Caribou co-management: Realizing conceptual differences

Abstract

The conditions allowing innovative collective learning of the unpredictable dynamics of caribou populations may be particularly apparent in co-management settings, especially those settings that foster diverse understandings of caribou ecology. This paper examines co-management, specifically caribou co-management in arctic and subarctic North America, for evidence of diverse conceptual constructs among co-management participants. It is suggested that the learning occurring in cross-cultural co-management settings may lead to the development of the humility necessary for the expression and adaptation of diverse understandings of caribou ecology.

Keywords

• reindeer
• caribou
• epistemology
• knowledge system
• management