IP5 – JACS ACC Urban/Peri-Urban and Highland/Lowland Syndrome Context

1. IP5 – JACS ACC Urban/Peri-Urban and Highland/Lowland Syndrome Context Key Issue 4: Environmental Risk, Development and Urbanisation Results until May, 2005

2. Key Issue AdressedThe interaction between urbanisation and natural resource management. Research examines how actors in rural and urban areas use and/or manage natural resources, and how this results in transformation of space and influences sustainable regional development Main Research Questions (for Phase I: 2001-2005) • What are the social practices that (rural and urban) actors implement with regard to natural resource management? • How do these social practices relate to public policies and sustainable regional development initiatives? • What are the effects of urban-rural interactions on natural resource management? • What is the potential of discussion platforms for reaching consensus among the stakeholders concerning sustainable regional development priorities?

3. Research Project Integrated analysis of the impact of urbanisation on natural resource management in the lower Ayuquila Watershed, Western Mexico • Senior Researchers/Coordinators: Peter Gerritsen and Claudia Ortiz/Research assistant: Alma Lomelí, DERN-IMECBIO, University of Guadalajara • 13 students participating: 2 Ph.D.-, 6 M.Sc.- and 5 B.Sc.-students • Main Scientific interlocutor: Working Group Río Ayuquila (DERN-DRBSM) • Main Non Scientific Interlocutor: Intermunicipal Initiative for Environmental Governance Objectives • Analyse natural resource perceptions and strategies of different actors in the watershed • Analyse core problems related to urbanisation and natural resource management in watershed • Analyse the institutional context for mitigating localised effects of global change • Develop mitigation strategies and concrete recommendations to strengthen existing negotiation platforms for sustainable regional development • Develop theoretical framework applicable to watersheds with similar problematic in JACS-ACC

4. Study Area: Ayuquila River Watershed

6. Research aims at generating socioeconomic and applied ecological information for sustainable development actions through the intermunicipal initiative • It is part of a strategic alliance between eight Municipalities, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and DERN-IMECBIO as an academic institution Ph.D. Thesis In progress: • Integrated water resources management in the Ayuquila watershed of western Mexico: limits and potential in the municipality of El Grullo. Cherryl André de la Porte/ LaSUR-INTER-ENAC-EPFL • Land use changes and transnational migration in Western Mexico. Silvia Hostettler / LaSUR-INTER-ENAC-EPFL

7. Master‘s Thesis: Completed: Riverbank vegetation in the farm landscape. Martijn Snoep / University of Wageningen, The Netherlands The road to Margaritaville: expansion of agave cultivation and power dynamics in Southern Jalisco, Mexico. Sara Bowen/University of Wisconsin, USA In progress: Urban and rural actors´ perceptions of environmental degradation in the Ayuquila watershed. Astrid Fritschi/University of Zürich, Switzerland/IP6 Land-use and transnational migration in western Mexico. Brigitte Portner, University of Bern, Switserland/IP1 Urban growth in the municipality of Autlán: environmental risk and potential risks and potentials. Claudia Patricia Rámirez Jiménez/University of Guadalajara Urbanisation and economic dynamics in the municipality of El Grullo. Martín Campos/University of Guadalajara

8. Bachelor‘s thesis: Completed: Institutions, inter-institutional coordination and sustainability. Liliana Castañeda/University of Guadalajara The role of negotiation platforms in sustainable regional development. Daniela Thueler/University of Bern, Switzerland/IP1 In progress: Impact of urbanisation on the natural resource management strategies of farmers. Humberto Bustos/University of Guadalajara Urbanisation and river vegetation. Tomas Rodríguez/University of Guadalajara Globalisation, urbanisation and agave farmer strategies. Ana Livier Duran/University of Guadalajara

9. Other research activities: Completed: • General characterization of the Ayuquila watershed. Peter Gerritsen et al./University of Guadalajara • Integrative framework of Key Issue 4. Peter Gerritsen et al. /University of Guadalajara • Analysis of actors in the Ayuquila watershed. Peter Gerritsen et al./University of Guadalajara • Quantitative assesment of agave expansion in the Ayuquila watershed. Peter Gerritsen et al./University of Guadalajara • Regional products: local answers to economic globalization?Peter Gerritsen et al. /University of Guadalajara In progress: • Ecology and management of Ayuquila riverbank vegetation. Claudia Ortiz et al./University of Guadalajara

10. PAMS Completed: Strengthening local capacity in the management of the Ayuquila watershed in western Mexico (DERN-IMECBIO, University of Guadalajara) Strengthening local agriculture for regional sustainability in the state of Jalisco, Mexico (RASA)

11. Transformation of social practices in the rural context Prevailing social scientific approach Urbanisation & Globalisation Actors, resource management, local responses Institutions, policies andplatforms Transfor- mation of social practices in the urban context Transfor- mation of space in the rural context Ecology, management & river vegetation Land use change anddriving forces Globalisation & Urbanisation Transformation of space in the urban context Prevailing natural scientific approach Integration of Different Studies

