Browse case studies header
There follows a list of case studies in the SES Library.
Title | Type |
|---|---|
The Evolution of Social Norms in Common Property Resource Use | Case |
| The problem of extracting commonly owned renewable resources is examined within an evolutionary-game-theoretic framework. It is shown that cooperative behavior guided by norms of restraint and punishment may be stable in a well-defined sense against invasion by narrowly self-interested behavior. The resource-stock dynamics are integrated with the evolutionary-game dynamics. Effects of changes in prices, technology, and social cohesion on extraction behavior and the long-run stock are analyzed.... | 09 Aug 2016 |
The Goulburn Broken Catchment irrigation system, northern Victoria, Australia | Case |
| The GB catchment covers 2.1 million hectares in the Murray-Darling Basin in Australia. Aboriginal people lived in the catchment for millennia before colonization around 1830. The upper, mountainous area of the catchment (900 000 ha) is more than 50% forested. The mid catchment (1 million ha) of riverine plains, low slopes and foothills has less than 20% of native vegetation cover remaining, which is highly fragmented, and the rest is used for dryland cropping and grazing. The Shepparton... | 09 Aug 2016 |
The Hohokam Cultural Sequence (Irrigation and Foraging), Sonoran Desert, greater Phoenix basin, Arizona, USA | Case |
| The Hohokam is a Native American cilivilization that emerged and occupied the present day Phoenix Basin area and its outer bounds for a thousand years. The archeological records indicate that the Hohokam society evolved into a complex irrigation society and reached its peak in levels of population, social institutions, and irrigation infrastructure by the 11th century.Perplexingly though, the Hohokam society subsequently declined and collapsed by the mid 14th century. As they declined, the... | 09 Aug 2016 |
The inevitability of surprise in agroecosystems | Case |
| Many critical transformations of ecosystems contain advanced signals of their imminence, but it is also true that many critical transformations can be shown to contain no such signal, at least with the sorts of data normally available to field workers. This paper explores some generalized theoretical structures and distinguishes between those that may provide a signal that could be used to predict a critical transformation and those that, by their very nature, do not provide such a clue. I... | 09 Aug 2016 |
The Innovation Commons: The Nanotechnology Innovation Network, Phoenix, AZ | Case |
| The nanotechnology innovation network of Metropolitan Phoenix ranks among the top thirty across US cities focused on nanotechnology development. The present case examines the structure of the innovation network, consisting of approximately 400 diverse organizations, between 2011 and 2012. The commons dilemma revolves around managing future risks and benefits from nanotechnology development; the resource is a heterogenous mix of natural and human-made infrastructures. | 09 Aug 2016 |
The Irrigation System of Campo Montiel, La Mancha region, Spain | Case |
| Campo de Montiel Irrigation system is based on an aquifer of 2500 km2, but only that only 3% of it was used for agriculture. Campo de Montiel is located in La Mancha Region, in Spain. The case study involves an analysis of the evolution of the system from 1980 to 2000. The authors catalogue an action situation involving 29,000 total users that appropriate groundwater as the resource unit from the High Basin of Guadiana River, but only 101 farmers appropriate groundwater for irrigation... | 09 Aug 2016 |
The Irrigation System of La Mancha Oriental, La Mancha Region, Albacete and Cuenca provinces, Spain | Case |
| The Mancha Oriental Irrigation system is one aquifer of La Mancha Region, located in Albacete and Cuenca provinces in Spain. The case study involves an analysis of the evolution of the system from 1975 to 2000. The extension of the land is 8,500km2 but only 1,000Km2 is irrigated. The authors catalogue an action situation involving users that appropriates groundwater as resource units from the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation.The original case study authors focused on... | 09 Aug 2016 |
The Irrigation System of Sol y Arena, Campo de Dalías, Almeria, Spain | Case |
