This article defines social resilience as the ability of groups or communities to cope with external stresses and disturbances as a result of social, political and environmental change. This definition highlights social resilience in relation to the concept of ecological resilience which is a characteristic of ecosystems to maintain themselves in the face of disturbance. There is a clear link between social and ecological resilience, particularly for social groups or communities that are dependent on ecological and environmental resources for their livelihoods. But it is not clear whether resilient ecosystems enable resilient communities in such situations. This article examines whether resilience is a useful characteristic for describing the social and economic situation of social groups and explores potential links between social resilience and ecological resilience. The origins of this interdisciplinary study in human ecology, ecological economics and rural sociology are reviewed, and a study of the impacts of ecological change on a resource- dependent community in contemporary coastal Vietnam in terms of the resilience of its institu- tions is outlined. I Introduction The concept of resilience is widely used in ecology but its meaning and measurement are contested. This article argues that it is important to learn from this debate and to explore social resilience, both as an analogy of how societies work, drawing on the ecological concept, and through exploring the direct relationship between the two phenomena of social and ecological resilience. Social resilience is an important component of the circumstances under which individuals and social groups adapt to environmental change. Ecological and social resilience may be linked through the dependence on ecosystems of communities and their economic activities. The question is, then, whether societies dependent on resources and ecosystems are themselves less resilient. In addition, this analysis allows consideration of whether institutions

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Social and Ecological Resilience: Are They Related?

In this article, the author addresses two feminist issues: first, how to conceptualize intersectionality, the mutual reproduction of class, gender, and racial relations of inequality, and second, how to identify barriers to creating equality in work organizations. She develops one answer to both issues, suggesting the idea of “inequality regimes” as an analytic approach to understanding the creation of inequalities in work organizations. Inequality regimes are the interlocked practices and processes that result in continuing inequalities in all work organizations. Work organizations are critical locations for the investigation of the continuous creation of complex inequalities because much societal inequality originates in such organizations. Work organizations are also the target for many attempts to alter patterns of inequality: The study of change efforts and the oppositions they engender are often opportunities to observe frequently invisible aspects of the reproduction of inequalities. The concept of...

/pdf/inequality-regimes-gender-class-and-race-in-organizations-zx7cupfe63.pdf

Inequality Regimes Gender, Class, and Race in Organizations

Leu-M

Place attachment: How far have we come in the last 40 years?

Citizen science, the involvement of volunteers in research, has increased the scale of ecological field studies with continent-wide, centralized monitoring efforts and, more rarely, tapping of volunteers to conduct large, coordinated, field experiments. The unique benefit for the field of ecology lies in understanding processes occurring at broad geographic scales and on private lands, which are impossible to sample extensively with traditional field research models. Citizen science produces large, longitudinal data sets, whose potential for error and bias is poorly understood. Because it does not usually aim to uncover mechanisms underlying ecological patterns, citizen science is best viewed as complementary to more localized, hypothesis-driven research. In the process of addressing the impacts of current, global “experiments” altering habitat and climate, large-scale citizen science has led to new, quantitative approaches to emerging questions about the distribution and abundance of organisms across spa...

/pdf/citizen-science-as-an-ecological-research-tool-challenges-4itbtd5neh.pdf

Citizen Science as an Ecological Research Tool: Challenges and Benefits

The organization and description of a comprehensive ecosystem model useful to ecosystem management is necessary. In this article, we propose the human ecosystem as an organizing concept for ecosystem management. First, we describe the history of the human ecosystem idea; both biological ecology and mainstream social theories provide useful guidance. Next, we present the key elements of a human ecosystem model: critical resources (natural, socioeconomic, and cultural), social institutions, social cycles, and social order (identities, norms, and hierarchies). In each element, we (1) provide a general definition and description, (2) suggest ways that the variable can be measured, and (3) give selected examples of how it may influence other components of the human ecosystem. The article concludes with specific suggestions as to how the human ecosystem model can play an organizing role in ecosystem management.

https://www.mit.edu/people/spirn/Public/Granite%20Garden%20Research/Urban%20ecology/Machlis%20et%20al%202008%20Human%20Ecosystem.pdf

