Abstract

Integrated scientific approaches are needed to support decision-making when creating policies that address multilayered environmental issues. The complexities of integrated water resources management (IWRM) and environmental management are particularly fraught with difficulty as they require the application of ecological system theory to social systems in planning, management, and government. Recognizing the critiques of sustainable development, we propose a new method that joins Berke’s terminology social environmental systems (SES) to Ostrom’s sustainability principles in a semi-empirical “thrivability appraisal method,” which brings together long-enduring institutional characteristics with common test methods that point to SES capacity for thriving with equality. The method has been applied to two research areas: the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, and the Eighth Hydrographic Region of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Brazilian case addresses water supply, sanitation, and building local capacities for participation in common goods management while the Canadian case examines the commoditization of water and forest resources as the primary barriers to thriving in changing times. Transferability of this new method to similar areas is also discussed.