Joining Policy Forums Together to Develop <i>Ki-no-Eki</i>, a Community Currency System for Forest Management in Japan: Dynamics of Policy Communication Networks
In some mountainous areas of Japan, the <i>Ki-no-Eki</i> system, in which wood is collected to thin the forest and is exchanged for community currency, has been specifically designed and implemented as a solution to current and emerging forest governance issues. This study aimed to captu...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Land |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/10/1811 |
| _version_ | 1797406984348106752 |
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| author | Hiromi Nakazato Rui Izumi Seunghoo Lim |
| author_facet | Hiromi Nakazato Rui Izumi Seunghoo Lim |
| author_sort | Hiromi Nakazato |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In some mountainous areas of Japan, the <i>Ki-no-Eki</i> system, in which wood is collected to thin the forest and is exchanged for community currency, has been specifically designed and implemented as a solution to current and emerging forest governance issues. This study aimed to capture the evolutionary processes of a complete communication network consisting of organizations that joined policy forums to help develop the <i>Ki-no-Eki</i> system. A total of 26 policy forums were held from 2011 to 2019 to discuss the adoption and implementation of the <i>Ki-no-Eki</i> system across Japan, and coattendance and the resultant policy discourses among 62 participating <i>Ki-no-Eki</i> organizations in these forums were regarded as dynamic communication network processes. We analyzed how policy communication networks formed and evolved to understand the underlying network dynamics driven by not only endogenous network processes—bonding and bridging social capital—but also exogenous effects defined by actors’ attributes. We employed the stochastic actor-oriented model for network dynamics to manage the collected longitudinal undirected network data. We found (i) the emergence of bonding social capital and (ii) homophilic and heterophilic connections in communication networks, which provided insightful explanations of the driving forces of social cohesion among <i>Ki-no-Eki</i> organizations engaged in forest management in Japan. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T03:35:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8adb7fd9bf3d4c7684f7d78e810b7b84 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-445X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T03:35:38Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Land |
| spelling | doaj.art-8adb7fd9bf3d4c7684f7d78e810b7b842023-12-03T14:49:46ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2022-10-011110181110.3390/land11101811Joining Policy Forums Together to Develop <i>Ki-no-Eki</i>, a Community Currency System for Forest Management in Japan: Dynamics of Policy Communication NetworksHiromi Nakazato0Rui Izumi1Seunghoo Lim2School of Information and Communication, Meiji University, Tokyo 101 8301, JapanSchool of Economics, Senshu University, Kanagawa 214 8580, JapanPublic Management and Policy Analysis Program, Graduate School of International Relations, International University of Japan, Niigata 949 7277, JapanIn some mountainous areas of Japan, the <i>Ki-no-Eki</i> system, in which wood is collected to thin the forest and is exchanged for community currency, has been specifically designed and implemented as a solution to current and emerging forest governance issues. This study aimed to capture the evolutionary processes of a complete communication network consisting of organizations that joined policy forums to help develop the <i>Ki-no-Eki</i> system. A total of 26 policy forums were held from 2011 to 2019 to discuss the adoption and implementation of the <i>Ki-no-Eki</i> system across Japan, and coattendance and the resultant policy discourses among 62 participating <i>Ki-no-Eki</i> organizations in these forums were regarded as dynamic communication network processes. We analyzed how policy communication networks formed and evolved to understand the underlying network dynamics driven by not only endogenous network processes—bonding and bridging social capital—but also exogenous effects defined by actors’ attributes. We employed the stochastic actor-oriented model for network dynamics to manage the collected longitudinal undirected network data. We found (i) the emergence of bonding social capital and (ii) homophilic and heterophilic connections in communication networks, which provided insightful explanations of the driving forces of social cohesion among <i>Ki-no-Eki</i> organizations engaged in forest management in Japan.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/10/1811forum participation and policy communication dynamicsforest governance in Japanbonding and bridging social capitalhomophilycommunity currency<i>Ki-no-Eki</i> |
| spellingShingle | Hiromi Nakazato Rui Izumi Seunghoo Lim Joining Policy Forums Together to Develop <i>Ki-no-Eki</i>, a Community Currency System for Forest Management in Japan: Dynamics of Policy Communication Networks Land forum participation and policy communication dynamics forest governance in Japan bonding and bridging social capital homophily community currency <i>Ki-no-Eki</i> |
| title | Joining Policy Forums Together to Develop <i>Ki-no-Eki</i>, a Community Currency System for Forest Management in Japan: Dynamics of Policy Communication Networks |
| title_full | Joining Policy Forums Together to Develop <i>Ki-no-Eki</i>, a Community Currency System for Forest Management in Japan: Dynamics of Policy Communication Networks |
| title_fullStr | Joining Policy Forums Together to Develop <i>Ki-no-Eki</i>, a Community Currency System for Forest Management in Japan: Dynamics of Policy Communication Networks |
| title_full_unstemmed | Joining Policy Forums Together to Develop <i>Ki-no-Eki</i>, a Community Currency System for Forest Management in Japan: Dynamics of Policy Communication Networks |
| title_short | Joining Policy Forums Together to Develop <i>Ki-no-Eki</i>, a Community Currency System for Forest Management in Japan: Dynamics of Policy Communication Networks |
| title_sort | joining policy forums together to develop i ki no eki i a community currency system for forest management in japan dynamics of policy communication networks |
| topic | forum participation and policy communication dynamics forest governance in Japan bonding and bridging social capital homophily community currency <i>Ki-no-Eki</i> |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/10/1811 |
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