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Community resilience and land degradation:

evidence from the EU LEDDRA Project

Geoff Wilson Claire Kelly

University of Plymouth, UK

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This paper will discuss conceptual and methodological

issues linked to the EU-funded LEDDRA Project (€3.1 million; 2010-2014)

-> investigates the interlinkages between community resilience and land degradation in case study communities in Spain, Morocco, Italy, Greece and China.

1. Conceptualising resilience 2. Resilience and economic, social and

environmental capital 3. Characteristics of resilient communities 4. Methodological issues

Geography Plymouth Biophysical system

Resources (air, water, soil, ecosystems)

Relationships Environmental Sinks

………. Land cover

Human system Social organization (Actors/networks)

Economic organization Institutions (policies, etc.)

Political organization Land use & Physical system

Environmental services

Human services

‘RESPONSES’ Economic activities

Policies Positive Responses to LEDD

LEDD problems Biophysical

impacts Socio-economic

impacts

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Basilicata case study area (Italy)

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1. Conceptualising resilience The notion of ‘community resilience’ is assuming

ever greater importance at a time of accelerating climate change and globalization that is affecting even the remotest corners of the globe.

Forthcoming book: Wilson, G.A. 2011: Community

resilience and environmental transitions. London: Earthscan.

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• ‘Resilience’ as contested subjective term

• Resilience = adaptive capacity of communities in their response to endogenous or exogenous changes, and ability to re-organise into a fully functioning system (possibly through social learning processes to organise into different and new pathways of resilience)

• Cutter et al. (2008): adaptive capacity as “ability of a system to adjust to change, moderate the effects, and cope with a disturbance”

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Resilience and vulnerability as opposite ends of a spectrum

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Resilience to what?

Source: Wilson, forthcoming

Geography Plymouth 2. Resilience and economic, social and environmental capital Notion of ‘capitals’ as attempts to understand how human society organises itself Bourdieu (1983) and Coleman (1988): popularised notion of ‘social capital’ -> as ‘glue’ that holds communities together -> as networks of interaction between individuals and stakeholder groups

Geography Plymouth Notion of social capital subsequently broadened out -> to also include human, cultural and political

capital (Adger, 2000; Parnwell, 2007; Cutter et al., 2008)

Economic capital: monetary and financial basis of

a community; buildings and infrastructure; etc. Environmental capital: community-level natural

resources, soils, water, etc.

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3. Characteristics of resilient communities

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e.g. economic Capital

Question Regional Community Stakeholder Group

Is the community successful in attracting funds from external

sources (e.g. LEADER, agricultural development funds or business

support funds)?

Is the local government structure effective at dealing with abuse of

local economic resources?

Does the local infrastructure constrain income generation? ()

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Data example: Basilicata (southern Italy)

Question Examples of actual data

What are the main issues/problems at the

community level? (If there are multiple

issues, please rank the three most important

ones)

As for most of the inland areas of Basilicata, one of the main issues is linked to the sharp decline in population over the past decade, especially the younger generations (0-40 years), with a parallel increase in older age classes (> 65 years). This trend

is mainly due to migration of young people leaving the community looking for jobs and better life. Agriculture,

dominated by cereal crops, and livestock based on sheep and goats in semi-extensive farming and cattle grazing, are the

backbone of the local economy. Unfortunately, most of these farms are obsolete and lacking of modernization and

technology, and in general driven by farmers with an age over 50 years and with a low level of school education. In addition,

the abandonment of mountain lands as a consequence of migration, the negative impact of some production activities and frequent extreme weather events are accentuating the

main causes of soil degradation (soil erosion, soil compaction, landslides) and land desertification.

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Chinese case study

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Quantitative Assessment

• From data collected, each attribute is ‘scored’

• ‘Scoring schedule’ for each question • Not every question can be assigned a score • Subjective measure based on our interpretation,

and ‘grounded’ by checks with case study research team

• Contributes to a relational not an absolute measure of community resilience

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Source: Islam GMN, Yew TS, Abdullah NMR, Viswanathan KK. 2011. Social capital, community based management, and fishers' livelihood in Bangladesh. Ocean & Coastal Management. 54:173-80.

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Creating the Storyline

Methodological problems • Subjectivity • Limited number of stakeholders in each case study • Application inconsistencies

Integration of data • Quantitative data is only one element • Interviews and secondary sources crucial for cross-

checking quantitative data • Horizontal cross-checking and comparison between

case study sites key • Iterative process over next two years