An ecosystem approach for sustainability: addressing the challenge of complexity

doi:10.1016/S0016-3287(99)00029-4

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An ecosystem approach for sustainability: addressing the challenge of complexity

Journal Article•DOI•

An ecosystem approach for sustainability: addressing the challenge of complexity

James J. Kay¹, Henry A. Regier², Michelle Boyle, George Francis¹•Institutions (2)

University of Waterloo¹, University of Toronto²

01 Sep 1999-Futures (Pergamon)-Vol. 31, Iss: 7, pp 721-742

TL;DR: This work portrays these systems as Self-Organizing Holarchic Open (SOHO) systems and interpret their behaviours and structures with reference to non-equilibrium thermodynamics: holons, propensities and canons; and information and attractors.

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About: This article is published in Futures.The article was published on 1999-09-01. It has received 491 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Human systems engineering & Causal loop diagram.

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Journal Article•DOI•

Resilience: the emergence of a perspective for social-ecological systems analyses

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Carl Folke¹, Carl Folke²•Institutions (2)

Stockholm University¹, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences²

01 Aug 2006-Global Environmental Change-human and Policy Dimensions

TL;DR: The resilience perspective is increasingly used as an approach for understanding the dynamics of social-ecological systems as mentioned in this paper, which emphasizes non-linear dynamics, thresholds, uncertainty and surprise, how periods of gradual change interplay with periods of rapid change and how such dynamics interact across temporal and spatial scales.

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Abstract: The resilience perspective is increasingly used as an approach for understanding the dynamics of social–ecological systems. This article presents the origin of the resilience perspective and provides an overview of its development to date. With roots in one branch of ecology and the discovery of multiple basins of attraction in ecosystems in the 1960–1970s, it inspired social and environmental scientists to challenge the dominant stable equilibrium view. The resilience approach emphasizes non-linear dynamics, thresholds, uncertainty and surprise, how periods of gradual change interplay with periods of rapid change and how such dynamics interact across temporal and spatial scales. The history was dominated by empirical observations of ecosystem dynamics interpreted in mathematical models, developing into the adaptive management approach for responding to ecosystem change. Serious attempts to integrate the social dimension is currently taking place in resilience work reflected in the large numbers of sciences involved in explorative studies and new discoveries of linked social–ecological systems. Recent advances include understanding of social processes like, social learning and social memory, mental models and knowledge–system integration, visioning and scenario building, leadership, agents and actor groups, social networks, institutional and organizational inertia and change, adaptive capacity, transformability and systems of adaptive governance that allow for management of essential ecosystem services.

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4,899 citations

Cites background from "An ecosystem approach for sustainab..."

...…complex systems theory (Rapport et al., 1985; Steedman and Regier, 1987; Baskerville, 1988; Edwards and Regier, 1990; Robinson et al., 1990; Kay, 1991; Kay et al., 1999), a major synthesis by Turner et al. (1990) of the earth as transformed by human actions, which continued into research on…...
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...The Sustainable Development volume with ‘‘the science of surprise’’ perspective became a source of inspiration and creation for many, including those involved in the volume like the group of the Great Lakes drainage basin developing interdisciplinary science and understanding in relation to complex systems theory (Rapport et al., 1985; Steedman and Regier, 1987; Baskerville, 1988; Edwards and Regier, 1990; Robinson et al., 1990; Kay, 1991; Kay et al., 1999), a major synthesis by Turner et al....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Resilience Management in Social-ecological Systems: a Working Hypothesis for a Participatory Approach

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Brian Walker¹, Stephen R. Carpenter², John M. Anderies¹, Nick Abel¹, Graeme S. Cumming³, Marco A. Janssen⁴, Louis Lebel⁵, Jon Norberg⁶, Garry D. Peterson², Rusty Pritchard⁷ - Show less +6 more•Institutions (7)

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation¹, University of Wisconsin-Madison², University of Florida³, Indiana University⁴, Chiang Mai University⁵, Stockholm University⁶, Emory University⁷

19 Jun 2002-Conservation Ecology

TL;DR: An evolving approach to analyzing resilience in SESs, as a basis for managing resilience, with a framework with four steps, involving close involvement of SES stakeholders is proposed.

