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Cyberseminar on “Theoretical and Methodological Issues in the Analysis of Population Dynamics and Supply Systems”
From 2-13 February 2009 the Population-Environment Research Network (PERN) and the Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE) have carried out an online seminar to examine the theoretical and methodological aspects of research into the population-environment nexus.
The starting point in this
seminar was an interdisciplinary, social-ecological perspective on population
dynamics which allows structuring the nexus of population, environment and
society in theoretically and methodologically novel ways. It focused on the
interactions among demographic changes and supply systems such as water, food,
and energy. In this perspective, interactions were reconstructed in the context
of social-ecological systems dynamics. The approach seekes to be applicable to
different population dynamics (e.g. migration, population growth and decline,
urbanization, household structures), as well as to different socio-economic and
cultural contexts.
Through the cyberseminar the applicability of the social-ecological approach was
discussed by framing it to other interdisciplinary approaches such as
sustainable livelihoods, carrying capacity, IPAT, ecological footprint, and
political ecology. Issues addressed in this seminar included:
- State of the art on conceptual frameworks;
- Methodological issues related to theory (scale, integrated analysis, normativity, inter and trandisciplinarity); and
- Combinations of different approaches.
A detailed background paper and more
information