An Example of a Socio-Environmental System in Three Minutes

A socio-environmental (S-E) system refers to a group of humans, social elements, and processes that interact with each other and nature.  This clip provides an example of such a system.  It is set in rural Indonesia and involves people living in a sustainable way in which their livelihoods are consistent with healthy forests. The system components and their interactions are shown in brown and the environmental components in green.  The various actions that link the social and environmental components are in gray ovals.  The clip illustrates how a change in policy can have cascading effects that change interactions among components and result in an overall change (“emergent behavior”) to the socio-environmental system’s state, such that people become plagued with poverty and the forest is in decline. 

  • About the Presenters
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    Dr. Margaret A. Palmer is Director of SESYNC and a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. With a background in hydrology and ecology, Margaret contributes to testing and extending fundamental theory and empirical findings on aquatic ecosystem dynamics. She has worked extensively on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem processes, the biogeochemistry of streams and wetlands, and organism dispersal in aquatic ecosystems. She is an international expert on the restoration of streams and rivers and co-author of the book Foundations of...

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    Dr. Margaret A. Palmer is Director of SESYNC and a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. With a background in hydrology and ecology, Margaret contributes to testing and extending fundamental theory and empirical findings on aquatic ecosystem dynamics. She has worked extensively on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem processes, the biogeochemistry of streams and wetlands, and organism dispersal in aquatic ecosystems. She is an international expert on the restoration of streams and rivers and co-author of the book Foundations of Restoration Ecology. Margaret is also known for her work at the interface of water science and policy, having served as a technical advisor and innovator to help build solution-focused teams that solve problems with social, legal, policy and scientific aspects. She is extensively published (Google Scholar), has numerous awards, and remains actively engaged in science matters associated with national and local water policies and actions—particularly those associated with the Appalachians.

    External Links:
    https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2nGk3QQAAAAJ&hl=en

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