Environmental Governance that Emerges from Action: Pragmatist Studies in Protected Areas

Abstract

Objective: the main objectives of this work are to contribute to reducing the gap in studies on the management of protected areas in the field of administration, and to understand how environmental governance is performed in action. Theoretical approach: the theoretical basis was composed of approaches to environmental governance, pragmatistinspired sociologies, and pragmatist analysis of organizations. Methods: the research strategy adopted the general premises of ethnography in organizational studies, with daily in situ monitoring of the situations experienced by the actors in the organizations and their interactions with the other actors in their environment. In-depth interviews, bibliographical research, and document analysis were also carried out. Results: the results of the research primarily indicate that the environmental governance that emerged from the action in the two protected areas is a process characterized by conflicts, controversies, and contradictions. Conclusion: environmental governance can be characterized as processes of creating shared governance and management mechanisms, establishing institutional arrangements and partnerships, building territorial assets, and monitoring actions. What stands out in all these processes is the cross-cutting nature of managing conflicts, controversies, and confronting contradictions.

Keywords

• environmental governance
• protected areas
• organization studies
• pragmatism