Explaining and Measuring Social-Ecological Pathways: The Case of Global Changes and Water Security

The Social-Ecological Systems framework serves as a valuable framework to explore and understand social and ecological interactions, and pathways in water governance. However, it lacks a robust understanding of change. We argue an analytical and methodological approach to engaging global changes in SES is critical to strengthening the scope and relevance of the SES framework. Relying on SES and resilience thinking, we propose an institutional and cognitive model of change where institutions and natural resources systems co-evolve. Our model of change provides a dynamic understanding of SES that stands on three causal mechanisms: institutional complexity trap, rigidity trap, and learning processes. We illustrate how data cube technology could overcome current limitations and offer reliable avenues for testing hypotheses about the dynamics of Social-Ecological Systems and water security by offering to combine spatial and time data with no major technical requirements for users.

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Explaining and Measuring Social-Ecological Pathways: The Case of Global Changes and Water Security

10.20944/preprints201810.0724.v1 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Thomas Bolognesi ◽

Andrea K. Gerlak ◽

Gregory Giuliani

Keyword(s):

Water Governance ◽

Methodological Approach ◽

Water Security ◽

Ecological Systems ◽

Data Cube ◽

Global Changes ◽

Time Data ◽

Social Ecological Systems ◽

Technical Requirements ◽

Social Ecological

The Social-Ecological Systems (SES) framework serves as a valuable framework to explore and understand social and ecological interactions, and pathways in water governance. Yet, it lacks a robust understanding of change. We argue an analytical and methodological approach to engaging global changes in SES is critical to strengthening the scope and relevance of the SES framework. Relying on SES and resilience thinking, we propose an institutional and cognitive model of change that institutions and natural resources systems co-evolve to provide a dynamic understanding of SES that stands on three causal mechanisms: institutional complexity trap, rigidity trap, and learning processes. We illustrate how Data Cube technology could overcome current limitations and offer reliable avenues to test hypothesis about the dynamics of social-ecological systems and water security by offering to combine spatial and time data with no major technical requirements for users.

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Polycentricity of urban watershed governance: Towards a methodological approach

Urban Studies ◽

10.1177/0042098017750080 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 55 (16) ◽

pp. 3525-3544 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah

Keyword(s):

Water Governance ◽

Methodological Approach ◽

Ecological Systems ◽

Urban Water ◽

Urban Watershed ◽

Social Ecological Systems ◽

Social Ecological ◽

Governing System ◽

Watershed Governance ◽

Middle Rio Grande

This paper makes an initial contribution towards building a polycentricity index to account for the governing of social–ecological systems. It develops three indices and an overall index, using an approach based on network science, to measure the extent to which actors develop ordered relationships to address scale mismatches in urban water governance. These indices are discussed with respect to the overarching system of rules governing actors’ decisions within the Middle Rio Grande (MRG) urban watershed. The analysis and discussions herein suggest that the governance of the MRG is a predominantly monocentric governing system with elements of polycentricity. They also suggest that polycentricity in governing the MRG urban water commons could primarily be about the politics of power and resource distribution as actors reconfigure their positionalities and align themselves and their interests strategically. The paper concludes with a succinct discussion about how quantitative measures of an overarching system of rules could be incorporated into future indices.

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Water ethics, justice, and equity in social-ecological systems conservation: lessons from the Queensland Wild Rivers Act

Water Policy ◽

10.2166/wp.2018.016 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 20 (5) ◽

pp. 933-952 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sameer H. Shah ◽

Lucy Rodina

Keyword(s):

Natural Resource Management ◽

Water Governance ◽

Radical Change ◽

Ecological Systems ◽

Social Ecological Systems ◽

Resource Governance ◽

Social Ecological ◽

Water Ethics ◽

Natural Rivers

Abstract The protection of natural rivers and watersheds face important concerns related to environmental (in)justice and (in)equity. Using the Queensland Wild Rivers Act as a case study, we advocate that ethical water governance attends to multiple and diverse values, specifically in ways that: (i) locate them within stakeholders' claims of inequality that emerge from a given or practiced water ethic; and (ii) historicize and understand them as resonating or reflecting natural resource management frameworks that have led to structural injustices. This approach, combined with adaptive co-governance, can contribute to more inclusive water ethics and even support reflexive spaces where radical change in social-ecological resource governance can be imagined.

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What Do We Talk about When We Talk about Social-Ecological Systems? A Literature Review

10.20944/preprints201807.0301.v1 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Cristina Herrero-Jáuregui ◽

Cecilia Arnaiz-Schmitz ◽

María Fernanda Reyes ◽

Marta Telesnicki ◽

Ignacio Agramonte ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spatial Scales ◽

Ecological Systems ◽

Transdisciplinary Research ◽

Environmental Crisis ◽

Global Changes ◽

Ecological Data ◽

Social Ecological Systems ◽

Social Ecological ◽

Sustainability Governance ◽

Human Use

In the last decade, probably in response to global changes and environmental crisis, the use of the term “social-ecological system” (SES) in the scientific literature has been growing. This is certainly a sign of the recognition of the need and importance of transdisciplinary research. Here, we explore whether the use of the term is a buzzword, or it actually represents a key concept toward the integration of social and ecological research. We compiled a data base of publications (N = 1289) that mentioned SES in title, keywords and abstract. Subsequently, we analyzed: authors affiliations, type of work (conceptual, empirical, review), study site, prevailing human use, temporal and spatial scales of analysis, kind of variables analyzed (socioeconomic, biophysical), and the method/s used to integrate them. We detected four time spans in the use of the term (1975–1997, 1998–2006, 2007–2012, 2013–2016). Our results suggest that SES is a widely invoked concept to study the interface between social and ecological systems. Most works show some common elements such as the analysis of resilience, ecosystem services, sustainability, governance and adaptive management. However, the majority of studies does not study SES as a whole, integrating both social and ecological variables and their feedback loops. We consider that SES is still a concept in construction in order to build a necessary framework to integrate social and ecological sciences. For a robust evolution we recommend to focus on 1. a conscious, discussed and agreed effort of scientists to conduct transdisciplinary research needed to study SES; 2. developing methodological tools for the true integration of social and ecological data.

