Strategies for managing complex social-ecological systems in the face of uncertainty : examples from South Africa and beyond
Date
2015
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Resilience Alliance
Abstract
Improving our ability to manage complex, rapidly changing social-ecological systems is one of the defining challenges
of the 21st century. This is particularly crucial if large-scale poverty alleviation is to be secured without undermining the capacity of
the environment to support future generations. To address this challenge, strategies that enable judicious management of socialecological
systems in the face of substantive uncertainty are needed. Several such strategies are emerging from the developing body of
work on complexity and resilience. We identify and discuss four strategies, providing practical examples of how each strategy has been
applied in innovative ways to manage turbulent social-ecological change in South Africa and the broader region: (1) employ adaptive
management or comanagement, (2) engage and integrate different perspectives, (3) facilitate self-organization, and (4) set safe boundaries
to avoid system thresholds. Through these examples we aim to contribute a basis for further theoretical development, new teaching
examples, and inspiration for developing innovative new management strategies in other regions that can help address the considerable
sustainability challenges facing society globally.
Description
CITATION: Biggs, R. O., et al. 2015. Strategies for managing complex social-ecological systems in the face of uncertainty : examples from South Africa and beyond. Ecology and Society, 20(1):52, doi:10.5751/ES-07380-200152.
The original publication is available at http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/
The original publication is available at http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/
Keywords
Adaptive natural resource management, Change -- Management, Poverty -- Environmental aspects, Environmental management, Resilience (Ecology), Social-ecological systems -- Southern Africa, Uncertainty
Citation
Biggs, R. O., et al. 2015. Strategies for managing complex social-ecological systems in the face of uncertainty : examples from South Africa and beyond. Ecology and Society, 20(1):52, doi:10.5751/ES-07380-200152