The human ecosystem Part I: The human ecosystem as an organizing concept in ecosystem management

Understanding complex socio-environmental problems requires specialists from multiple disciplines to integrate research efforts Programs such as the National Science Foundation's Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship facilitate integrated research efforts and change the way academic institutions train future leaders and scientists The University of Idaho and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center in Costa Rica collaborate on a joint research program focusing on biodiversity conservation and sustainable production in fragmented landscapes We first present a spectrum of integration ranging from disciplinary to transdisciplinary across seven aspects of the research process We then describe our experiences and lessons learned conducting interdisciplinary graduate student team research Using our program as a case study, we examine the individual, disciplinary, and programmatic bridges and barriers to conducting interdisciplinary research that emerged during our student team research projects We conclude with a set of recommendations for exploiting the bridges and overcoming the barriers to conducting interdisciplinary research, especially as part of graduate education programs

/pdf/bridges-and-barriers-to-developing-and-conducting-6i24ur1yjc.pdf

Bridges and Barriers to Developing and Conducting Interdisciplinary Graduate-Student Team Research

Forest places of the heart: incorporating special spaces into public management.

The human ecosystem model presented in an accompanying article in this issue (Machlis et al. 1997) has several applications. One such application is as an organizing concept in selecting social indicators for ecosystem management. This article describes a contemporary example of such an application using the Upper Columbia River Basin (UCRB). Social indicators are statistics that can be collected over time and used for policy and management. The human ecosystem model provides a rationale for selecting specific social indicators to assess socioeconomic conditions. In the UCRB example, data ‐were collected from 1990 U.S. Census documents and other secondary data sources for 39 indicators. In this article, two indicators are presented as examples for all 57 counties in the study area. Applications of social indicators for ecosystem management are discussed, such as (1) monitoring social conditions; (2) doing comparative studies within a region, between regions, and overtime; (3) evaluating human ecosystem re...

The human ecosystem Part II: Social indicators in ecosystem management

Recent mandates in the United States require federal agencies to incorporate climate change science into land management planning efforts. These mandates target possible adaptation and mitigation strategies. However, the degree to which climate change is actively being considered in agency planning and management decisions is largely unknown. We explored the usefulness of climate change science for federal resource managers, focusing on the efficacy of potential adaptation strategies and barriers limiting the use of climate change science in adaptation efforts. Our study was conducted in the northern Rocky Mountains region of the western United States, where we interacted with 77 U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management personnel through surveys, semistructured interviews, and four collaborative workshops at locations across Idaho and Montana. We used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate managers' perceptions about adapting to and mitigating for climate change. Although resource managers incorporate general language about climate change in regional and landscape-level planning documents, they are currently not planning on-the-ground adaptation or mitigation projects. However, managers felt that their organizations were most likely to adapt to climate change through use of existing management strategies that are already widely implemented for other non climate-related management goals. These existing strategies, (e.g., thinning and prescribed burning) are perceived as more feasible than new climate-specific methods (e.g., assisted migration) because they already have public and agency support, accomplish multiple goals, and require less anticipation of the future timing and probability of climate change impacts. Participants reported that the most common barriers to using climate change information included a lack of management-relevant climate change science, inconsistent agency guidance, and insufficient time and resources to access, interpret, and apply current climate science information to management plans.

/pdf/managing-for-climate-change-on-federal-lands-of-the-western-2hnu6g7irp.pdf

Managing for climate change on federal lands of the western United States: perceived usefulness of climate science, effectiveness of adaptation strategies, and barriers to implementation

Jo Ellen Force

Papers

The human ecosystem Part I: The human ecosystem as an organizing concept in ecosystem management

Bridges and Barriers to Developing and Conducting Interdisciplinary Graduate-Student Team Research

Forest places of the heart: incorporating special spaces into public management.

The human ecosystem Part II: Social indicators in ecosystem management

Managing for climate change on federal lands of the western United States: perceived usefulness of climate science, effectiveness of adaptation strategies, and barriers to implementation