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An education approach for the Anthropocene epoch

Research Society and Development ◽

10.33448/rsd-v10i11.19780 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. e448101119780

Author(s):

Cristiane Mansur de Moraes Souza

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Social Learning ◽

Methodological Approach ◽

Ecological Systems ◽

Ecological Resilience ◽

Considerable Uncertainty ◽

Social Ecological Systems ◽

Social Ecological ◽

The Social

It is now well established in the literature that there is a need to incorporate the concept of sustainability into education at all study levels. However, there is considerable uncertainty expressed concerning how it could best be achieved and how the resilience concept would enhance this idea. This article aims to address this gap. The objective is to explore aspects of socio-ecological resilience, that underlies a university case study. The methodology is exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory. Results demonstrate that civil engagement university activities are an education approach that provides students with experiences that build skills necessary for addressing the challenges of the Anthropocene Epoch. The conclusion of the article emphasizes that the education for the Anthropocene epoch should consider the enhancement of ecosystem services by demonstrating that humans are part of the social-ecological systems; considering interdisciplinarity as a methodological approach; demonstrating the variety of potentials on participation of stakeholders by civil engagement as developing autonomy both on students and stakeholders and developing the ability for proactive attitudes. Is also enhance learning and social learning by civil engagement and participation.

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An Introduction to Practical Panarchy: Linking Law, Resilience, and Adaptive Water Governance of Regional Scale Social-Ecological Systems

Practical Panarchy for Adaptive Water Governance ◽

10.1007/978-3-319-72472-0_1 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 1-16 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Barbara Cosens ◽

Lance Gunderson

Keyword(s):

Water Governance ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Ecological Systems ◽

Social Ecological Systems ◽

Social Ecological

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Reconfiguring Water Governance for Resilient Social-Ecological Systems in South America

Water Resilience ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-48110-0_6 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 113-135

Author(s):

Micaela Trimble ◽

Pedro R. Jacobi ◽

Tomás Olivier ◽

Miguel Pascual ◽

Cristina Zurbriggen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

South America ◽

Water Governance ◽

Ecological Systems ◽

Social Ecological Systems ◽

Social Ecological

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Structural and Contentual Complexity in Water Governance

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13179751 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (17) ◽

pp. 9751

Author(s):

Rudy Vannevel ◽

Peter L. M. Goethals

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Problem Solving ◽

Environmental Analysis ◽

Water Governance ◽

Structural Complexity ◽

Ecological Systems ◽

Social Ecological Systems ◽

Organization And Management ◽

Social Ecological ◽

Institutional Organization

Social-ecological systems and governance are complex systems and crises that affect those systems are likely to be complex as well. Environmental topics are multi-faceted with respect to both structure and content. Structural complexity is about societal and institutional organization and management, whereas contentual complexity deals with environmental (or societal) analyses, knowledge, and problem-solving. Interactions between both are manifold, and it is essential they are included in decision-making. Describing these interactions results in a series of nineteen units, arranged in a matrix according to their prevailing mutual dependencies. These units show dominant processes and concepts, representative of environmental analysis. This approach, called ACCU (aggregation of concepts and complex adapted systems units), is provided with evidence through practices of, in particular, water governance.

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What do We Talk about When We Talk about Social-Ecological Systems? A Literature Review

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su10082950 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 2950 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Cristina Herrero-Jáuregui ◽

Cecilia Arnaiz-Schmitz ◽

María Reyes ◽

Marta Telesnicki ◽

Ignacio Agramonte ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spatial Scales ◽

Ecological Systems ◽

Transdisciplinary Research ◽

Environmental Crisis ◽

Global Changes ◽

Ecological Data ◽

Social Ecological Systems ◽

Social Ecological ◽

Sustainability Governance ◽

Human Use

In the last decade, probably in response to global changes and the environmental crisis, the use of the term “social-ecological system” (SES) in scientific literature has grown. This is certainly a sign that the need and importance of transdisciplinary research has been recognized. Here, we explore whether the use of the term is a buzzword or, rather, actually represents a key concept in the integration of social and ecological research. We compiled a database of publications (N = 1289) that mentioned SES in the title, keywords and abstract. Subsequently, we analyzed the authors’ affiliations, type of work (conceptual, empirical or review), study site, prevailing human use, temporal and spatial scales of the analysis, kind of variables analyzed (socioeconomic or biophysical), and the method/s used to integrate them. We detected four time spans in the use of the term (1975–1997, 1998–2006, 2007–2012, 2013–2016). Our results suggest that SES is a widely invoked concept in the study of the interface between social and ecological systems. Most works show some common elements, such as the analysis of resilience, ecosystem services, sustainability, governance and adaptive management. However, the majority of studies do not study SES as a whole, integrating both social and ecological variables and their feedback loops. We consider SES as a concept still in construction in order to build a necessary framework for the integration of social and ecological sciences. For a robust evolution, we recommend that one focus on: (i) A conscious, discussed and agreed effort of scientists to conduct the transdisciplinary research needed to study SES; and (ii) the development of methodological tools for the true integration of social and ecological data.

Download Full-text