Publications
The profile of time allocation in the metabolic pattern of society: An internal biophysical limit to economic growth Journal Article
Manfroni, Michele; Velasco-Fernández, Raúl; Pérez-Sánchez, Laura; Bukkens, Sandra G. F.; Giampietro, Mario
In: Ecological Economics, 190 , pp. 107183, 2021, ISSN: 09218009.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Energy, Human activity, MuSIASEM, Social practices, Societal metabolism, sustainability, Sustainable production and consumption
@article{Manfroni2021a,
title = {The profile of time allocation in the metabolic pattern of society: An internal biophysical limit to economic growth},
author = {Michele Manfroni and Ra\'{u}l Velasco-Fern\'{a}ndez and Laura P\'{e}rez-S\'{a}nchez and Sandra G. F. Bukkens and Mario Giampietro},
url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S092180092100241X},
doi = {10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107183},
issn = {09218009},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-12-01},
journal = {Ecological Economics},
volume = {190},
pages = {107183},
abstract = {We show that shortage of human activity may represent an internal constraint to economic growth as relevant as external resource and sink constraints. Human time is required, both inside and outside the market, to produce and consume the goods and services needed to sustain societal metabolism. The time allocation profile is therefore an emergent property of the societal metabolic pattern. When most time is invested in services and final consumption rather than supplying the inputs required by the metabolic process, further growth is constrained. This problem may be temporarily overcome by three strategies: (i) increasing capital investment to boost labor productivity in the productive sectors; (ii) externalizing the requirement of working hours through imports of goods and services; (iii) importing economically active population through immigration. Each strategy is illustrated with an empirical example: (i) a comparison of the evolution of the profile of time and capital allocation between China and the EU; (ii) an assessment of the labor hours embodied in EU imports; (iii) an analysis of demographic changes in response to immigration in Spain. While these strategies can temporarily overcome constraints to economic growth at the national level, they do not represent a long-term solution at the global level.},
keywords = {Energy, Human activity, MuSIASEM, Social practices, Societal metabolism, sustainability, Sustainable production and consumption},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
We show that shortage of human activity may represent an internal constraint to economic growth as relevant as external resource and sink constraints. Human time is required, both inside and outside the market, to produce and consume the goods and services needed to sustain societal metabolism. The time allocation profile is therefore an emergent property of the societal metabolic pattern. When most time is invested in services and final consumption rather than supplying the inputs required by the metabolic process, further growth is constrained. This problem may be temporarily overcome by three strategies: (i) increasing capital investment to boost labor productivity in the productive sectors; (ii) externalizing the requirement of working hours through imports of goods and services; (iii) importing economically active population through immigration. Each strategy is illustrated with an empirical example: (i) a comparison of the evolution of the profile of time and capital allocation between China and the EU; (ii) an assessment of the labor hours embodied in EU imports; (iii) an analysis of demographic changes in response to immigration in Spain. While these strategies can temporarily overcome constraints to economic growth at the national level, they do not represent a long-term solution at the global level.
