomes. Because of that, researchers and practitioners interested in CPRs are caught in a tension between the need for situated knowledge that fits a given context, and the need for generally applicable lessons that can be transferred from a context to another, despite their unavoidable differences.

Against this background, the last few years have witnessed a growing interest in Archetype Analysis, a novel approach to the study of sustainability problems geared towards middle-range theories and aimed at finding a balance between generalizable and situated knowledge. After several international workshops and a Special Feature on Ecology & Society, the Archetype community joins the IASC General Conference with a twofold contribution: this Panel Webinar and a Training Workshop.

The Panel Webinar will introduce Archetype Analysis and explore its implications in relation to two important aspects of studying the commons: frameworks and case-study databases. Frameworks (e.g., the SES Framework) have represented a central tool for organizing complexity and exploring similarities and differences across heterogeneous cases. Consolidating the knowledge thus obtained has proven challenging, though. A substantial amount of such knowledge is embodied in case-study databases such as the Socio Ecological Systems Library. Questions emerge on how to best explore such databases and build upon them for further research.

During this Webinar Panel, the Panelists Klaus Eisenack (archetypes), Marty Anderies (databases), and Sergio Villamayor-Tomas (frameworks) will discuss challenges and opportunities for Archetype Analysis in the study of the commons. A separate Training Session will complement the conceptual insights gained herewith with more practical, “hands-on” considerations.