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Social-ecological change : insights from the Southern African program on ecosystem change and society
Biggs, Reinette; Clements, Hayley S.; Cumming, Graeme S.; Cundill, Georgina; De Vos, Alta; Hamann, Maike; Luvuno, Linda; Roux, Dirk J.; Selomane, Odirilwe; Blanchard, Ryan; Cockburn, Jessica; Dziba, Luthando; Esler, Karen J.; Fabricius, Christo; Henriksson, Rebecka; Kotschy, Karen; Lindborg, Regina; Masterson, Vanessa A.; Nel, Jeanne L.; O’Farrell, Patrick; Palmer, Carolyn G.; Pereira, Laura; Pollard, Sharon; Preiser, Rika; Scholes, Robert J.; Shackleton, Charlie; Shackleton, Sheona; Sitas, Nadia; Slingsby, Jasper A.; Spierenburg, Marja; Tengo, Maria; Reyers, Belinda
Date:
2022-08-14
Abstract:
Social-ecological systems (SES) research has emerged as an important area of sustainability
science, informing and supporting pressing issues of transformation towards more sustainable,
just and equitable futures. To date, much SES research has been done in or from the Global
North, where the challenges and contexts for supporting sustainability transformations are
substantially different from the Global South. This paper synthesises emerging insights on SES
dynamics that can inform actions and advance research to support sustainability transformations
specifically in the southern African context. The paper draws on work linked to members
of the Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (SAPECS), a leading SES
research network in the region, synthesizing key insights with respect to the five core themes of
SAPECS: (i) transdisciplinary and engaged research, (ii) ecosystem services and human wellbeing,
(iii) governance institutions and management practices, (iv) spatial relationships and
cross-scale connections, and (v) regime shifts, traps and transformations. For each theme, we
focus on insights that are particularly novel, interesting or important in the southern African
context, and reflect on key research gaps and emerging frontiers for SES research in the region
going forward. Such place-based insights are important for understanding the variation in SES
dynamics around the world, and are crucial for informing a context-sensitive global agenda to
foster sustainability transformations at local to global scales.
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