The ResilienT landscapes appRoach: faciliTaTing social leaRning acRoss secToRs and scales To cReaTe shaRed value

August 2015

Jessica Cockburn1, Nokuthula Dubazane2, Donovan Kotze2,3 and David Lindley2 1Department of Environmental Science, Rhodes University 2WWF-Mondi Wetlands Programme, WWF-South Africa 3School of Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal

WWF is one of the world’s largest and most experienced independent conservation

organisations, with over 6 million supporters and a global network active in more than 100

countries.

WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build

a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world’s biological

diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting

the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

Published in August 2015 by WWF – World Wide Fund For Nature – South Africa (Formerly

World Wildlife Fund), Cape Town, South Africa. Any reproduction in full or in part must

mention the title and credit the above-mentioned publisher as the copyright owner.

© Text 2015 WWF-SA

All rights reserved.

1page |

highlighTs

Quick oveRview

• The responsibility of land and water stewardship lies not only with the individual land user, but is shared with the surrounding community in a particular landscape along with supply chain role players in each of the land use sectors operating within that landscape.

• The Resilient Landscapes Approach (RLA) offers a novel solution to building resilience in multifunctional landscapes in order to respond to the complex social-ecological issues involved in balancing the needs of both agricultural production and ecosystem sustainability. The RLA is currently being implemented and tested inanumberofeconomicallyandecologicallysignificantcatchmentsinSouthAfrica.

• The RLA is built on the principles of resilience thinking, creating shared value and social learning. Adaptive governance also plays an important role in implementing the RLA.

• Through the RLA, a social learning platform for collaboration among local producers, supply chain actors and the broader community is being developed. Through this platform, these diverse stakeholders can come to a mutual understanding of the shared risks and shared value of the landscapes in which they operate, and develop shared action plans for improved stewardship.

• This paper describes the concepts which underpin the RLA, and uses examples from WWF-South Africa’s work with various partners from agricultural and financialsectorstodemonstratehowresiliencethinking,creatingsharedvalueandsocial learning can be instrumental in bringing about the desired social change to build resilient, multifunctional landscapes.

The Resilient Landscapes Approach (RLA) is a novel way of working with stakeholders in multifunctional landscapes to build resilience of ecosystems through collaborative learning and localised actions, both on the ground and throughout agricultural and forestry commodity supply chains. The RLA is being piloted in South Africa by the WWF-Mondi Wetlands Programme, which has successfully used the approach to initiate collaborations with the sugar, plantation forestry, dairy, pork and potato sectors. Multifunctional landscapes underpin not only the livelihoods of local communities but also the supply chains and markets which depend on agricultural and forestry production in them. The RLA is based on three concepts rooted in the academic literature: (1) resilience thinking, (2) creating shared value and (3) social learning. Adaptive governance is considered a cornerstone of the RLA. By bringing together multiple stakeholders across sectors and scales, through facilitated social learning processes, the RLA aims to build resilience of the ecosystems which underpin human well-being in productive multifunctional landscapes.

2page |

inTRoducTion

Traditionally,field-basedconservationprojectshaveworkedatalocallevel,focussing land and water stewardship interventions at land-user scale. Knowledge of better practices is transmitted, from those that know better (conservationists) to those that need the new knowledge to improve their practice (land users)1. However, when dealing with complex issues such as land and water stewardship, the challenges are multifaceted and responsibility for stewardship is also shared with the broader surrounding community in a particular landscape or catchment.2 Furthermore, the responsibility extends throughout the supply chain in each of the land use sectors within that landscape, from land user to retailer, investor and consumer.3-5 Stakeholder cultures are diverse, and worldviews and opinions highly varied, and therefore co-constructing solutions is challenging. Thus the traditional conservation approach of ‘command and control’ is unsuitable in these contexts,6 and the simplistic notion of learning through knowledge transmission seldom contributes to meaningful social change.7

This paper presents the concept of the Resilient Landscapes Approach (RLA), as it has been developed and is currently being applied by WWF-South Africa through its WWF-Mondi Wetlands Programme (WWF-MWP) as part of the Global WWF Mondi Partnership. The RLA is a novel way of working with stakeholders towards sustainable multifunctional landscapes to build resilience of ecosystems through collaborative learning and localised actions. It is proposed as a solution to the long-standingconflictbetweenthegoalsofproductiveagriculturallanduseandecosystem sustainability.8, 9 Sustainable multifunctional landscapes are landscapes created and managed to integrate human production and landscape use, to maintain criticalecosystemfunction,serviceflowsandbiodiversity.10: pg. 59 These landscapes underpin not only the livelihoods of local communities but also the supply chains and markets which depend on production in them.2 The RLA therefore advocates working with key actors throughout agricultural and forestry commodity supply chains. The RLA brings together three concepts rooted in the academic literature: resilience thinking, creating shared value and social learning. This paper aims to demonstrate how, using these concepts to guide the work of the RLA, WWF-South Africa is facilitating action on the ground which is leading towards innovative shifts in how land and water stewardship takes place.

