From transnational voluntary standards to local practices : a case study of forest certification in Russia

In this paper, I discuss how local actors translate transnational voluntary standards of responsible natural resource management into on-the-ground practices in domestic settings. Building on an extensive study of forest certification in Russia, I argue that implementation is not a straightforward execution of transnational rules imposed by powerful transnational actors – e.g., international NGOs, multinationals, governments or consumers. Rather, local actors negotiate the ways in which transnational standards are implemented locally in both formal and informal settings, and thereby settle political conflicts over natural resource management and construct new knowledge related to standard implementation and good natural resource management. They use both global ideas reflected in transnational standards and locally available concepts and practices as building blocks, and combine them in various ways in order to construct new knowledge. I therefore emphasize stakeholder interest negotiation and collective learning as core social processes which enable the translation of transnational standards into on-the-ground practices.