152 Agroecology and Sustainability
have looked at the role of social networks in inter-organizational collaboration and
collective action in relation to natural resource management (e.g. Agranoff and
McGuire, 1999, 2001; Mandell, 1999; Carlsson, 2000; Mandell and Steelman,
2003; Imperial, 2005). A challenge is to identify social mechanisms and enabling
institutional arrangements that can mobilize knowledge at critical times.
There is a need to increase the understanding of the role of networks in adap-
tive governance of social-ecological systems and mechanisms for facilitating cross-
scale interactions, dealing with uncertainty and change, and enhancing ecosystem
management (Bodin and Norberg, 2005; Janssen et al, 2006). Westley (2002)
argues that the capacity to deal with the interactive dynamics of social and
ecological systems requires networks of interacting individuals and organizations
at different levels to create the right links, at the right time, around the right
issues.
The Ecomuseum of the Kristianstads Vattenrike is an example of an organiza-
tion that creates a bridge between local actors and communities with other organ-
izational levels (Olsson et al, 2004b). Bridging organizations increase the potential
to redirect external forces into opportunities, serve as catalysts and facilitators
between different levels of governance and bring in resources, knowledge and other
incentives for ecosystem management (Folke et al, 2005). A bridging organization
like the Ecomuseum Kristianstads Vattenrike provides an arena for trust-building,
sense-making, learning, vertical and horizontal collaboration and conflict resolu-
tion (Hahn et al, 2006). It uses networks of local steward groups to mobilize
knowledge and social memory, which in turn help deal with uncertainty and shape
change (Folke et al, 2003, 2005). The different networks and the numerous link-
ages that can be activated when needed contribute to the robustness of the social-
ecological system and therefore are sources of social-ecological resilience. They
constitute the social memory (in the sense of Macintosh, 2000) that can be mobi-
lized at critical times and increase response options to deal with uncertainty and
change.
The adaptive co-management and the adhocracy in Kristianstads Vattenrike
rely on sleeping links that can be activated when there is a conflict or crisis and the
Ecomuseum helps to mobilize experience and social memory for dealing with
change (Hahn et al, 2006). Thus, bridging organizations can play a crucial role in
the dynamic relationship between key individuals, social memory and resilience.
Such structures of social capital need to be recognized and nurtured in conserva-
tion and ecosystem management efforts.
Leadership and actor groups
A key mechanism behind adaptive co-management is leadership which can come
in different forms. For example, key individuals can provide visions of ecosystem
management and sustainable development that frame self-organizing processes
(Agranoff and McGuire, 2001; Westley, 2002). Key stewards are important in estab-
lishing functional links within and between organizational levels and therefore