What's Law Got to Do with It? The Relationship of Law to Environmental Systems Management and Sustainability Research

Abstract

Legal concepts cannot be described as the area under the curve or in terms of equilibrium equations; however, law is one of several dimensions of a complex system that must be included in an interdisciplinary study of sustainability. It is one of the initial conditions to be considered in projecting the systems trajectory and it is also a constraint on implementation of research findings and recommendations for sustainable actions to be taken. Two methods for incorporating law into sustainability research are described. One is theoretical and is illustrated by how property rights affect foodweb and societal decision-making models. The second is more practical and is illustrated by how law affects the implementation phase of a study on stormwater runoff volume reduction.

Parent Publication

• Monitoring Science and Technology Symposium: Unifying Knowledge for Sustainability in the Western Hemisphere

Citation

Hoagland, N. Theresa. 2006. What''s Law Got to Do with It? The Relationship of Law to Environmental Systems Management and Sustainability Research. In: Aguirre-Bravo, C.; Pellicane, Patrick J.; Burns, Denver P.; and Draggan, Sidney, Eds. 2006. Monitoring Science and Technology Symposium: Unifying Knowledge for Sustainability in the Western Hemisphere Proceedings RMRS-P-42CD. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 391-394