WWF-South Africa’s experiences of engaging corporate sector supply chain role players with local producers have revealed the importance of linking these stakeholders in the landscape.11, 12 This connectedness allows them to better understand that their environmental stewardship responsibilities go well beyond financialtransactions.Throughunderstandingtheseresponsibilities,stakeholdersfurtherupthesupplychaincanexertinfluencesalongthesupplychaintoultimatelyinfluencehowtheproducersmanagethelandscape.5 For example, WWF has demonstrated that by connecting local sugarcane farmers in the Noodsberg mill supply area of South Africa and international sugar buyers such as Coca Cola and SAB Miller through a collaborative multistakeholder platform, these otherwise disparate actors have come to better appreciate that they share both the risks and thebenefitsfromthelocallandscape.13 The buyers recognise the business risk of buying sugar that is not grown using improved environmental, social and agronomic sustainability practices. The sugar cane growers have in turn recognised the need to implement sustainability practices in order to retain the buyers.13 WWF is facilitating multi-stakeholder social learning processes between sugarcane sector supply chain

3page |

role players and local producers, in order to a) generate a shared understanding of environmental stewardship, and b) reduce shared risks and enhance shared value from these landscapes, which is achieved through collaborative governance and actions.13, 14

After24yearsoffield-basedworkinSouthAfrica,firstcatalysingwetlandconservation and then strengthening wetland management practices, the WWF-MWP has developed and is now testing the RLA, in an effort to build on its previous practice and experiences of working with landowners and agriculture supply chain role players.

Historically the WWF-MWP has worked mainly with the plantation forestry and sugar industries, strengthening agronomic and environmental practices for improved water and land stewardship.14, 15 A key asset of the programme’s staff is their transdisciplinary understanding of wetland ecology as well as environmental learning processes and social change. Taking the WWF-MWP’s work with the sugar industry as an example14 it has focused at both an industry governing body (e.g. South African Sugar Association) and local land user level. Corporate manufacturers (e.g. Illovo Sugar South Africa, SAB Miller and Coca-Cola) were engaged in an attempt to strengthen supply chain environmental sustainability.13 Consumer oriented work, which strengthens links from the producer, through the market, to the consumer, has also taken place through developing locally-suitable farm management systems and guidelines (e.g. SUSFARMS© for sugarcane growers16) in anefforttoachieveindustrycertificationstandards(e.g.Bonsucro,theglobalsugarstandard17).OtherWWFconservationprojectsinSouthAfricahaveexperienceof working with retailers (e.g. Woolworths and Pick ‘n Pay) as well as with non-traditional supply chain actors such as the insurance, banking and investment companies (e.g. Nedbank and Santam Insurance) to reduce environmental impacts and risk.11, 18, 19

However, despite the WWF-MWP’s previous successes of working with the sugar and plantation forestry sectors, a key gap remaining was that of addressing the links between the individual sectors already engaged with separately. Additionally there was a need to draw in new sectors such as the dairy, pork and potato industries, which had not been engaged with previously. The RLA was therefore developed inordertofocustheWWF-MWP’sworkinspecificeconomicallyandecologicallyimportant landscapes, and in an effort to effectively support social change for improved land and water management practices, in the uMngeni and uMvoti River systems. The RLA concept builds on the strengths of WWF-MWP’s ecological and social skills and experiences, adopting a new business orientated concept called ‘shared value’. It attempts to cross mental, cultural and physical boundaries by encouraging greater collaboration on water and land stewardship between the different agriculture sectors and supply chain actors represented within these landscapes, as well as between individual farmers.

4page |

ThRee key concepTs which undeRpin The ResilienT landscapes appRoach

The RLA draws on three theoretical concepts: resilience thinking,20 creating shared value,21 and social learning.22 Furthermore, adaptive governance is an important foundation of the RLA.

a) Resilience thinkingRecognising the linkages between social and ecological systems is one of the cornerstones of resilience thinking.23, 24 A social-ecological system (SES) is an integrated system of ecosystems and human society with reciprocal feedback and interdependence.25: pg.309 Current times, in which humans have transformed the functioning of earth systems, are characterized by uncertainty and on-going change.26 At a global level these include, for example, climate change or abrupt, unexpected changes in the world economy. At a local level in South Africa for example, dairy farmers need to increase milk production due to increased demand, despite reduced water availability in the catchment due to local industrial and urban expansion. Increasing the resilience of landscapes means they are robust to disturbances and can recover from unanticipated shocks, through multiple feedback loops.26 Such landscapes can be characterised as follows:

• They continue to function and provide multiple ecosystem services and numerous socio-economicbenefits.

• Theyareadaptiveandcanrecoverfromshockssuchasfloodsanddroughts.

Such landscapes can be termed multifunctional landscapes.27

The term resilience needs to be used circumspectly, as resilience is not always a good thing. We suggest that, in the context of the RLA: Resilience IS about building capacity and buffers in social-ecological systems. It is a way of thinking and working, and is a lens through which social-ecological systems can be understood. Resilience IS NOT always the end goal, or about not changing. Nor is it an ideology, a new ‘buzz word’, or ‘the new sustainability’.28, 29 Bringing about more resilient agricultural practices requires developing agricultural systems that are persistent, adaptive, and transformative: the challenge lies in the ability to determine when persistence, adaptation, or transformation is suitable or necessary and to what degree.30 Bringing about such change requires effective platforms for dialogue and deliberation about the trade-offs required.9

5page |

The following principles can be used to enhance and build resilience in ecosystems:26,

31-33

• Diversity: Maintain or build biodiversity, functional diversity and social diversity along with promoting response diversity.

