Machine generated contents note: List of figures; List of contributors; Foreword; Acknowledgements; List of acronyms and abbreviations; 1. Adapting institutions, governance and complexity: an introduction Emily Boyd and Carl Folke; Part I. Adapting Local Institutions, Networks, Leadership and Learning: 2. Knowledge, social networks, and leadership - setting the stage for the development of adaptive institutions? Beatrice Crona and Örjan Bodin; 3. Adaptive capacity of local institutions - the case of taboo forests in southern Madagascar Maria Tengö and Jacob von Heland; 4. The reality of adaptive management: tracing farmers' responses to disturbances in irrigation systems in Nepal Ingela Ternström; 5. Creating incentives for increased public engagement in ecosystem management through urban commons Johan Colding; Part II. Adapting and Governing Public Institutions for Uncertainty and Complexity: 6. Adaptive capacity and the ecostate Andreas Duit; 7. Food systems and adaptive governance: the case of the 2005 food crisis in Niger Sirkku Juhola; 8. Public-private partnerships in the provision of environmental governance: a case of disaster management Emma L. Tompkins and Lisa-Ann Hurlston; Part III. Adapting Multilevel Institutions to Environmental Crisis: 9. Double complexity - information technology and reconfigurations in adaptive governance Victor Galaz; 10. Adaptive governance and natural hazards: the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the governance of coastal ecosystems in Sri Lanka Alison Ashlin; 11. Adapting to global climate change: evaluating resilience in two networked policy institutions Emily Boyd; 12. Conclusions: adapting institutions and resilience Emily Boyd and Carl Folke; Index.