Date: Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Language:  English

Moderator:
Graham Epstein, University of Central Florida – USA

Panelists:
Graeme Cumming, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef – Australia
Emily Darling, Wildlife Conservation Society – USA
Leslie Acton, University of Southern Mississippi – USA
Hita Unnikrishnan, University of Sheffield – UK
Dane Whittaker, Arizona State University – USA
Sergio Villamayor Tomas, Autonomous University of Barcelona – Spain
Tiffany Morrison, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies – Australia

Abstract:
The pursuit of environmental sustainability depends upon our ability to match institutions to the defining features of the problems they are meant to address and the contexts in which they are used.  The fit hypothesis has been and continues to be one of the defining features of common property scholarship that clearly rejects the notion of panaceas and highlights the importance of institutional flexibility to adjust rules to diverse and dynamic social and ecological contexts.  However, despite many years of research progress in understanding the contexts in which different institutions are more (or less) likely to contribute to successful outcomes.  This panel seeks to advance scholarship on the problem of fit by discussing varied perspectives on how we define and study the relationship between institutions and complex social-ecological landscapes.