Matthews, Keith B.; Renner, Ansel; Blackstock, Kirsty L.; Waylen, Kerry A.; Miller, Dave G.; Wardell-Johnson, Doug H.; Juarez-Bourke, Alba; Cadillo-Benalcazar, Juan; Schyns, Joep F.; Giampietro, Mario
In: Sustainability, 13 (18), pp. 10080, 2021, ISSN: 2071-1050.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: common agricultural policy, Energy, FADN, food nexus, Societal metabolism, sustainability, Water
@article{Matthews2021,
title = {Old Wine in New Bottles: Exploiting Data from the EU's Farm Accountancy Data Network for Pan-EU Sustainability Assessments of Agricultural Production Systems},
author = {Keith B. Matthews and Ansel Renner and Kirsty L. Blackstock and Kerry A. Waylen and Dave G. Miller and Doug H. Wardell-Johnson and Alba Juarez-Bourke and Juan Cadillo-Benalcazar and Joep F. Schyns and Mario Giampietro},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10080/htm https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10080},
doi = {10.3390/su131810080},
issn = {2071-1050},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-09-01},
journal = {Sustainability},
volume = {13},
number = {18},
pages = {10080},
publisher = {Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute},
abstract = {The paper presents insights from carrying out a pan-EU sustainability assessment using Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data (the old wine) with societal metabolism accounting (SMA) processes (the new bottles). The SMA was deployed as part of a transdisciplinary study with EU policy stakeholders of how EU policy may need to change to deliver sustainability commitments, particularly to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The paper outlines the concepts underlying SMA and its specific implementation using the FADN data. A key focus was on the interactions between crop and livestock systems and how this determines imported feedstuffs requirements, with environmental and other footprints beyond the EU. Examples of agricultural production systems performance are presented in terms of financial/efficiency, resource use (particularly the water footprint) and quantifies potential pressures on the environment. Benefits and limitations of the FADN dataset and the SMA outputs are discussed, highlighting the challenges of linking quantified pressures with environmental impacts. The paper concludes that the complexity of agriculture's interactions with economy and society means there is great need for conceptual frameworks, such as SMA, that can take multiple, non-equivalent, perspectives and that can be deployed with policy stakeholders despite generating uncomfortable knowledge.},
keywords = {common agricultural policy, Energy, FADN, food nexus, Societal metabolism, sustainability, Water},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The paper presents insights from carrying out a pan-EU sustainability assessment using Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data (the old wine) with societal metabolism accounting (SMA) processes (the new bottles). The SMA was deployed as part of a transdisciplinary study with EU policy stakeholders of how EU policy may need to change to deliver sustainability commitments, particularly to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The paper outlines the concepts underlying SMA and its specific implementation using the FADN data. A key focus was on the interactions between crop and livestock systems and how this determines imported feedstuffs requirements, with environmental and other footprints beyond the EU. Examples of agricultural production systems performance are presented in terms of financial/efficiency, resource use (particularly the water footprint) and quantifies potential pressures on the environment. Benefits and limitations of the FADN dataset and the SMA outputs are discussed, highlighting the challenges of linking quantified pressures with environmental impacts. The paper concludes that the complexity of agriculture's interactions with economy and society means there is great need for conceptual frameworks, such as SMA, that can take multiple, non-equivalent, perspectives and that can be deployed with policy stakeholders despite generating uncomfortable knowledge.
Renner, Ansel
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2021, ISBN: 9788449097935.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Biophysical economics, Societal metabolism, sustainability
@phdthesis{Renner2021b,
title = {Supercritical Sustainability. A Relational Theory of Social-Ecological Systems with Lessons from a Disenfranchised European Primary Sector},
author = {Ansel Renner},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10803/671298},
isbn = {9788449097935},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
pages = {171},
school = {Universitat Aut\`{o}noma de Barcelona},
abstract = {From biodiversity loss to soil degradation to pollution of water bodies, our life support systems are in decline. Spaceship Earth is in trouble. We are trouble. Sustainability science has emerged in response, offering to model our way to safety. The spirit of modeling efforts in the sustainability science is, however, dominated by notions of prediction and optimization. While prediction and optimization have proven extremely successful in other domains, leading to the creation of rockets and smartphones and so forth, they fail to grasp the essential intangibilities of social-ecological systems. They have effectively colonized the future, supporting a regime of techno-scientific promises and comforting ex-post motives. This dissertation explores an alternative approach to sustainability science, one based on anticipation studies and the idea of social-ecological systems as complex adaptive systems. A thorough revision of the conceptual basis of modeling for sustainability is made, based on insights from societal metabolism and