摘要：This Special Feature, "Nudging Evolution. Critical Exploration of the Potential and Limitations of the Conceptof Institutional Fit for the Study and Adaptive Management of Social-Ecological Systems," aims to contribute toward thedevelopment of social theory and social research methods for the study of social-ecological system dynamics. Our objective isto help strengthen the academic discourse concerning if, and if so, how, to what extent, and in what concrete ways the conceptof institutional "fit" might play a role in helping to develop better understanding of the social components of interlinkagesbetween the socioeconomic-cultural and ecological dynamics of social-ecological systems. Two clearly discernible patternsprovide a map of this Special Feature: (1) One pattern is the authors' positions regarding the place and role of normativity withintheir studies and assessment of institutional fit. Some place this at the center of their studies, exploring phenomena endogenousto the process of defining what constitutes institutional fit, whereas others take the formation of norms as a phenomenon exogenousto their study. (2) Another pattern is the type of studies presented: critiques and elaborations of the theory, methods for judgingqualities of fit, and/or applied case studies using the concept. As a body of work, these contributions highlight that self-understanding of social-ecological place, whether explicit or implicit, constitutes an important part of the study object, i.e., therole of institutions in social-ecological systems, and that this is, at the same time, a crucial point of reference for the scholarwishing to evaluate what constitutes institutional fit and how it might be brought into being.
关键词：adaptive management; environmental governance; institutional change; institutional fit; meaning; Oran Young;protected areas; social-ecological systems; social norms; water governance; wildlife management