| The Sol y Arena Irrigation system is one of the six irrigation systems (the most irrigated one) of the agricultural area of Campo de Dalías, which is located in Almería, Spain. It encompasses a geographical area of 6,000 ha. The case study involves an analysis of the evolution of the system in different stages: from 1953 in which the system was created to the date of the research in 2000. The authors catalogue an action situation involving 4095 users, of which only 2,952 are from the... | 09 Aug 2016 |
The Irrigation System of Sol y Poniente, Campo de Dalías, Almeria, Spain | Case |
| The Sol y Poniente Irrigation system is one of the six irrigation systems of the agricultural area of Campo de Dalías, which is located in Almería, Spain. The case study involves an analysis of the evolution of the system in different stages: from 1988 in which the system was created to the date of the research in 2000. The authors catalogue an action situation involving users that appropriates water from the Benínar reservoir which is a public production resource, with public... | 09 Aug 2016 |
The irrigation system of the northwest Murcia Region (Spain): robustness of SES to the intrusion of new resource users | Case |
| Farmers in the northwest Murcia Region (Spain) have used for centuries the water from springs to irrigate their lands. They are organized in irrigation communities adapted to cope with rainfall variability. This system was robust in terms of its use of the water emerging from the springs to irrigate small patches of land. In recent decades, large agrarian companies have settled in this region and use groundwater to irrigate new lands. This intrusion had led the levels of this resource to drop... | 09 Aug 2016 |
The Kaset Samakee Water User Association, Isan region, northeastern Thailand | Case |
| The Kaset Samkee water user association is a part of the The Lam Pra Plerng Irrigation Project, constructed by Thailand's Royal Irrigation Department (RID). RID organized four Water User Associations (WUAs) in the project area that are then divided into "chaeks" (a chaek is an area served by a common farm-turn-out). The common irrigator is paid by the RID and is responsible for arranging water distribution and maintenance schedules in the chaek. Farmers in the area of the Kaset Samkee... | 09 Aug 2016 |
The Tsembaga Maring swidden agriculture and animal husbandry, Simbai River Valley, Papua New Guinea | Case |
| Tsembaga Maring are a group of horticulturists who live in the highlands of New Guinea. The main resource upon which they relied on is swidden agriculture. The Tsembaga also practiced animal husbandry - the main domesticated animal being pigs. The Tsembaga derived little energetic value from pigs. Pigs did, however, play an important role in Kaiko, an important cultural ritual practiced by the Tsembaga people. Kaiko is a 5-25 year long ritual cycle that is coupled with pig husbandry and... | 09 Aug 2016 |
The urban heat commons: vegetation cooling services in Metropolitan Phoenix | Case |
| The case of urban vegetation cooling service at Metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, USA is an addition to the original Common-Pool Resource (CPR) database. This case was created in 2013 by Yujia Zhang at Arizona State University. Metropolitan Phoenix is one of the fastest growing regions in the southwest U.S. In contrast to its rapid urban expansion, this area possesses inadequate natural resources and faces unique challenges of sustainable development. The commons dilemma in this case is to... | 09 Aug 2016 |
Tourism and Natural Infrastructure in Community de Agua Blanca, Puerto Lopez, Ecuador | Case |
| Agua Blanca Community is located in the province of Manabí, in the municipality of Puerto López, Machalilla parish. The community, founded in 1930, is within the Machalilla National Park, and occupies an area of 10,500 hectares. It is made up of approximately 80 families, that is, almost 300 people. It possesses one of the largest archaeological settlements on the coast related to the manteña culture (800-1532 AD). The community has historically conducted activities in agriculture and livestock... | 02 Dec 2018 |
Tourists and traditional divers in a common fishing ground | Case |
| Lee & Iwasa (2011) study socio-ecological models for a fishing ground open to tourists. On Jeju Island, Korea, women traditional divers called “Haenyeo” harvest resources in a common fishing ground. To investigate the impact of introducing tourists on the benefit to the fishing association and the resource level, we examine two models that differ in the way the number of tourists is controlled. In the first model, the fishing association charges an entrance fee to tourists and the level of... | 09 Aug 2016 |