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Abstract: Approaches to natural resource management are often based on a presumed ability to predict probabilistic responses to management and external drivers such as climate. They also tend to assume that the manager is outside the system being managed. However, where the objectives include long-term sustainability, linked social-ecological systems (SESs) behave as complex adaptive systems, with the managers as integral components of the system. Moreover, uncertainties are large and it may be difficult to reduce them as fast as the system changes. Sustainability involves maintaining the functionality of a system when it is perturbed, or maintaining the elements needed to renew or reorganize if a large perturbation radically alters structure and function. The ability to do this is termed "resilience." This paper presents an evolving approach to analyzing resilience in SESs, as a basis for managing resilience. We propose a framework with four steps, involving close involvement of SES stakeholders. It begins with a stakeholder-led development of a conceptual model of the system, including its historical profile (how it got to be what it is) and preliminary assessments of the drivers of the supply of key ecosystem goods and services. Step 2 deals with identifying the range of unpredictable and uncontrollable drivers, stakeholder visions for the future, and contrasting possible future policies, weaving these three factors into a limited set of future scenarios. Step 3 uses the outputs from steps 1 and 2 to explore the SES for resilience in an iterative way. It generally includes the development of simple models of the system's dynamics for exploring attributes that affect resilience. Step 4 is a stakeholder evaluation of the process and outcomes in terms of policy and management implications. This approach to resilience analysis is illustrated using two stylized examples.

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1,533 citations

Cites background from "An ecosystem approach for sustainab..."

...…activists, and researchers have developed a range of methods to deal with challenges in complex business situations (e.g., Checkland's (1981; Checkland and Scholes 1999) soft systems methodology), and yet others have developed approaches to cope with human-ecological situations (Kay et al. 1999)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Systems approaches to integrated solid waste management in developing countries.

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Rachael E. Marshall¹, Khosrow Farahbakhsh¹•Institutions (1)

University of Guelph¹

01 Apr 2013-Waste Management

TL;DR: The importance of founding new SWM approaches for developing country contexts in post-normal science and complex, adaptive systems thinking is demonstrated.

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640 citations

Cites background from "An ecosystem approach for sustainab..."

...Central to a CAS approach is the essential need to include multiple perspectives....
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...Self-organization is another key attribute of CAS (Kay et al., 1999; Patton, 2002)....
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...Kay et al. (1999) describe self-organization as a dissipative process that CAS undergo when high quality energy, known as ‘‘exergy’’, attempts to push the system beyond a critical distance from equilibrium....
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...Kay et al. (1999) consider human values and a diversity of views to be crucial to the process of identifying appropriate methods of investigation necessary to deal with issues in a systemic context....
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...Additionally, while Wilson (2007) closes with the need to work towards integrated, sustainable SWM systems that are locally appropriate to specific developing country contexts, this paper takes his perspective a step further by providing a means to begin working towards this goal: post-normal science approaches and complex adaptive systems (CAS) thinking....
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Journal Article•DOI•

An international symposium

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B. Wüthrich¹•Institutions (1)

University of Zurich¹

01 Nov 1997-American Journal of Reproductive Immunology

TL;DR: Submitted abstracts should clearly state the purpose, brief statement of procedure, results and conclusions, and include the name, full address and topic on all submissions.

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Abstract: s should clearly state the purpose, brief statement of procedure, results and conclusions. Please include your name, full address and topic on all submissions. At least one author of each abstract should register for the conference. All accepted abstracts will be published as symposium proceedings. Additionally, commended abstracts may be published in a journal after they are expanded to a manuscript followed by extensive reviewing. The language of the conference will be English.

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577 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Reconnecting to the Biosphere

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Carl Folke¹, Carl Folke², Åsa Jansson¹, Åsa Jansson², Johan Rockström³, Johan Rockström¹, Per Olsson¹, Stephen R. Carpenter⁴, F. Stuart Chapin⁵, Anne-Sophie Crépin², Anne-Sophie Crépin¹, Gretchen C. Daily⁶, Kjell Danell⁷, Jonas Ebbesson¹, Thomas Elmqvist¹, Victor Galaz¹, Fredrik Moberg¹, Måns Nilsson³, Henrik Österblom¹, Elinor Ostrom⁸, Elinor Ostrom⁹, Åsa Persson¹, Åsa Persson³, Garry D. Peterson¹, Stephen Polasky², Stephen Polasky¹⁰, Will Steffen¹, Will Steffen¹¹, Brian Walker², Brian Walker¹², Brian Walker¹, Frances Westley¹³ - Show less +28 more•Institutions (13)

Stockholm University¹, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences², Stockholm Environment Institute³, University of Wisconsin-Madison⁴, University of Alaska Fairbanks⁵, Stanford University⁶, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences⁷, Indiana University⁸, Arizona State University⁹, University of Minnesota¹⁰, Australian National University¹¹, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation¹², University of Waterloo¹³

25 Oct 2011-AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment

TL;DR: It is suggested that the Millennium Development Goals need to be reframed in such a planetary stewardship context combined with a call for a new social contract on global sustainability.