relational biology. That revision is then used to inform the characterization of social-economic systems as metabolic-repair systems, meaning organisms. New light is thereby shed on global megatrends of globalization and urbanization, through which societies are losing control over their identities. Insights on modeling provided by societal metabolism and relational biology are then crossed with insights from philosophy of mind and philosophy of language to re-conceptualize the architecture of social-ecological knowledge spaces, within which models exist. An emphasis is made on the role of justification, explanation and normative narratives in creating knowledge space bounds and breaking impredicativities. Having established a robust conceptual basis, two case studies are presented. The first, a quantitative storytelling on the quick deployment of alternative sources of electrical energy to decarbonize the economy, highlights several shortcomings of current governance efforts. It is asserted, for example, that the hasty way energy storage is considered in contemporary energy transition discussions is leading society towards a grave situation of structural-functional mismatch. The second case study, a quantitative storytelling on agricultural re-internalization, highlights a set of security concerns associated with the extreme levels of agricultural externalization found in modern social-economic systems. Neither of the quantitative storytellings presented in this dissertation make any attempt to predict the future. Their offering is as learning-type storylines, helping society clarify its vision of a desirable future. Indeed, although critical of them, none of the insights in this dissertation are arguments for the elimination of conventional approaches to modeling. This dissertation is merely an effort to break the hegemony of predictivity and optimizability, to complement those ideas with notions of impredicativity. A paradigm of supercritical sustainability is ultimately proposed, being a mode of sustainability where the self-referentiality of complex systems is understood to be a virtuous cycle, not a vicious one. Supercritical sustainability re-opens discussion of the ruptured future, providing insights into the deliberative creation of extensible social-ecological models in support of responsible development pathways.},
keywords = {Biophysical economics, Societal metabolism, sustainability},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {phdthesis}
}
From biodiversity loss to soil degradation to pollution of water bodies, our life support systems are in decline. Spaceship Earth is in trouble. We are trouble. Sustainability science has emerged in response, offering to model our way to safety. The spirit of modeling efforts in the sustainability science is, however, dominated by notions of prediction and optimization. While prediction and optimization have proven extremely successful in other domains, leading to the creation of rockets and smartphones and so forth, they fail to grasp the essential intangibilities of social-ecological systems. They have effectively colonized the future, supporting a regime of techno-scientific promises and comforting ex-post motives. This dissertation explores an alternative approach to sustainability science, one based on anticipation studies and the idea of social-ecological systems as complex adaptive systems. A thorough revision of the conceptual basis of modeling for sustainability is made, based on insights from societal metabolism and relational biology. That revision is then used to inform the characterization of social-economic systems as metabolic-repair systems, meaning organisms. New light is thereby shed on global megatrends of globalization and urbanization, through which societies are losing control over their identities. Insights on modeling provided by societal metabolism and relational biology are then crossed with insights from philosophy of mind and philosophy of language to re-conceptualize the architecture of social-ecological knowledge spaces, within which models exist. An emphasis is made on the role of justification, explanation and normative narratives in creating knowledge space bounds and breaking impredicativities. Having established a robust conceptual basis, two case studies are presented. The first, a quantitative storytelling on the quick deployment of alternative sources of electrical energy to decarbonize the economy, highlights several shortcomings of current governance efforts. It is asserted, for example, that the hasty way energy storage is considered in contemporary energy transition discussions is leading society towards a grave situation of structural-functional mismatch. The second case study, a quantitative storytelling on agricultural re-internalization, highlights a set of security concerns associated with the extreme levels of agricultural externalization found in modern social-economic systems. Neither of the quantitative storytellings presented in this dissertation make any attempt to predict the future. Their offering is as learning-type storylines, helping society clarify its vision of a desirable future. Indeed, although critical of them, none of the insights in this dissertation are arguments for the elimination of conventional approaches to modeling. This dissertation is merely an effort to break the hegemony of predictivity and optimizability, to complement those ideas with notions of impredicativity. A paradigm of supercritical sustainability is ultimately proposed, being a mode of sustainability where the self-referentiality of complex systems is understood to be a virtuous cycle, not a vicious one. Supercritical sustainability re-opens discussion of the ruptured future, providing insights into the deliberative creation of extensible social-ecological models in support of responsible development pathways.