• Connectivity: Maintain or build ecological connectivity such as corridors, and increase levels of connectedness within and between human communities.

• Reserves: Increase the ‘safe operating space’34 of systems and keep them far from thresholds or tipping points by building reserves of various forms of natural and social capital to increase adaptive capacity.

• Polycentric governance: Promote polycentric governance, i.e. governance across different scales, from local to global.

• Social cohesion and broad participation: Broaden knowledge co-construction by engaging multiple perspectives and knowledge systems and working with a broad stakeholder base.

• Shared mental models and building a common understanding: Develop a shared understanding of the SES in question, including its diverse components, linkages, dynamics, threats and risks.

Maintaining and enhancing ecosystem resilience in SESs requires carefully structured social processes to bring about shifts towards improved environmental stewardship and the creation of shared value. These shifts are explored in the followingtwosections,whichincludesomeselectedcaseswhichspecificallyrelateback to resilience.

©V

au

gh

an

Ko

op

ma

n

Cross-sector dialogues: Participants from the retail, farming, NGO and government sectors coming together to share lessons and insights on Water Stewardship in a facilitated social learning workshop.

6page |

b) creating shared value Creating Shared Value (CSV) is a business concept developed by Porter and Kramer anddefinedas“policiesandoperatingpractisesthatenhancethecompetivenessofa company while simultaneously advancing the economic and social conditions in the communities in which it operates. Shared value creation focuses on identifying and expanding the connections between societal and economic progress”. 21: pg.66 CSV is therefore at the intersection of creating business value and creating social and ecological value. Shared value is not about ‘sharing’ the value already created by corporates such as by redistribution; but rather about expanding the total pool of economic and social value.21 Shared value moves companies away from the ‘trade-offs’ paradigm to more of a ‘win-win’ paradigm in which both business and society benefit.21, 35

The implication of CSV when applied to the natural environment is that the additional cost to a company of minimising their impacts on the health of the environmentwillpayforitselfthroughlongtermprofitstothecompany.Butwhatifsharedinterestsaloneareinsufficientforbuildingthesustainabilityofthemultifunctional landscape? Beschorner36 criticises CSV, calling it a ‘one-trick-pony’, implying that there may be too much reliance on CSV to solve all the social and environmental problems relevant to the business. It is important to stay focussed on shared interests or win-wins, but it may be necessary to also retain a strong trade-off approach where required. Orr and Sarni37 also highlight the limitations of applying CSV too narrowly, and recommend that CSV theory needs to be supported withevidencefromotherscienceandpolicydomainstobetter-reflectbusinesswaterrisk.Theyfurthersuggestthatwithoutarticulatinghowsocietybenefitsfrombetterwater management and what the role of companies is within that, CSV may remain solidlyembeddedinnotionsofresourceefficiencyandsavings,oftenwithpoorwaterresource stewardship outcomes.

In times where the market and consumers want to support brands that are environmentally and socially responsible, sustainable supply chain management is crucial, and all role players along the supply chain are expected to take responsibility for environmental stewardship.5 This is considered by some as a ‘social licence to operate’.38 WWF-South Africa’s understanding of sustainable supply chains is shown in Figure 1, and demonstrates the need to take a systems approach to building sustainable, shared value.28 Through CSV, corporates can more meaningfully support the development of greater value to those role players further down the supply chain to the producers on the ground, and can thereby contribute to increasing the resilience of ecosystems, and the multifunctional landscape as a whole.

7page |

A practical demonstration of CSV in South Africa is the contribution of the internationallyusedForestryStewardshipCouncil’schainofcustodycertificationsystem to improved wetland and catchment management.39 Exotic plantation trees have ready access to water when planted in wetlands, and therefore this practice wasidentifiedashavinganespeciallyhighimpactonstreamflows.Thisisofparticularsignificance,sociallyandecologically,giventhatSouthAfricaisawater-scarce country. In response to both the requirements of national legislation and the need to maintain their ‘social licence to operate’, The WWF-MWP played a key role supporting the forestry industry in South Africa to withdraw extensive areas of tree plantations from wetlands and riparian areas and their associate buffer zones (see example below in ‘c) Social learning’).40 For example, from 2003 to 2014, Mondi Forests withdrew approximately 8,200 ha of plantations from wetland areas and their associated buffers (J. Shuttleworth, Mondi Environmental Specialist, 2014). Other large forestry companies, such as SAPPI, have done the same. While thisrepresentsaconsiderablefinanciallossforthecompaniesintermsofforgoneproduction, it represents a considerable investment in critical ecosystem services, improved resilience of catchments, especially during dry periods, and in reducing riskstocorporateperformance.Specifically,itallowsaccesstobesecuredtotheconsiderableglobalmarketwhichdemandsForestStewardshipCouncilcertification.

The RLA seeks to strengthen the resilience not only of the local landscape and the catchments, but also the entire supply chain by working with key actors in the supply chain to better understand the linkages and associated risks posed by one section of the supply chain to another. Through the concept of environmental risk,thesignificanceofcreatingsharedvalueinmultifunctionallandscapescan

Figure 1: WWF-South Africa’s view of sustainable supply chains, demonstrating

connectedness all the way from the land user to the insurer, and the

embedded nature of enterprises within the economy and ultimately

within ecosystems.

