Topic 1: Institutional directives and knowledge action links

The Everglades is a complex socio-ecological system with influences from groups with very different and sometimes seemingly incompatible goals. Through the years there have been many attempts to translate and bridge gaps between these groups, such as the Key Largo conference in 1989 and the U.S. Man and Biosphere workshop in 1994. However, despite these efforts, the socio-ecological framework has been stifled by the domination of government and quasi-government groups in the decision making process. The social component to everglades restoration has been diminished and ideas of nature have been “bureaucratized” (Ogden 2008: 23). We believe that this negatively impacts the credibility, saliency, and legitimacy of new knowledge and policies, which are vital to the foundation of trust as explained by Bill Clark. Question: What happens in terms of credibility, saliency, and legitimacy when ideas of nature become bureaucratized and dominated by institutional directives?