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Designing Law To Enable Adaptive Governance Of Modern Wicked Problems, Barbara A. Cosens, J.B. Ruhl, Niko Soininen, Lance Gunderson

Vanderbilt Law Review

In the twenty-first century, our planet is facing a period of rapid and fundamental change resulting from human domination so extensive it is expected to be visible in the geologic record. The accelerating rate of change compounds the global social-ecological challenges already deemed “wicked” due to conflicting goals and scientific uncertainty. Understanding how connected natural and human systems respond to change is essential to understanding the governance required to navigate these modern wicked problems. This Article views change through the lens of complexity and resilience theories to inform the challenges of governance in a world dominated by such massive and …