From local to national metabolism: a review and a scale-up framework Journal Article
Yan, Ningyu; Liu, Gengyuan; Ripa, Maddalena; Wang, Ning; Zheng, Hongmei; Gonella, Francesco
In: Ecosystem Health and Sustainability, 6 (1), pp. 1839358, 2020, ISSN: 2096-4129.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: National metabolism, scale-up, socio-metabolic research, sustainability
@article{Yan2020,
title = {From local to national metabolism: a review and a scale-up framework},
author = {Ningyu Yan and Gengyuan Liu and Maddalena Ripa and Ning Wang and Hongmei Zheng and Francesco Gonella},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/20964129.2020.1839358 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20964129.2020.1839358},
doi = {10.1080/20964129.2020.1839358},
issn = {2096-4129},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-12-01},
journal = {Ecosystem Health and Sustainability},
volume = {6},
number = {1},
pages = {1839358},
publisher = {Taylor & Francis},
abstract = {Research background: Countries are likely the most important subjects involved in the environmental control and response to global environmental issues, while the majority of the related metabolic ...},
keywords = {National metabolism, scale-up, socio-metabolic research, sustainability},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Research background: Countries are likely the most important subjects involved in the environmental control and response to global environmental issues, while the majority of the related metabolic ...
The technique is never neutral. How methodological choices condition the generation of narratives for sustainability Journal Article
Saltelli, Andrea; Benini, Lorenzo; Funtowicz, Silvio; Giampietro, Mario; Kaiser, Matthias; Reinert, Erik; Sluijs, Jeroen P.
In: Environmental Science & Policy, 106 , pp. 87–98, 2020, ISSN: 14629011.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Bioeconomics, Circular economy, Controversy studies, Decarbonization, Ethical matrices, Ethics, European environment agency, Food ethics, Green growth, Heterodox economics, Honeybees, Insectageddon, Integrated assessment, Nexus water-energy-food, Non-ricardian economics, Post normal science, Relational ecology, Sensitivity auditing, sustainability, Transitions
@article{Saltelli2020,
title = {The technique is never neutral. How methodological choices condition the generation of narratives for sustainability},
author = {Andrea Saltelli and Lorenzo Benini and Silvio Funtowicz and Mario Giampietro and Matthias Kaiser and Erik Reinert and Jeroen P. Sluijs},
url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1462901119304721},
doi = {10.1016/j.envsci.2020.01.008},
issn = {14629011},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-04-01},
journal = {Environmental Science & Policy},
volume = {106},
pages = {87--98},
abstract = {textcopyright 2020 The Authors How to tackle uncertainties and ensure quality in integrated assessment for sustainability? To what extent does the choice of the methodology condition the narrative produced by the analysis? The present work argues that the two questions are tightly coupled. The technique is never neutral. If we are the tools of our tools, as suggested by Thoreau, then it can also be said that language is not only a vehicle for communication, it is the driver as well. For this reason, in sustainability assessment it is not unusual to discern a close relationship between arguments made and methods adopted. In the present work a set of six reflexive analytical tools \textendash we call them lenses \textendash is suggested which could be pooled to the effect to appraise and improve the quality of integrated assessment and the resulting sustainability narratives, and to alleviate the constraints of the method-argument dependency. None of the lenses is new and each has been used before. Never have they been used together. The lenses are (i) Post-normal science (PNS), (ii) Controversy studies, (iii) Sensitivity auditing, (iv) Bioeconomics, (v) Ethics of science for governance, and (vi) Non-Ricardian economics. The six lenses are illustrated together with a set of case/narratives/arguments. The lenses allow some narratives \textendash or methodologies \textendash to be shown as either implausible or inadequate, and new narratives to be developed to tackle pressing sustainability issues, which expand the horizon of possible strategies for a solution.},
keywords = {Bioeconomics, Circular economy, Controversy studies, Decarbonization, Ethical matrices, Ethics, European environment agency, Food ethics, Green growth, Heterodox economics, Honeybees, Insectageddon, Integrated assessment, Nexus water-energy-food, Non-ricardian economics, Post normal science, Relational ecology, Sensitivity auditing, sustainability, Transitions},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
textcopyright 2020 The Authors How to tackle uncertainties and ensure quality in integrated assessment for sustainability? To what extent does the choice of the methodology condition the narrative produced by the analysis? The present work argues that the two questions are tightly coupled. The technique is never neutral. If we are the tools of our tools, as suggested by Thoreau, then it can also be said that language is not only a vehicle for communication, it is the driver as well. For this reason, in sustainability assessment it is not unusual to discern a close relationship between arguments made and methods adopted. In the present work a set of six reflexive analytical tools – we call them lenses – is suggested which could be pooled to the effect to appraise and improve the quality of integrated assessment and the resulting sustainability narratives, and to alleviate the constraints of the method-argument dependency. None of the lenses is new and each has been used before. Never have they been used together. The lenses are (i) Post-normal science (PNS), (ii) Controversy studies, (iii) Sensitivity auditing, (iv) Bioeconomics, (v) Ethics of science for governance, and (vi) Non-Ricardian economics. The six lenses are illustrated together with a set of case/narratives/arguments. The lenses allow some narratives – or methodologies – to be shown as either implausible or inadequate, and new narratives to be developed to tackle pressing sustainability issues, which expand the horizon of possible strategies for a solution.
