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Social-Ecological Systems
Groundbreaking book on methods to study social-ecological systems
Photo: A. Ranjan/Unsplash
Open-access book covers 28 broad groups of methods, featuring contributions from almost a hundred authors in 16 countries
For the first time, the wide range of approaches being used in social-ecological research is presented in one handbook
The book is edited by centre researchers Reinette Biggs and Maja Schlüter within a team of six editors from Stellenbosch University, SRC and Rhodes university
It features a large number of centre researchers as chapter authors, as well as many SRC collaborators around the world
For the first time, the wide range of approaches that are currently being used in social-ecological research is presented in one handbook.
The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods for Social-Ecological Systems is out, and many centre researchers and collaborators have contributed to it.
The book is edited by centre researchers Reinette Biggs (also at Stellenbosch University) and Maja Schlüter together with Alta de Vos, Rika Preiser, Hayley Clements and Kristine Maciejewski from Stellenbosch and Rhodes Universities.
An online version of the book can be downloaded here
Many approaches, one volume
The book is primarily targeted at graduate students, lecturers and researchers working on SES, and has been written in a style that is accessible to readers entering the field from a variety of different disciplinary backgrounds.
It covers 28 broad groups of methods, including approaches to data generation, knowledge co-production, and analysis of SES.
"The great strength of this handbook is that, for the first time, the wide range of approaches that are currently being tried is presented together in one volume. |It] represents a great leap forward in our capacity to marry research and action in addressing complex social- ecological challenges."
Frances Westley, former Chair of the centre board, and professor of social Innovation at the University of Waterloo, Canada
Almost hundred authors
The handbook contains contributions from almost a hundred authors in 16 countries, including South Africa, Sweden, Germany and Australia. Together they bring a diversity of expertise and vast experience to the book's 33 chapters.
Each of the method chapters introduces a set of related methods, and discusses the types of SES questions that can be addressed with these methods, as well as the resources and skills required. Practical examples of how the methods have been applied in SES research are also provided in each chapters.
The book also includes several chapters introducing SES research, and concludes with a discussion of key gaps and frontiers in the methods used in the SES field, and a glossary of key terms.
Key for sustainability science
SES research is a major subfield within the broader emerging area of sustainability science and provides an increasingly important analytical framing to understand the interactions and feedbacks between social and environmental change.
The climate emergency and other environmental changes are underlain by a complex, interacting array of social changes, which themselves are shaped by the environment and environmental disruptions.
Similarly, problems of poverty and inequality are often linked to and exacerbated by environmental change and disruption.
"Studying these interconnected and changing systemic relationships often requires combinations of different methods, but these need to be thoughtfully employed," say Oonsie Biggs and Maja Schlüter.
The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods for Social-Ecological Systems is out
Join us for the launch of the book Thursday, 16 September 2021
07h00 - 08h00 PDT
10h00 - 11h00 EDT
15h00 - 16h00 BST
16h00 - 17h00 SAST & EST
23h30 - 00h30 ACST
Register before the meeting here
Topics: Complex adaptive systems Social-ecological modeling
Book launch event:
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Stockholm Resilience Centre is a collaboration between Stockholm University and the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
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Organisation number: 202100-3062