Co-management is an evolving form of natural resource management in which different aspects are continuing to emerge. Central to these emerging aspects is social learning and adaptive processes. Co-management is viewed as a knowledge partnership which requires bridging organisations to facilitate effective interaction and transfer among this knowledge. Social learning is important in this context, both as a process and an outcome, and is facilitated by joint problem solving and reflection within learning networks or nodes. Networks include multiple functions and can be loosely described as vertical and horizontal linkages, although the linkages are not always this defined in reality. The functional make-up of these networks is influenced by specialisation within organisations, the time the case has been operating, and the need for redundancy. This article describes a ‘maturing’ process where co-management processes become adaptive co-management over time. During this time, the generation of knowledge progressively allows problem identification and decision-making over increasingly larger scales. This describes a dynamic, rather than static, process. In this dynamic process of management within complex adaptive systems, power sharing is viewed as a result of co-management rather than a precondition.