Jácome, Rony Mauricio Parra
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2020, ISBN: 9788449096624.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Energy metabolism, Oil extraction, sustainability
@phdthesis{ParraJacome2020,
title = {Biophysical constraints of fossil energy systems: studying the metabolism of ecuador's oil extraction-methodologies and application},
author = {Rony Mauricio Parra J\'{a}come},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10803/670720},
isbn = {9788449096624},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
pages = {188},
school = {Universitat Aut\`{o}noma de Barcelona},
abstract = {The concept of “peak” in the trends of production of high quality oil is now well established. This is reflected by the dynamics towards the extraction of unconventional and lower quality oil reserves that demand greater flows of materials and energy in the metabolic pathway. At the same time, developed countries maintain an onerous but ineffective commitment to the partial or total substitution of fossil sources with renewable energy. This effort requires the generation of a complete new field of research capable of supplying the require information over the biophysical feasibility and viability of these solutions. This thesis proposes to expand the understanding of the problems related to current energy systems. It does so by analyzing in depth the performance of oil extraction as a primary source of energy and its relationship with society in the production of energy carriers, identifying its biophysical limitations in terms of scarcity and sink. This thesis presents innovative accounting methodologies based on applications of the MuSIASEM accounting scheme facilitating the understanding of the biophysical implications of oil extraction. The applications are illustrated in a multi-scale and integrated analysis of the Ecuadorian oil sector, avoiding the simplification of information, typical of reductionism, found in similar studies carried out using classic economic narratives. The proposed approach integrates the characterization of several relevant factors into a multi-criteria definition of the performance of a process of extraction of primary energy sources. It identifies profiles of relevant inputs and outputs of flows and funds described using the concept of “structural processors” that can be defined across different levels of analysis \textendash i.e. field / block / geographical area. Combinations of structural processors are analyzed as functional complexes whose characteristics depend on the quality of the exploited resource \textendash i.e. heavy, medium, and light oil production. In this way, we can study changes in the performance of oil fields due to their aging. Changes in the availability and quality of oil (and the need for freshwater) do affect the levels of environmental pressure in terms of required sink capacity - to absorb polluted water and GHG emissions. This framing allows to study the present and future relation between the primary source of energy (oil extraction) available to a society and its ability to produce, distribute and use intermediate products to guarantee their end uses in the various socioeconomic sectors. To achieve this task the analytical framework generates future scenarios allowing the metabolic understanding of the activities of the oil extraction systems. That is, it allows the identification of metabolic rates and biophysical constraints both in the supply side (oil extraction system) and in the demand side (energy end uses) in the Ecuadorian society. Due to the integration of the quantitative analysis across different dimensions and levels of analysis, the results of this type of analysis provide salient information to the discussions of energy policy across the technical, economic and environmental domain.},
keywords = {Energy metabolism, Oil extraction, sustainability},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {phdthesis}
}
The concept of “peak” in the trends of production of high quality oil is now well established. This is reflected by the dynamics towards the extraction of unconventional and lower quality oil reserves that demand greater flows of materials and energy in the metabolic pathway. At the same time, developed countries maintain an onerous but ineffective commitment to the partial or total substitution of fossil sources with renewable energy. This effort requires the generation of a complete new field of research capable of supplying the require information over the biophysical feasibility and viability of these solutions. This thesis proposes to expand the understanding of the problems related to current energy systems. It does so by analyzing in depth the performance of oil extraction as a primary source of energy and its relationship with society in the production of energy carriers, identifying its biophysical limitations in terms of scarcity and sink. This thesis presents innovative accounting methodologies based on applications of the MuSIASEM accounting scheme facilitating the understanding of the biophysical implications of oil extraction. The applications are illustrated in a multi-scale and integrated analysis of the Ecuadorian oil sector, avoiding the simplification of information, typical of reductionism, found in