Banks and Investors

Insurers

Consumers

RetailersProcessors

Producers

Enterprise

Economy

Ecosystems

8page |

be demonstrated. For example, the risk that poor land management practices of farmersposetothebanking,insuranceandfinancingortothoseretailerswantingto improve their corporate sustainability and brand reputation. In another example, WWF-South Africa worked together with South Africa’s largest short term insurance company Santam, to identify how they could better manage increased climate changeriskstothecompany.Theydiscoveredthat“human-inducedchangestothelandscape can have an equal or greater effect on company risk exposure than climate change”.19 Santam and WWF-South Africa therefore collaborate with land users to rehabilitate degraded ecological systems and restore their buffering capacity, reducinganthropogenic-inducedfloodandfiredamagetothelandusersandthenumber of insurance claims.41

c) social learningIt is widely recognized that there is a large gap between the sustainability that many in society are calling for, and what actually happens in practice. We cannot assume that social change will automatically emerge from interventions. It is important to understand what social change is, its dynamics, and the role social learning can play in supporting the change society requires to move towards sustainability.42 Theliteratureinthefieldofsociallearningisvast.7, 43, 44 What becomes strikingly apparent in the many interpretations of social learning in natural resource management research and practice, is that due consideration and understanding is often not given to the ‘social’ or ‘learning’ aspects of social learning and how this is related to social change.43, 45 As a result, there is a danger that social learning can beobjectifiedandusedasatooltoachievecertainoutcomes,ratherthanseeingitas a learning process where the outcomes are not predetermined.45 Wals describes awayaroundtheconfusionofnumerousdescriptionsofsociallearning:“itissafeto say that social learning tends to refer to learning that takes place when divergent interests, norms, values and constructions of reality meet in an environment that is conducive to meaningful inter-action”.22 Wals focuses on how people actively and collectively learn, by bringing together people from different backgrounds in a ‘safe space’, to share knowledge and experience and develop new knowledge, ways of thinking and possibilities.22Conflictandcontradictionareseenasimportanttriggersof learning.46, 47Landscapesareinherentlycomplexsocialcontextsinwhichconflictis likely to occur and social learning thus offers a tool for working positively with suchconflictandimprovingcollectiveaction.48

Through using expansive social learning theory and processes, the WWF-MWP was able to support staff and managers of Mondi South Africa, an international packaging and paper Group, to strengthen organisational learning, development and institutional change.15 Through a two year action learning research process, staff were supported to question past and current organisational practices in an effort to more deeply understand what factors inhibited improved wetland management, and its integration into plantation forestry operations. Staff then developed and implemented solutions to overcome the deeper underlying contradictions that were inhibiting improved practice. Their efforts resulted in the personal and organisational changes required for improved wetland practice. Five types of changes emerged from the research that notably ranged on a visibility scale from being quite explicit on the one hand, to being more tacit on the other: 1. changes in organisational structure: e.g. the development of an environmental training system and a new staff induction system; 2. changes in practice: e.g. new burning,

9page |

grazing and wetland rehabilitation practices; 3. changes in approach: e.g. of how staff began to work with each other on wetland management across the different professional disciplinary boundaries; 4. changes in discourse; e.g. in conversations of what meaningful learning processes were, and which processes were important for scaffolding a change in wetland and broader environmental practices; and 5. changes in technical wetland knowledge, values, and thinking on how to deal with wetland management issues.

Social learning was also a critical component of implementing the withdrawal of timber plantations from wetlands and riparian areas and their associate buffer zones (described in the previous section). A key stumbling block to implementation wasalackofanagreed-uponandascientificallydefensiblemethodfordelineatingthe boundary of a wetland. Here WWF-MWP played a critical role, by facilitating aseriesofsociallearningworkshopsandfielddaysovera5-yearperiod,tobringtogether the various stakeholders, including forestry companies, government departments and scientists, to co-develop a method that was agreed upon and supported by everyone40.

The following is a selection of key elements of social learning that is helpful to develop a broad understanding of the type of social learning relevant to the RLA work, and highlights ‘HOW’ the WWF-MWP works with stakeholders to bring about social change:

• The importance of valuing the learning process:WalsandvanderLeij49 emphasize that the crux of social learning is not what people need to know, but rather how people learn and what they want to learn, and how they will be able to challenge and transcend societal norms for a more sustainable future.

©V

au

gh

an

Ko

op

ma

n

WWF staff and plantation foresters learning how to delineate the boundary between wetland soils (and dryland soils (yellow/light brown) in order to know where plantation trees should not be grown.

