Advancing sustainability through mainstreaming a social–ecological systems perspective

[en] The concept of social-ecological systems is useful for understanding the interlinked dynamics of environmental and societal change. The concept has helped facilitate: (1) increased recognition of the dependence of humanity on ecosystems; (2) improved collaboration across disciplines, and between science and society; (3) increased methodological pluralism leading to improved systems understanding; and (4) major policy frameworks considering social-ecological interactions. Despite these advances, the potential of a social-ecological systems perspective to improve sustainability outcomes has not been fully realized. Key priorities are to: (1) better understand and govern social-ecological interactions between regions; (2) pay greater attention to long-term drivers; (3) better understand the interactions among power relations, justice, and ecosystem stewardship; and (4) develop a stronger science-society interface.

Research center :

Luxembourg Centre for Socio-Environmental Systems (LCSES)

Disciplines :

Environmental sciences & ecology
Social economics

Author, co-author :

Fischer, Joern

Gardner, Toby A.

Bennett, Elena M.

Balvanera, Patricia

Biggs, Reinette

Carpenter, Stephen

Daw, Tim

Folke, Carl

Hill, Rosemary

Hughes, Terry P.

More authors (9 more)

External co-authors :

yes

Language :

English

Title :

Advancing sustainability through mainstreaming a social–ecological systems perspective

Publication date :

2015

Journal title :

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability

ISSN :

1877-3435

eISSN :

1877-3443

Publisher :

Elsevier, Maryland Heights, Us mo

Volume :

Pages :

144 - 149

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Focus Area :

Sustainable Development

Additional URL :

http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1877343515000548

Available on ORBilu :

since 04 June 2025

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Scopus citations^®

383

Scopus citations^®
without self-citations

333

OpenCitations

297

OpenAlex citations

446

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