Coupling Humans and Complex Ecological Landscapes
2009 US-IALE Symposium
Snowbird, Utah | April 12-16, 2009
Challenges and Opportunities in Research on Complexity of Coupled Human and Natural Systems
| Date: | Tuesday, 14 April |
| Time: | 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm |
| Cost: | Free |
| Organizers: | Jianguo (Jack) Liu and William McConnell, Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Michigan State University |
| Enrollment: | Must pre-register on registration page. |
| Location: | TBA |
| Note: | This workshop is linked with a Special Symposium on Monday, and Tuesday morning entitled "Complexity in Human-Nature Interactions across Landscapes." |
Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS) are integrated systems in which
humans and natural components interact (e.g., human-environmental
systems, social-ecological systems, ecological-economic systems). While
some work has been done on CHANS complexity (see example reviews in
Science 317: 1513-1516 (2007) and Ambio 36:639-649 (2007), many
challenges still remain. Recently some new opportunities have emerged to
address these challenges.
This workshop will build on the symposium "Complexity in Human-Nature
Interactions across Landscapes", part of the activities of the new
NSF-funded project "International Network of Research on Coupled Human
and Natural Systems (CHANS-Net)". It will facilitate more in-depth
discussion on topics related to the symposium. While we will reserve
time for questions and discussion during the symposium, some substantive
issues are bound to arise that merit more detailed exploration than can
occur in the symposium itself. During the symposium, audience members
will be encouraged to submit questions, ideas and suggestions they would
like to pursue in the workshop. These will be collected and organized
prior to the workshop, which will begin in panel format, with the
Symposium presenters responding to the questions, ideas and suggestions
relating to their respective presentations, and to further issues raised
by the workshop participants. The outcome of this session will be the
distillation of a number of key substantive and methodological issues
that merit further discussion.
The second part of the Workshop will then take up these issues in
break-out group format. The groups will outline the key aspects of
their respective topics, and outline next steps for synthesis. In
some cases, the group will feel that the synthesis findings are
mature enough to move towards publication, while in others more
comparative analysis may be needed, which may necessitate seeking
further resources (e.g., funding). Once the break-out groups have
completed their work, the entire group will reassemble in plenary to
hear brief reports from each of the groups.
About the Organizers:
William J. (Bill) McConnell is Associate Director of the Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability at Michigan State University (MSU). He has been engaged over the past decade in facilitating the synthesis of scientific research on coupled human-natural systems. His research speciality is land change science, with a focus on the interface of geomatic technologies and local knowledge systems in assessing the tradeoffs in biodiversity conservation and rural livelihood systems.
Jianguo (Jack) Liu is the Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability and University Distinguished Professor in the Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability at Michigan State University (MSU). His broad research interests include household-environment interactions, complexity of coupled human and natural systems (CHANS), sustainability science, and globalization. He is particularly keen to connect seemingly unconnected issues (e.g., divorce and environmental sustainability). He takes a holistic approach to addressing complex human-environmental challenges through systems integration (i.e., integrating multiple disciplines such as landscape ecology and social sciences).