On 7th March, and within the framework of the Doctoral Programme in "Environmental Science and Technology" of the Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), took place the defence of Mari-Carmen Romera's doctoral thesis entitled "Towards an inclusive environmental governance model. Analysing the interface between the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve (Morocco) and two local communities". This thesis was supervised by Dr. Roser Maneja (CTFC/UAB), Dr. Pablo Domínguez (CNRS/UAB) and Dr. Said Boujrouf (LERMA-UCAM). The doctoral thesis has been funded by an FI predoctoral grant from the Generalitat de Catalunya.

The examining board, formed by Dr. Mike McCall from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Dr. Gonzalo Gamboa from ICTA-UAB, and Dr. Mohamed Alifriqui from the Cadi Ayyad University of Marrakech (UCAM), awarded the thesis with the qualification of excellent and the mention of international doctorate.

According to Romera, "This thesis contributes to a deeper understanding of the interface between institutional (top-down) and community-led (bottom-up) governance models in the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve. This is relevant because what indicates a truly inclusive governance model is the consideration that both models are hierarchically equally valid and that the actors involved have a voice and a vote in management; thus, the idea of inclusive environmental governance is in line with that of co-management".

Romera concludes in her thesis that the establishment and maintenance of inclusive environmental governance through the diversity of actors, relationships, territorial dynamics and accountability arrangements is fundamental:

i.   for the future effectiveness and ownership of biosphere reserves by their stakeholders and communities;

ii. for enhancing the resilience of community governance systems negatively affected by global change dynamics beyond their scope; and

iii. in the processes of co-management and co-construction of knowledge.

The main results of the thesis are the starting point for the design of new projects, synergies and collaborations within the framework of the International Center for the Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves (UNESCOMED), which will have Mari Carmen as its technical coordinator as of March 2022.