Facing Global Change through Social-Ecological Research

Abstract

Some people claim that we have recently witnessed a tipping point in the perceptions and values of western-oriented leaders and others involved in issues related to global environmental change. Western cultures now recognize that environmental issues formerly viewed as external to society are in reality embedded in the dynamics of the biosphere, and that economies are fundamentally dependent on the capacity of the environment to support and generate the preconditions for human and societal development. We have also acknowledged that ignoring this interdependence may lead to substantial costs, as highlighted in the widespread results of the Stern (2006) report on the global economics of climate change and amplified by reports on melting glaciers and ice sheets, flooding, fires, and storms. Technologies, investors, and markets are reviving and emerging for alternative energy sources that have the potential to mitigate the burning of fossil fuels. Across all scales, from the local to the global, more attention is being given to the abilities and possibilities of societies to adapt to climate change. Nevertheless, the link between climate challenges and social-ecological resilience, i.e., the capacity of social-ecological systems to deal with change and continue to develop, is fairly weak in mainstream policy and science, although there are exceptions. These connections are becoming increasingly explicit and comprehensible through the efforts of the Earth System Science Partnership, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Sustainability Sciences initiatives, the Resilience Alliance, and similar organizations. Complex systems theory and the cross-scale dynamics of intertwined social-ecological systems are generating a lot of interest. Three recent books in this area are worth mentioning. The first is The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity and the Renewal of Civilization by Thomas Homer-Dixon (2006), in which the author, inspired by the panarchy concept of Gunderson and Holling (2002), takes us on a journey of crisis, creativity, and renewal of societies and civilizations. The second, Getting to Maybe: How the World is Changed by Frances Westley, Brenda Zimmerman, and Michael Quinn Patton (2006), explores the experiences of social innovators who can see and create windows of opportunity for transforming social-ecological systems. The third, Resilience Thinking: Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World by Brian Walker and David Salt (2006), provides a comprehensive overview with examples from regional social-ecological systems. It is interesting to note that Island Press, a nonprofit group focused on leading societal change, published three of the four books mentioned above. All these books move beyond doom and gloom and seek paths toward sustainable and desirable development in the face of change. Research on sustainability increasingly addresses the intricate feedbacks of social-ecological systems, their complex dynamics, and how these play out across spatial and temporal scales. A deeper understanding of coupled systems undergoing change is essential in this context.