Place-based local governance and sustainable communities: lessons from Canadian biosphere reserves

Abstract

The quest for sustainable communities might be fostered by a new ‘place-based’ governing approach that engages civil society and other actors in local decision-making processes. In Canada, lessons can be learned from the establishment and maintenance of biosphere reserves by networks of local communities of interests and other organisations. Biosphere reserves are created to promote conservation, biodiversity and sustainable livelihoods. Municipal and public participation in these reserves can be encouraged, promoting a local sense of place as well as sustainable community and regional development. An examination of two Canadian biosphere reserves, Riding Mountain and Long Point, illustrates how local governments and these reserves might assist each other in their mutual goals of long-term sustainability while offering a worthwhile model of local collaborative, place-based governance.

Keywords:

• biosphere reserves
• local government
• place-based governance
• sustainability
• civil society

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to their friends and colleagues in the Biosphere Reserve Sustainability Project for their support, encouragement and suggestions. They also very much appreciate the helpful suggestions of the peer reviewers and the journal's editor.