Introducing a flat ontology into landscape research: a case study of water governance experiments in South Africa

CONTEXT: Contemporary resource management paradigms within the developed world build on an understanding of human agency as ontologically distinct from the mode of existence of plants and animals. Because of this perspective, which gives priority to human agency, policies typically take their point of departure with human societies and associated ecosystems deemed of particular value. OBJECTIVES: As an alternative to this worldview, social theorists have introduced what is known as “flat ontology”, where all beings are bestowed equal rights to negotiate their existence. To explore the implications of introducing such an understanding into landscape management, a participatory planning process for water allocation was developed and tested in a case study in the Eerste River Catchment in South Africa. METHODS: The planning process was mediated using the approach “politics of nature” (PoN), which aims to operationalize flat ontology to renegotiate water allocation based on the needs of all beings instead of the desire of a subset of humans. PoN allowed participants to playfully co-develop a common ontology and value-set. Data documenting these processes were collected digitally and analysed. RESULTS: Results indicate that the approach engendered a rethinking of key relationships between human agency and ecosystem functionality, illustrating a potential for PoN-approaches to be deployed for governance of complex landscapes. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of experiments using PoN-methodology in the context of watershed management, it is discussed how the introduction of a flat ontology in landscape research, could inspire new ways of designing and intervening with collaborative resource management processes. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-021-01374-9.