similar studies carried out using classic economic narratives. The proposed approach integrates the characterization of several relevant factors into a multi-criteria definition of the performance of a process of extraction of primary energy sources. It identifies profiles of relevant inputs and outputs of flows and funds described using the concept of “structural processors” that can be defined across different levels of analysis – i.e. field / block / geographical area. Combinations of structural processors are analyzed as functional complexes whose characteristics depend on the quality of the exploited resource – i.e. heavy, medium, and light oil production. In this way, we can study changes in the performance of oil fields due to their aging. Changes in the availability and quality of oil (and the need for freshwater) do affect the levels of environmental pressure in terms of required sink capacity - to absorb polluted water and GHG emissions. This framing allows to study the present and future relation between the primary source of energy (oil extraction) available to a society and its ability to produce, distribute and use intermediate products to guarantee their end uses in the various socioeconomic sectors. To achieve this task the analytical framework generates future scenarios allowing the metabolic understanding of the activities of the oil extraction systems. That is, it allows the identification of metabolic rates and biophysical constraints both in the supply side (oil extraction system) and in the demand side (energy end uses) in the Ecuadorian society. Due to the integration of the quantitative analysis across different dimensions and levels of analysis, the results of this type of analysis provide salient information to the discussions of energy policy across the technical, economic and environmental domain.
Matthews, K B; Waylen, K A; Blackstock, K L; Juarez-Bourke, A; Miller, D G; Wardell-Johnson, D H; Rivington, M; Giampietro, M
In: Elsawah, S. (Ed.): MODSIM2019, 23rd International Congress on Modelling and Simulation, pp. 877–883, Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand, 2019, ISBN: 9780975840092.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: common agricultural policy, nexus, science-policy, Societal metabolism, sustainability
@inproceedings{Matthews2019a,
title = {Science for Sustainability: Using Societal Metabolism Analysis to check the robustness of European Union policy narratives in the water, energy and food nexus},
author = {K B Matthews and K A Waylen and K L Blackstock and A Juarez-Bourke and D G Miller and D H Wardell-Johnson and M Rivington and M Giampietro},
editor = {S. Elsawah},
url = {https://mssanz.org.au/modsim2019/J5/matthews.pdf},
doi = {10.36334/modsim.2019.J5.matthews},
isbn = {9780975840092},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-12-01},
booktitle = {MODSIM2019, 23rd International Congress on Modelling and Simulation},
pages = {877--883},
publisher = {Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand},
abstract = {This paper is an output of an ongoing EU Horizon 2020 project (MAGIC) that aims to better understand how EU water, food, energy, waste and biodiversity policies link with each other and with EU climate and sustainability goals, framed in terms of the nexus concept. The project conducts transdisciplinary research with policy makers using an approach termed Quantitative Story Telling (QST), as an interface between science and policy domains. QST combines semantic (qualitative) and formal (quantitative) approaches to assess the plausibility, normative fairness and analytical coherence of narratives being used by stakeholders to justify either the status quo or alternative policy positions for the EU. The paper focuses on those aspects of the MAGIC analysis highlighted by external reviewers of the project as being most insightful and having the most potential value to a wider community of practice concerned with supporting or evaluating sustainability related policies. The paper outlines the process of QST used and the quantitative method used, multi-scale societal metabolism analyses (SMA) assessing the funds of land and human time needed to create the flows of materials, energy and money that reproduce and maintain the identity of the system of interest. As one of the five MAGIC policy studies, the authors focused on a key EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) narrative. CAP is a policy which is now expected to deliver multiple objectives across policy domains, but as implemented, potentially contributes to a tension between supporting competitiveness and delivering public goods. High-level findings that quantify aspects of this tension are presented, followed by specific technical issues found when conducting the analysis. The paper then reflects on the authors' use of these data to discuss with policy-makers issues where the tension between competitiveness and public goods are most stark; a more interpretive, qualitative phase of analysis that builds on the quantitative analysis. The outputs of the analysis used within the CAP QST imply the need for policy makers to consider alternative issue framings, otherwise they risk appearing to make only a rhetorical commitment to defining and delivering EU sustainability goals. The