https://jech.bmj.com/content/jech/51/6/733.1.full.pdf

Action Research for Health and Social Care: a guide to practice

https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_92B5E056096D.P001/REF.pdf

Core principles for successfully implementing and upscaling Nature-based Solutions

CITATION: Preise, R., et al. 2018. Social-ecological systems as complex adaptive systems : organizing principles for advancing research methods and approaches. Ecology and Society, 23(4):46, doi:10.5751/ES-10558-230446.

/pdf/social-ecological-systems-as-complex-adaptive-systems-2zcip5qvz8.pdf

Social-ecological systems as complex adaptive systems: organizing principles for advancing research methods and approaches

Coupling coordinated development between social economy and ecological environment in Chinese provincial capital cities-assessment and policy implications

Societal, economic and scientific interests in knowing where biodiversity is, how it is faring and what can be done to efficiently mitigate further biodiversity loss and the associated loss of ecosystem services are at an all-time high. So far, however, biodiversity monitoring has primarily focused on structural and compositional features of ecosystems despite growing evidence that ecosystem functions are key to elucidating the mechanisms through which biological diversity generates services to humanity. This monitoring gap can be traced to the current lack of consensus on what exactly ecosystem functions are and how to track them at scales beyond the site level. This contribution aims to advance the development of a global biodiversity monitoring strategy by proposing the adoption of a set of definitions and a typology for ecosystem functions, and reviewing current opportunities and potential limitations for satellite remote sensing technology to support the monitoring of ecosystem functions worldwide. By clearly defining ecosystem processes, functions and services and their interrelationships, we provide a framework to improve communication between ecologists, land and marine managers, remote sensing specialists and policy makers, thereby addressing a major barrier in the field.

https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/rse2.59

Satellite remote sensing of ecosystem functions: opportunities, challenges and way forward

Complexity thinking is increasingly being embraced by a wide range of academics and professionals as imperative for dealing with today’s pressing social–ecological challenges. In this context, action researchers partner directly with stakeholders (communities, governance institutions, and work resource managers, etc.) to embed a complexity frame of reference for decision making. In doing so, both researchers and stakeholders must strive to internalize not only “intellectual complexity” (knowing) but also “lived complexity” (being and practicing). Four common conceptualizations of learning (explicit/tacit knowledge framework; unlearning selective exposure; conscious/competence learning matrix; and model of learning loops) are integrated to provide a new framework that describes how learning takes place in complex systems. Deep reflection leading to transformational learning is required to foster the changes in mindset and behaviors needed to adopt a complexity frame of reference. We then present three broad frames of mind (openness, situational awareness, and a healthy respect for the restraint/ action paradox), which each encompass a set of habits of mind, to create a useful framework that allows one to unlearn reductionist habits while adopting and embedding those more conducive to working in complex systems. Habits of mind provide useful heuristic tools to guide researchers and stakeholders through processes of participative planning and adaptive decision making in complex social–ecological systems.

/pdf/fostering-complexity-thinking-in-action-research-for-change-2gd2ekwp32.pdf

Fostering Complexity Thinking in Action Research for Change in Social-Ecological Systems

Applied research in complex integrated settings should be recognized as an endeavor that requires transdisciplinary and multisectoral stakeholder interactions. The problems faced in society are quite complex, requiring participation and knowledge from diverse aspects of society, including different disciplines (academia), communities, civil society, and government. Successful applied research relies on nurturing these key stakeholder relationships and interactions. This paper explores the key challenges of stakeholder interaction in applied research in three disciplines in the South African context, based on literature and the experience of authors in their disciplines. The three disciplines include information and communication technology for development, town and regional planning, and natural resource management. We attempt to also compare and contrast these challenges across the disciplines, to identify any commonalities and differences. After considering the mutual challenges and adaptive solutions to address these challenges in the different disciplines, we identify that all three areas in relation to stakeholder interaction appear to exhibit characteristics of complex systems, hence motivating to view applied research as a complex system. In this sense, complexity theory may provide a common language between the different disciplines examining transdisciplinary stakeholder interaction in applied research from a shared perspective.

/pdf/complexity-of-stakeholder-interaction-in-applied-research-458l4xj9a2.pdf

Complexity of Stakeholder Interaction in Applied Research

Complexity thinking is increasingly being embraced by a wide range of academics and professionals as imperative for dealing with today's pressing social-ecological challenges. In this context, action researchers partner directly with stakeholders (communities, governance institutions, and work resource managers, etc.) to embed a complexity frame of reference for decision making. In doing so, both researchers and stakeholders must strive to internalize not only "intellectual complexity" (knowing) but also "lived complexity" (being and practicing). Four common conceptualizations of learning (explicit/tacit knowledge framework; unlearning selective exposure; conscious/competence learning matrix; and model of learning loops) are integrated to provide a new framework that describes how learning takes place in complex systems. Deep reflection leading to transformational learning is required to foster the changes in mindset and behaviors needed to adopt a complexity frame of reference. We then present three broad frames of mind (openness, situational awareness, and a healthy respect for the restraint/ action paradox), which each encompass a set of habits of mind, to create a useful framework that allows one to unlearn reductionist habits while adopting and embedding those more conducive to working in complex systems. Habits of mind provide useful heuristic tools to guide researchers and stakeholders through processes of participative planning and adaptive decision making in complex social-ecological systems.

/pdf/research-part-of-a-special-feature-on-applied-research-for-57xna7on4f.pdf

Research, part of a Special Feature on Applied Research for Enhancing Human Well-Being and Environmental Stewardship: Using Complexity Thinking in Southern Africa Fostering Complexity Thinking in Action Research for Change in Social- Ecological Systems

Rebecca Luton

Papers

Fostering Complexity Thinking in Action Research for Change in Social-Ecological Systems

Complexity of Stakeholder Interaction in Applied Research

Research, part of a Special Feature on Applied Research for Enhancing Human Well-Being and Environmental Stewardship: Using Complexity Thinking in Southern Africa Fostering Complexity Thinking in Action Research for Change in Social- Ecological Systems