10page |

• Changing values, beliefs, ideologies and assumptions: It is only through participative learning about new information that we can test our own values and concerns, and re-orientate our values and actions.42

• Disagreements are seen as preconditions for learning and innovation: Theconflictsthatemergefromdiscussingdivergentviewsareseenasaprerequisite for learning, and if used in a positive way, can prevent complacency and encourage innovative thinking.42 However, a suitable and safe learning space which is free from ridicule and scorn is needed. Such facilitated safe spaces and dialogues can lead to emergent awareness and collaborative deconstruction of one’s understanding and that of others, and the co-construction of new knowledge, which are critical steps in transformative social learning.46

• Reflexivity:Reflexivityisimportanttohelppeoplemoveawayfromseeinglearning as being about expert-derived predetermined solutions and the right way of doing things, towards a process where learning can help develop new knowledge, values and an individual or group’s ability to participate more fully and effectively in making their own choices and taking responsibility for developing solutions to complex, changing problems.22

d) The importance of adaptive governance Governance refers to the structures (including rules and regulations) and processes (includingnegotiation,mediation,conflictresolution,elections,consultations,etc.)by which societies share power and manage their affairs.50 Adaptive governance is recognised as playing an important role in the resilience of ecosystems and the services they provide,32 and is a cornerstone of the RLA. A key aspect of the RLA is thatthebenefitsprovidedbyalandscapeorSESaresharedfairlyamongstcurrentusers and between the current generation and future generations. In addition, theRLAseeksajustdistributionofinvoluntaryriskswhicharisefromuse.Userswill often vary greatly in terms of technologies, interests, and levels of power, and inevitably there will be users who place their self-interests before the shared interests in the landscape. Thus rules are required to govern the use of resources in order to protect the rights of the different users, particularly those who are most vulnerable.

Given the key contribution of governance to a SES, an adaptive governance approach is therefore required if the SES is to be resilient, and this is increasingly beingrecognisedintheSouthAfricancontext,wheregovernancedeficienciesarerecognised as a key risk to sustainability of ecosystems and the resources they produce,50, 51 despite forward-thinking environmental legislation, for example the Water Act.52 Governance capacity and adaptive capacity are both important requirements for effective adaptive management of SESs.53, 54 For this reason the WWF-MWP is currently strengthening the capacity of both local government authorities and farmer-led irrigation boards.

11page |

‘The how?’- The ResilienT landscapes appRoach in pRacTice

The diagram presented in Figure 2 illustrates the four key processes that contribute to how the WWF-MWP is implementing the RLA (green boxes):

1. Understanding the resilience of the SES by mapping and developing contextualprofilesofthevariouscomponents.Linkagesareidentifiedbetweenthese components, developing an understanding of the drivers of unexpected change and potential leverage points.55

2. Strengthening governance institutions and processes through co-development of an appropriate collaborative governance framework and social learning processes for catchment stewardship. Furthermore, providing capacity buildingopportunitiesforofficialsworkinginlocal,districtandprovincialgovernment bodies will aid in supporting formal governance processes.

3. Engaging stakeholders within and across sectors, as well as up and down supply chains and across scales (local to global) through facilitating social learning. SES and ecosystem degradation data is mirrored back to stakeholders.56 In this way, their understanding of the SES and the drivers of risk can be deepened, potentially creating dissonance and opportunities for transformative learning. Through this process, opportunities for creating shared value can be realized.

4. Taking practical action to strengthen producers’ sustainability practices, for example by co-developing and implementing shared value creation strategies and action plans with producers, supply chain partners and relevantlocalgovernancebodies.Thisincludespilotprojectsforprovidingsupport to local land users or producers for the implementation of Better Management Practices (BMPs).

©V

au

gh

an

Ko

op

ma

n

The importance of good soil management: Learning about soil health and the link to productivity and water usage on a dairy farm on the New Generations Plantation study tour in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

12page |

These four modes of action are all linked, and are used in various ways to support cross and within sector collaboration in the landscapes (blue arrows). The various land use sectors (e.g. sugar, plantation forestry, dairy, pork and potatoes) are illustrated using blue columns. This diagram provides broad actions that are guiding implementationoftheRLA,butitmayrequireadjustmentastheworkprogressesand new ways of working emerge. In particular, as engagement with stakeholders progresses,itwilllikelyresultinadjustmentstothewayinwhichtheRLAisimplementedtoreflectthepriorities,perceptionsandvaluesofstakeholders.

As an example of how the WWF-MWP is beginning to encourage collaboration acrosssectors,ithasfacilitatedcross-sectorallearningorientatedfielddays,focusedon improving freshwater ecosystem management practices. Different production sectors are able to share with each other their improved practices and deliberate the management challenges which they continue to face, in an effort to co-construct new innovative solutions. For example, leading sugarcane farmers share examples of their bestpracticesandthedifficultiestheyfaceinimplementingsuchpractices,withplantation foresters and dairy farmers. Water security dialogue workshops have been held at industry level, between the sugar, plantation forestry, dairy, pork and potato, sectors. These workshops encourage open dialogue between the industries on what water security and freshwater ecosystems means to each of them, encouraging the development of a shared understanding of the values and risks across the landscape.