12. Outputs by May, 1, 2005 (Phase I: 2001-2005) Publications: • 5 Technical reports completed: 4 completed and 1 at 90% • Draft of book on local responses to economic globalisation: completed • 2 Scientific articles submitted: 3 in press, 1 submitted Congresses and workshops: • 3 National congresses attended: 7 congresses attended • 3 International congresses attended: 10 congresses attended Postgraduate studies: • 2 Ph.D. completed: 2 in progress • 4 M.Sc. Completed: 2 completed, 4 in progress • 4 M.Sc. Completed: 2 completed, 1 at 90% and 2 in progress

13. K.I.4 Results at IP5, Key Issue and Project Level 1) Interrelations between globalization, urbanization and transformation of space (IP5 level) 2) Core problems related to urbanization and natural resource management (Project level) 3) Social practices of actors with regard to natural resource management (IP5, Key Issue and project level question) 4) Effects of urban-rural relations on natural resource management (Key Issue level, project level) 5) Public policies and regional sustainable development initiatives (IP5, Key Issue and project level question) 6) Relations between bottom-up and top-down dynamics (IP5 level)

14. 1) Interrelations between globalization, urbanization and transformation of space (IP5 level) • Generally speaking, globalisation is a far-advanced process in the study area; many local effects can be identified • Globalisation and urbanisation: influence on social practices of rural actors (use/management of natural resources) and contribute to the transformation of space • The relation between globalisation, urbanisation and the transformation of space is incomplete and a highly differentiated process But: • A “re-ruralisation” (or rurbanisation) process, even though still weak can also be observed amongst several actors in the region • Endogenous (historically embedded) processes also have influenced the social practices of actors and the transformations of space that have taken place in the region

15. 2) Core problems related to urbanization and natural resource management (Project level) • Contradictory policies and weak formal institutions at different levels, due to the extreme complex nature of the Mexican institutional context • Governance failures, insufficient empowerment and decentralisation, due to lacking policies “that work“ and deficient capabilities of human resources • Poverty and livelihood insecurity, in the mountaineous municipalities of the watershed • Poor water supply and environmental sanitation, in the predominant urban municipalities • Degradation of land, soil and vegetation cover, which can be observed in all municipalities • Degradation of forests and other natural habitats, which can be observed in all municipalities

16. 3) Social practices of actors with regard to natural resource management (IP5, Key Issue and project level question) • Social practices are highly differentiated, vary according to actors and their specific socio-material characteristics • Both endogenous and exogenous factors determine social practices of actors • Different degrees of sustainability can be distinguished • Number of new strategies (of urban and rural actors) for countervailing negative effects of globalisation and urbanisation • Strategies based on logic of “maintenance”, “transformation and adaptation”, “resistance and opposition”, depending of degree of urbanization in the watershed • “Transformation and Adaptation”: adoption of agroindustrial land-use practices/transnational migration • “Maintenance”, “Resistance and Opposition”: elaboration of “regional products”/organic farming practices • Actors often combine different logics underlying their strategies, except for organic farmers

17. 4) Effects of urban-rural relations on natural resource management (Key Issue level, project level) • Urban-rural relations offer both possibilities and limitations for natural resource management, depending on the degree of urbanization in the Ayuquila watershed • Relative distance of rural actors to urban centers influences impact of globalisation and urbanisation • Urban-rural interactions are not to be understood as lineal, or concentric, but as highly differentiated and complex • Urban growth affects rural areas through production of waste and pollution of water • Unplanned urban growth shows tendencies towards urban sprawl syndrome, with negative effects on surrounding rural areas • Biological and agro-biological diversity is negatively influenced by transformation processes of urban and rural space, especially near the Ayuquila river

18. 5) Public policies and regional sustainable development initiatives (IP5, Key Issue and project level question) • Many different federal and state policies coincide in the Ayuquila watershed • Contradictions exists between institutions and policies • Decentralization looks for empowering municipalities, but these lack funds and human resources • Periodic political changes undermines effectiveness of institutions and policies • Processes that lead to transformation of space go beyond regional boundaries, which demands inter-institutional coordination • Discussion platforms : effective mechanisms for new environmental governance joining urban and rural actors • Effectiveness of regional negotiation platforms for natural resources management: relates to active participation of stakeholders (urban/rural), and political dynamics (federal/state level) • Representation of no-institutional actors is weak or even absent in existing negotiation platforms

19. 6) Relations between bottom-up and top-down dynamics (IP5 level) • Discrepancia exist between top-down and bottom-up level. Currently, this relation is exogenous and activity-, or information driven • Excess of “consultation”-culture and lack of “participation”-culture amongst local actors • Participation of local actors is sought for by incorporating them in existing (top-down) frameworks • Empowerment and bottom-up dynamics exist amongst small group of actors, but within an institutional vacuum