Creating institutions to meet the challenge of sustainability is
arguably the most important task confronting society; it is also
dauntingly complex. Ecological, economic, and social elements all
play a role, but despite ongoing efforts, researchers have yet to
succeed in integrating the various disciplines in a way that gives
adequate representation to the insights of each."Panarchy," a term
devised to describe evolving hierarchical systems with multiple
interrelated elements, offers an important new framework for
understanding and resolving this dilemma. Panarchy is the structure
in which systems, including those of nature (e.g., forests) and of
humans (e.g., capitalism), as well as combined human-natural
systems (e.g., institutions that govern natural resource use such
as the Forest Service), are interlinked in continual adaptive
cycles of growth, accumulation, restructuring, and renewal. These
transformational cycles take place at scales ranging from a drop of
water to the biosphere, over periods from days to geologic epochs.
By understanding these cycles and their scales, researchers can
identify the points at which a system is capable of accepting
positive change, and can use those leverage points to foster
resilience and sustainability within the system.This volume brings
together leading thinkers on the subject -- including Fikret
Berkes, Buz Brock, Steve Carpenter, Carl Folke, Lance Gunderson,
C.S. Holling, Don Ludwig, Karl-Goran Maler, Charles Perrings,
Marten Scheffer, Brian Walker, and Frances Westley -- to develop
and examine the concept of panarchy and to consider how it can be
applied to human, natural, and human-natural systems. Throughout,
contributors seek to identifyadaptive approaches to management that
recognize uncertainty and encourage innovation while fostering
resilience.The book is a fundamental new development in a widely
acclaimed line of inquiry. It represents the first step in
integrating disciplinary knowledge for the adaptive management of
human-natural systems across widely divergent scales, and offers an
important base of knowledge from which institutions for adaptive
management can be developed. It will be an invaluable source of
ideas and understanding for students, researchers, and
professionals involved with ecology, conservation biology,
ecological economics, environmental policy, or related fields.
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