Figure 2: Conceptual framework of the Resilient Landscapes Approach in which

various agricultural production sectors, including plantation forestry,

are incorporated within a framework of various actions (diagram by

V. Koopman, WWF-MWP).

How we work with stakeholders

Local government authorities and farmer-led irrigation boards

Who we work with

2. Support governance institutions and processes Strengthening capacity engaging, co-creating solutions

4. Take practical action to strengthen producers’ sustainability practices

pilot projects, case studies

Cross-sector collaboration Between stakeholders: Land users, supply chain actors

3. E

ng

ag

e: F

ac

ilitate

form

al &

info

rma

l lea

rnin

g

Co

nn

ectin

g p

rod

uce

rs with

stake

ho

lde

rs alo

ng

the

valu

e ch

ain

an

d fa

cilitatin

g cro

ss-secto

ral d

ialo

gu

es

1. Un

de

rsta

nd

So

cia

l-ec

olo

gic

al s

ys

tem

B

iop

hysica

l, socia

l, sup

ply/va

lue

cha

in

With

in-s

ec

tor c

olla

bo

ratio

n

Be

twe

en

stake

ho

lde

rs: La

nd

use

rs, sup

ply ch

ain

acto

rs

SU

GA

R s

ec

tor e

ng

ag

em

en

t (a

pp

lying

Bm

ps, m

on

itorin

g re

po

rting)

PO

RK

se

cto

r en

ga

ge

me

nt

(ap

plyin

g B

mp

s, mo

nito

ring

rep

ortin

g)

PO

TA

TO

se

cto

r en

ga

ge

me

nt

(ap

plyin

g B

mp

s, mo

nito

ring

rep

ortin

g)

FO

RE

ST

RY

se

cto

r en

ga

ge

me

nt

(ap

plyin

g B

mp

s, mo

nito

ring

rep

ortin

g)

DA

IRY

se

cto

r en

ga

ge

me

nt

(ap

plyin

g B

mp

s, mo

nito

ring

rep

ortin

g)

Creatin

g share

d valu

e

13page |

conclusion

In this paper the concepts of resilience thinking, creating shared value and social learning have been explored with practical examples, and the complementarity between them demonstrated. The mechanism by which these concepts integrate to form the conceptual framework for the Resilient Landscapes Approach was explained. By using concepts with a sound academic, theoretical foundation, together with recognised tools from social learning, the WWF-MWP is working to bring about environmental and social change in its focus catchments with local land users and associated supply chain stakeholders, as well as local authorities, through strengthenedgovernancecapacityandunderstandingoftherisksandbenefitsofthese landscapes. This approach is also being shared and tested with other WWF officesaroundtheworld(initiallyinSouthAmericaandEasternEurope),throughthe WWF-Mondi Global Partnership and in partnership with the New Generation Plantations platform.57, 58 In this way lessons learned from practical implementation of the RLA in South Africa are being shared globally.

©Je

SS

iCa

Co

CK

Bu

rn

Valuing wetlands: Members of the WWF-Mondi Wetlands Programme team conducting a wetland delineation and assessing invasive species infestations in a small-scale sugarcane growing area near Swayimane, KwaZulu-Natal.

14page |

RefeRences

1. Shackleton, CM, Cundill, G, & Knight, AT. Beyond Just Research: Experiences from Southern Africa in Developing Social Learning Partnerships for Resource Conservation Initiatives. Biotropica 41, 563-570 (2009).

2. Everard, M. Common Ground: The Sharing of Land and Landscapes for Sustainability (Zed Books Ltd, London, 2011).

3. Pretty, J. Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, in The Sage Handbook of Environment and Society, J. Pretty, et al., eds. (Sage Publications, Inc, London, 2007).

4. Penker, M & Wytrzens, HK. Scenarios for the Austrian Food Chain in 2020 and Its Landscape Impacts. Landscape and Urban Planning 71, 175-189 (2005).

5. Hull, RB, Robertson, D, Kimmel, C, & McCutchan, B. Collaborative Leadership for Sustainable Development in Global Supply Chains: Partnering across Sectors to Reduce Amazon Deforestation. Solutions 4, 51-59 (2015).

6. Holling, CS & Meffe, GK. Command and Control and the Pathology of Natural Resource Management. Conservation Biology 10, 328-337 (1996).

7. Cundill, G & Rodela, R. A Review of Assertions About the Processes and Outcomes of Social Learning in Natural Resource Management. Journal of Environmental Management 113, 7-14 (2012).

8. Foley, JA, et al. Global Consequences of Land Use. Science 309, 570-574 (2005).

9. Bennett, EM, et al. Linking Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services, and Human Well-Being: Three Challenges for Designing Research for Sustainability. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 14, 76-85 (2015).

acknowledgemenTs

The Resilient Landscapes Approach was initially conceptualised in WWF-South Africa by Deon Nel and Brent Corcoran. Further development of the ideas for this paper has been an on-going collaborative effort, and the authors would like to acknowledge and extend a sincere thank you to all the members of WWF-South Africa and the WWF-Mondi Wetlands Programme team who contributed to the development of the concept paper for the Resilient Landscapes Approach: Deon Nel, Christine Colvin, Inge Kotze, Samantha Petersen, Onno Huyser, Vaughan Koopman andSueViljoen.ThankyoualsotoBrentCorcoranandJacquiShuttleworthfromMondi for their valuable input into the paper. Oonsie Biggs also shared insights with the team on putting Resilience Thinking into practice. Jessica Cockburn’s participationinthe“ResilienceAssessmentPractitioners’Workshop”inMontpellier,France in May 2014, organised by the Resilience Alliance (hosted by Allyson Quinlan and Paul Ryan) also provided valuable input into the development of the ideas for this paper. Funding to attend this workshop was in part provided by Mathieu Rouget through the NRF SARChI funding and the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Jessica Cockburn would also like to thank her PhD supervisors, Georgina Cundill and Mathieu Rouget for support whilst preparing this manuscript. Funding for the RLA work is provided by the Global WWF-Mondi Partnership.