societal metabolic framing used in MAGIC highlights the biophysical underpinnings of EU farming systems; their dependence on non-renewable resources and the pressures generated by them that degrade ecosystem functions or services. A societal metabolic framing also means considering multiple scales, since otherwise EU policy is blind to the effects it has on sustainability beyond the borders of the EU. If research impact is defined in terms of acknowledged change in stakeholders' concepts or behaviours (an expected impact for the project by funders) then to date, there has been limited 'success'. While the rhetoric of 'evidence-based policy' remains prominent, it remains extremely challenging to engage with policy makers in deliberation on evidence that challenges conventional narratives. This was the case even for staff with extensive experience of inter-and transdisciplinary working at the science-policy interface. In conclusion, science for sustainability policy could benefit from adopting the approaches like QST, which can integrate and balance the semantic and formal parts of science for policy research. For the wider science-policy community of practice, the key insight is that for processes like QST the key decisions are made at the interfaces between the sematic and formal phases of analysis (what is modelled and why) and the formal and semantic phases of analysis (what the outputs mean and why they shouldn't be ignored).},
keywords = {common agricultural policy, nexus, science-policy, Societal metabolism, sustainability},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
This paper is an output of an ongoing EU Horizon 2020 project (MAGIC) that aims to better understand how EU water, food, energy, waste and biodiversity policies link with each other and with EU climate and sustainability goals, framed in terms of the nexus concept. The project conducts transdisciplinary research with policy makers using an approach termed Quantitative Story Telling (QST), as an interface between science and policy domains. QST combines semantic (qualitative) and formal (quantitative) approaches to assess the plausibility, normative fairness and analytical coherence of narratives being used by stakeholders to justify either the status quo or alternative policy positions for the EU. The paper focuses on those aspects of the MAGIC analysis highlighted by external reviewers of the project as being most insightful and having the most potential value to a wider community of practice concerned with supporting or evaluating sustainability related policies. The paper outlines the process of QST used and the quantitative method used, multi-scale societal metabolism analyses (SMA) assessing the funds of land and human time needed to create the flows of materials, energy and money that reproduce and maintain the identity of the system of interest. As one of the five MAGIC policy studies, the authors focused on a key EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) narrative. CAP is a policy which is now expected to deliver multiple objectives across policy domains, but as implemented, potentially contributes to a tension between supporting competitiveness and delivering public goods. High-level findings that quantify aspects of this tension are presented, followed by specific technical issues found when conducting the analysis. The paper then reflects on the authors' use of these data to discuss with policy-makers issues where the tension between competitiveness and public goods are most stark; a more interpretive, qualitative phase of analysis that builds on the quantitative analysis. The outputs of the analysis used within the CAP QST imply the need for policy makers to consider alternative issue framings, otherwise they risk appearing to make only a rhetorical commitment to defining and delivering EU sustainability goals. The societal metabolic framing used in MAGIC highlights the biophysical underpinnings of EU farming systems; their dependence on non-renewable resources and the pressures generated by them that degrade ecosystem functions or services. A societal metabolic framing also means considering multiple scales, since otherwise EU policy is blind to the effects it has on sustainability beyond the borders of the EU. If research impact is defined in terms of acknowledged change in stakeholders' concepts or behaviours (an expected impact for the project by funders) then to date, there has been limited 'success'. While the rhetoric of 'evidence-based policy' remains prominent, it remains extremely challenging to engage with policy makers in deliberation on evidence that challenges conventional narratives. This was the case even for staff with extensive experience of inter-and transdisciplinary working at the science-policy interface. In conclusion, science for sustainability policy could benefit from adopting the approaches like QST, which can integrate and balance the semantic and formal parts of science for policy research. For the wider science-policy community of practice, the key insight is that for processes like QST the key decisions are made at the interfaces between the sematic and formal phases of analysis (what is modelled and why) and the formal and semantic phases of analysis (what the outputs mean and why they shouldn't be ignored).
