Scientific Hub

Social-Ecological Systems

The “Social-Ecological Systems” Hub investigates from a systemic perspective the complex and dynamic relationships between societal actors and natural resources, as well as those between the actors themselves. The concept of social-ecological systems provides the basis therefor.

This approach has proven to be particularly useful for understanding the current multiple social-ecological crises, which are an expression of highly interconnected changes, particularly regarding climate, biodiversity and land use, but also with respect to the associated lifestyles and values prevalent in society.

Our conceptual-theoretical research aims to further develop the foundations of a social-ecological understanding of systems in order to be able to grasp problem constellations that are characterized by different scales and contexts of action. In our work, we also focus on the question of how consciously intended transformation processes can be integrated into systemic approaches in order to work out the conditions under which social-ecological transformations can succeed.
 

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