The Inner-Workings of Collaboration in Environmental Management and Governance: A Systematic Mapping Review

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Environmental Management
• Environmental Governance

Background:

• Complex environmental issues necessitate collaborative approaches.
• Existing research reveals gaps in understanding the dynamics of environmental collaboration.
• Effective collaboration is crucial for successful environmental management and governance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically map and synthesize knowledge on the qualities, outcomes, and relationships within environmental collaboration scholarship.
• To identify the most prominent collaborative qualities and outcomes in the literature.
• To explore the relationships between collaborative qualities and their impact on achieving outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A systematic mapping review of 85 scholarly works on environmental collaboration.
• Multiple rounds of coding to establish the frequency and magnitude of identified qualities, outcomes, and relationships.
• Descriptive analyses to illuminate relationships and identify prominent elements.

Main Results:

• Identified 27 collaborative qualities, 20 outcomes, and 104 relationships.
• Most prominent qualities included trust building, social learning, dialogue, and active involvement.
• Most prominent outcomes were social learning and social capital.

Conclusions:

• The study provides a comprehensive overview of the inner workings of environmental collaboration.
• Findings highlight the importance of specific qualities like trust and social learning for achieving desired outcomes.
• Emphasizes the need to explore lesser-studied collaborative qualities for enhanced environmental management and governance.