15page |

10. O’Farrell, PJ & Anderson, PML. Sustainable Multifunctional Landscapes: A Review to Implementation. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2, 59-65 (2010).

11. WWF-SA. A Practitioner’s Guide to Setting up Collaborative Initiatives to Deliver Conservation Change (WWF South Africa, Cape Town, 2014).

12. Kotze, I & Rose, M, eds. Farming Facts and Futures: Reconnecting South Africa’s Food Systems to Its Ecosystems. (WWF-South Africa, Cape Town, 2015).

13. Binedell, M, Cockburn, J, & Koopman, V. Midlands Sustainable Sugar Supply Chain Collaboration. South African Sugar Journal 98, 86-87 (2014).

14. Koopman, V. Exploring Expansive Learning in Sustainable Agriculture: A Case Study of Commercial Sugarcane Farmers and Extensionists in Kwazulu-Natal Midlands and South Coast. Unpublished Masters Thesis (University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2014).

15. Lindley, DS. Can Expansive (Social) Learning Processes Strengthen Organisational Learning for Improved Wetland Management in a Plantation Forestry Company, and If So How? : A Case Study of Mondi. Unpublished Phd Thesis (Rhodes University, Grahamstown. [online]. http://contentpro.seals.ac.za/iii/cpro/DigitalItemViewPage.external?lang=eng&sp=1015661&sp=T&suite=def, 2014).

16. Maher, GW. Susfarms Environmental Management System: An Extension Tool for Implementing Better Management Practices in Sugarcane. Proceedings of the International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists 26, 498-503 (2007).

17. Bonsucro. Bonsucro ([online] http://www.bonsucro.com/, 2015).

18. WWF-SA. Better Production for a Living Planet (WWF South Africa, Cape Town, 2013).

19. Nel, DC, Shearing, C, & Reyers, B. Insurers Could Help Address Climate Risks. Nature 476, 33 (2011).

20. Walker, B & Salt, D. Resilience Thinking: Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World (Island Press, Washington, DC, 2012).

21. Porter, ME & Kramer, MR. Creating Shared Value. Harvard Business Review 89, 62-77 (2011).

22. Wals, AEJ. Learning in a Changing World and Changing in a Learning World: ReflexivelyFumblingTowardsSustainability.South African Journal of Environmental Education 24, 35–45 (2007).

23. Folke, C. Resilience: The Emergence of a Perspective for Social–Ecological Systems Analyses. Global Environmental Change 16, 253-267 (2006).

24. Walker, B, Holling, CS, Carpenter, SR, & Kinzig, AP. Resilience, Adaptability and Transformability in Social–Ecological Systems. Ecology and Society 9 (2004).

25. Carpenter, SR & Folke, C. Ecology for Transformation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 21, 309-315 (2006).

26. Chapin, FS, III, et al. Ecosystem Stewardship: Sustainability Strategies for a Rapidly Changing Planet. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 25, 241-249 (2009).

27. Cumming, G. Spatial Resilience: Integrating Landscape Ecology, Resilience, and Sustainability. Landscape Ecology 26, 899-909 (2011).

16page |

28. Fiksel, J. Sustainability and Resilience: Toward a Systems Approach. Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy 2, 14-21 (2006).

29. McPhearson, T. The Rise of Resilience: Linking Resilience and Sustainability in City Planning (The Nature of Cities, [online]. http://www.thenatureofcities.com/2014/06/08/the-rise-of-resilience-linking-resilience-and-sustainability-in-city-planning/, 2014).

30. Bennett, EM, et al. Toward a More Resilient Agriculture. Solutions 5, 65-75 (2014).

31. Walker, B, et al. General Resilience: A Discussion Paper Based on Insights from a Catchment Management Area Workshop in South Eastern Australia (Resilience Alliance, [online]. http://www.resalliance.org/bibliography/index.php/discussion-papers 2014).

32. Biggs, R, et al. Toward Principles for Enhancing the Resilience of Ecosystem Services. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 37, 421-448 (2012).

33. Fischer, J, Lindenmayer, DB, & Manning, AD. Biodiversity, Ecosystem Function, and Resilience: Ten Guiding Principles for Commodity Production Landscapes. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 4, 80-86 (2006).

34. Rockstrom, J, et al. A Safe Operating Space for Humanity. Nature 461, 472-475 (2009).

35. Bockstette, V & Stamp, M. Creating Shared Value: A How-to Guide for the New Corporate (R)Evolution (FSG, [online]. http://www.fsg.org/tabid/191/ArticleId/351/Default.aspx?srpush=true 2011).

36. Beschorner, T. Creating Shared Value: The One-Trick Pony Approach. Business Ethics Journal Review 1, 106–112 (2013).

37. Orr,S&Sarni,W.DoestheConceptof“CreatingSharedValue”HoldWater?Journal of Business Strategy 36, 18-29 (2015).

38. Martin, P & Williams, J. Defending the Social Licence of Farming: Issues, Challenges and New Directions for Agriculture (CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, 2011).

39. Forest Stewardship Council. Chain of Custody Certification ([onlin]. https://ic.fsc.org/chain-of-custody-certification.39.htm,2015).