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Abstract: Humanity has emerged as a major force in the operation of the biosphere, with a significant imprint on the Earth System, challenging social–ecological resilience. This new situation calls for a fundamental shift in perspectives, world views, and institutions. Human development and progress must be reconnected to the capacity of the biosphere and essential ecosystem services to be sustained. Governance challenges include a highly interconnected and faster world, cascading social–ecological interactions and planetary boundaries that create vulnerabilities but also opportunities for social–ecological change and transformation. Tipping points and thresholds highlight the importance of understanding and managing resilience. New modes of flexible governance are emerging. A central challenge is to reconnect these efforts to the changing preconditions for societal development as active stewards of the Earth System. We suggest that the Millennium Development Goals need to be reframed in such a planetary stewardship context combined with a call for a new social contract on global sustainability. The ongoing mind shift in human relations with Earth and its boundaries provides exciting opportunities for societal development in collaboration with the biosphere—a global sustainability agenda for humanity.

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515 citations

Cites background from "An ecosystem approach for sustainab..."

...Ecosystem-based management for example, recognizes that people shape natural capital and its capacity to sustain resource flows in any ecosystem directly or indirectly, now and through history, from local groups to globalized urban dwellers (Kay et al. 1999; Waltner-Toews et al. 2003)....
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References

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Book•

Adaptive Environmental Assessment and Management

[...]

C. S. Holling

01 Sep 2005

TL;DR: In this article, various methods of environmental impact assessment as a guide to design of new environmental development and management projects are discussed. But the authors do not reject the concept of the environmental impact analysis but rather stress the need for fundamental understanding of the structure and dynamics of ecosystems.

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Abstract: This book is on the various methods of environmental impact assessment as a guide to design of new environmental development and management projects. This approach surveys the features of the environment likely to be affected by the developments under consideration, analyses the information collected, tries to predict the impact of these developments and lays down guidelines or rules for their management. This book is concerned with practical problems, e.g. development in Canada, the management of fisheries, pest control, etc. It is devoted to a general understanding of environmental systems through methods that have worked in the real world with its many uncertainties. It does not reject the concept of environmental impact analysis but rather stresses the need for fundamental understanding of the structure and dynamics of ecosystems.

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3,437 citations

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Silvio Funtowicz, Jerome R. Ravetz

01 Sep 1993-Futures

TL;DR: In this article, a new type of science called post-normal science is proposed to cope with many uncertainties in policy issues of risk and the environment, which can provide a path to the democratization of science, and also a response to the current tendencies to post-modernity.

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3,306 citations

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Ecology of Shallow Lakes

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30 Nov 1997

TL;DR: The story of some shallow lakes is described in this article, where the authors present a model of the abiotic environment and the limits of knowledge in a shallow lake environment, including trophic cascades.

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Abstract: Preface. Introduction. The story of some shallow lakes. The abiotic environment. Phytoplankton. Trophic cascades. Vegetation. Managing the ecosystem. The limits of knowledge. References. Index. Symbols used. Legends to the figures.

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Hierarchy: Perspectives for Ecological Complexity

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Journal Article•DOI•

Barriers and bridges to the renewal of ecosystems and institutions

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Lance Gunderson, C. S. Holling, Stephen S. Light

01 Oct 1997-Journal of Wildlife Management

TL;DR: In this article, a series of case studies is used to test an emerging theory of complex adaptive systems that forms the basis for explaining the interrelated dynamics of ecosystems, institutions and society.

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Abstract: This volume uses a series of case studies to test an emerging theory of complex adaptive systems that forms the basis for explaining the interrelated dynamics of ecosystems, institutions and society. It deals equally with institutional organization and ecosystem structure.

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1,434 citations