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- Fazey, Ioan, et al.
(författare)
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Transforming knowledge systems for life on Earth : Visions of future systems and how to get there
- 2020
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 70
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Formalised knowledge systems, including universities and research institutes, are important for contemporary societies. They are, however, also arguably failing humanity when their impact is measured against the level of progress being made in stimulating the societal changes needed to address challenges like climate change. In this research we used a novel futures-oriented and participatory approach that asked what future envisioned knowledge systems might need to look like and how we might get there. Findings suggest that envisioned future systems will need to be much more collaborative, open, diverse, egalitarian, and able to work with values and systemic issues. They will also need to go beyond producing knowledge about our world to generating wisdom about how to act within it. To get to envisioned systems we will need to rapidly scale methodological innovations, connect innovators, and creatively accelerate learning about working with intractable challenges. We will also need to create new funding schemes, a global knowledge commons, and challenge deeply held assumptions. To genuinely be a creative force in supporting longevity of human and non-human life on our planet, the shift in knowledge systems will probably need to be at the scale of the enlightenment and speed of the scientific and technological revolution accompanying the second World War. This will require bold and strategic action from governments, scientists, civic society and sustained transformational intent.
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| 2. |
- Mancilla Garcia, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Adopting process-relational perspectives to tackle the challenges of social-ecological systems research
- 2020
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Ingår i: Ecology and Society. - 1708-3087. ; 25:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite many recent advances in sustainability science, researchers still struggle to address the key characteristics of social-ecological systems that underlie many of today's problems. Complex cross-scale dynamics and tightly interrelated social and ecological processes characterize social-ecological systems (SES). These features lead to constant change and novelty. Process philosophers argue that the difficulties of capturing these features may have their roots in our tendency to understand the world in terms of substances. This tendency is a legacy of dominant philosophical views that, although now debunked, continue to inform (albeit mostly implicitly) our explanations of reality. These philosophical views are based on the primacy of fundamental entities and stability, which is in contradiction to the continuously changing nature of SES. In this paper, we demonstrate that adopting a process-relational perspective, which focuses on nonequilibrium dynamics and relations between processes, provides novel opportunities to advance SES research. We propose concrete steps toward developing a process-relational perspective of SES and discuss how such a perspective can help us to overcome the challenges currently facing SES research.
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| 3. |
- van der Merwe, Susara E., et al.
(författare)
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Sensemaking as an approach for resilience assessment in an Essential Service Organization
- 2020
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Ingår i: Environment Systems and Decisions. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2194-5403 .- 2194-5411. ; 40:1, s. 84-106
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Essential service organizations are interested in approaches to assess and build infrastructure resilience to ensure an uninterrupted supply of services, such as electricity or water. This study applied a sensemaking approach to assess the nature of social resilience in a national essential service organization in South Africa. It used the SenseMaker tool to collect and surface patterns from a set of micro-narratives collected in response to a national emergency simulation exercise. Findings show that participants utilized specified resilience resources, such as procedures and protocols, while general social resilience resources, such as social network integration and agency, which would have contributed to the response, did not feature significantly. Participants’ sense of coherence—how they comprehend, manage, and find meaning amidst life’s challenges—had a positive bearing on preparedness, involvement, and expectation of outcome in the context of the emergency simulation exercise and appear to be the organization’s strongest social resilience resource. This study suggests that a sense of coherence can inform resilience-building interventions, and be used as a measure of effective sensemaking towards more resilient outcomes.
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