40. Lindley, D. Mondi Wetlands Programme Progress Reports: January 1997 to November 2009 (Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa, Mondi Wetlands Programme, Pretoria, 2009).

41. Nel, JL, et al. Natural Hazards in a Changing World: A Case for Ecosystem-Based Management. PLoS ONE 9, e95942 (2014).

42. Glasser, H. Minding the Gap: The Role of Social Learning in Linking Our Stated Desire for a More Sustainable World to Our Everyday Actions and Policies, in Social Learning Towards a Sustainable World, A.E.J. Wals, eds. (Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen, 2007).

43. Reed, MS, et al. What Is Social Learning? Ecology and Society 15, 1 (2010).

44. Pahl-Wostl, C, et al. The Importance of Social Learning and Culture for Sustainable Water Management. Ecological Economics 64, 484-495 (2008).

17page |

45. Lotz-Sisitka, H, Mukute, M, & Belay, M. The ‘Social’ and ‘Learning’ in Social Learning Research: Avoiding Ontological Collapse with Antecedent Literatures as Starting Points for Research, in (Re)Views on Social Learning Literature: A Monograph for Social Learning Researchers in Natural Resources Management and Environmental Education, H. Lotz-Sisitka, eds. (Environmental Learning Research Centre, Rhodes University/EEASA/SADC REEP, Grahamstown/Howick, 2012).

46. Wals, A & Heymann, F. Learning on the Edge: Exploring the Change Potential of Conflict in Social Learning for Sustainable Living, in Educating for a Culture of Social and Ecological Peace A.E. Wenden, eds. (New York, State University of New York Press, 2004).

47. Engeström, Y. Activity Theory as a Framework for Analysing and Redesigning Work. Ergonomics 43, 960-974 (2000).

48. Leys, AJ & Vanclay, JK. Social Learning: A Knowledge and Capacity Building Approach for Adaptive Co-Management of Contested Landscapes. Land Use Policy 28, 574-584 (2011).

49. Wals,AEJ&vanderLeij,T.Introduction,inSocial Learning Towards a Sustainable World A.E.J. Wals, eds. (Wageningen Wageningen Academic Publishers, 2007).

50. Pollard, S & Cousins, T. Towards Integrating Community-Based Governance of Water Resources with the Statutory Frameworks for Integrated Water Resources Management: A Review of Community-Based Governance of Freshwater Resources in Four Southern African Countries to Inform Governance Arrangements of Communal Wetlands. Wrc Report No. K8614. (Water Research Commission, Pretoria, 2007).

51. Harrington, C. Water Security in South Africa: The Need to Build Social and Ecological Resilience (Oxford Research Group, [online]. http://sustainablesecurity.org/2014/05/02/water-security-in-south-africa/, 2014).

52. Godden, L. Water Law Reform in Australia and South Africa: Sustainability, EfficiencyandSocialJustice.Journal of Environmental Law 17, 181-205 (2005).

53. Lebel, L, et al. Governance and the Capacity to Manage Resilience in Regional Social-Ecological Systems. Ecology and Society 11, 19 (2006).

54. Fabricius, C, Folke, C, Cundill, G, & Schultz, L. Powerless Spectators, Coping Actors, and Adaptive Co-Managers: A Synthesis of the Role of Communities in Ecosystem Management. Ecology and Society 12, 29 (2007).

55. Resilience Alliance. Assessing Resilience in Social-Ecological Systems: Workbook for Practitioners. Version 2.0 ([online]. http://www.resalliance.org/3871.php 2010).

56. Engeström, Y. Learning by Expanding: An Activity Theoretical Approach to Developmental Research (Orieanta-Konsultit Oy, Helsinki, Finland, 1987).

57. Mondi Group. The Mondi-Wwf Partnership Explained: Info Sheet (Mondi Group, Austria. [online]. http://www.mondigroup.com/products/PortalData/1/Resources/products_services/packaging/containerboard_relaunch/WWF_May_2014_ENG.pdf, 2014).

58. New Generation Plantations. Study Tours: South Africa, Kwazulu-Natal ([online]. http://newgenerationplantations.org/en/studytours/2 or: http://newgenerationplantations.org/en, 2014).

©T

ho

ma

S p

. pe

SC

ha

K / W

WF

wwf’s work in the umgeni River catchment

1991

5mil

6

The year that the very successful WWF Mondi Wetlands Programme was established

Number of sub-catchments where WWF and its partners are piloting and testing the Resilient Landscape Approach and strengthening water stewardship

Number of people that reside within the Greater uMngeni River Catchment in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

20%495mmTotal estimated gross national product of the country generated within the Greater uMngeni River Catchment

South Africa’s average rainfall per annum

WWF-SA is a registered Non-Profit Organisation, number 003-226 NPO. © 1986 panda symbol and

® “WWF” registered Trademark of WWF-World Wide Fund For nature (formerly World Wildlife Fund),

1st Floor, Bridge House, Boundary Terraces, Mariendahl Lane, Newlands, Cape Town, PO Box 23273,

Claremont, 7735, t: +27 21 657 6600, e: info@wwf.org.za, www.wwf.org.za

wwf.oRg.ZaThe ResilienT landscapes appRoach