Panarchy
Subtitle: Understanding Transformations in Systems of Humans and Nature
Contributors: Lance Gunderson (Editor); C. S. Holling (Editor)
Edition: 1 edition
Publisher: Island Press
Published: December 15, 2001
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 450
ISBN-13: 9781559638562
Subjects: Sociology, Social Studies; The Environment; Political ecology; Human ecology; Environmental Science; Business & Economics; Environmental Studies; Philosophy; Nature/Ecology; Management - General; Development - Sustainable Development; Human Geography; Science / Ecology; Environmental Conservation & Protection - General; Social ecology; Nature
First sentence: In the last decades of the twentieth century, cascades of changes occurred on a global scale.
Description: 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.