Using deliberative societal metabolism analysis to analyse CAP's delivery of EU sustainability and climate change objectives Inproceedings
Matthews, K. B.; Blackstock, K. L.; Waylen, K. A.; Juarez-Bourke, A.; Rivington, M; Miller, D. G.; Wardell-Johnson, D; Cabello, V.; Kovacic, Z.; Renner, A. F.; Ripa, M.; Giampietro, M.
In: 172nd Seminar of the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE): ‘Agricultural Policy for the Environment or Environmental Policy for Agriculture?‘, 28-29 May 2019, Brussels, 2019.
Links | BibTeX | Tags: CAP, deliberative societal metabolism analysis, sustainability
@inproceedings{Matthews2019,
title = {Using deliberative societal metabolism analysis to analyse CAP's delivery of EU sustainability and climate change objectives},
author = {K. B. Matthews and K. L. Blackstock and K. A. Waylen and A. Juarez-Bourke and M Rivington and D. G. Miller and D Wardell-Johnson and V. Cabello and Z. Kovacic and A. F. Renner and M. Ripa and M. Giampietro},
url = {https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/289806},
doi = {10.22004/AG.ECON.289806},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
booktitle = {172nd Seminar of the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE): ‘Agricultural Policy for the Environment or Environmental Policy for Agriculture?‘, 28-29 May 2019, Brussels},
keywords = {CAP, deliberative societal metabolism analysis, sustainability},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
Are Local Food Chains More Sustainable than Global Food Chains? Considerations for Assessment Journal Article
Brunori, Gianluca; Galli, Francesca; Barjolle, Dominique; Broekhuizen, Rudolf; Colombo, Luca; Giampietro, Mario; Kirwan, James; Lang, Tim; Mathijs, Erik; Maye, Damian; Roest, Kees; Rougoor, Carin; Schwarz, Jana; Schmitt, Emilia; Smith, Julie; Stojanovic, Zaklina; Tisenkopfs, Talis; Touzard, Jean-Marc
In: Sustainability, 8 (5), pp. 449, 2016, ISSN: 2071-1050.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Assessment, Food supply chain, Global, Local, Post-normal science, Reflexive governance, sustainability
@article{Brunori2016,
title = {Are Local Food Chains More Sustainable than Global Food Chains? Considerations for Assessment},
author = {Gianluca Brunori and Francesca Galli and Dominique Barjolle and Rudolf Broekhuizen and Luca Colombo and Mario Giampietro and James Kirwan and Tim Lang and Erik Mathijs and Damian Maye and Kees Roest and Carin Rougoor and Jana Schwarz and Emilia Schmitt and Julie Smith and Zaklina Stojanovic and Talis Tisenkopfs and Jean-Marc Touzard},
url = {http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/5/449},
doi = {10.3390/su8050449},
issn = {2071-1050},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-05-01},
journal = {Sustainability},
volume = {8},
number = {5},
pages = {449},
abstract = {This paper summarizes the main findings of the GLAMUR project which starts with an apparently simple question: is "local" more sustainable than "global"? Sustainability assessment is framed within a post-normal science perspective, advocating the integration of public deliberation and scientific research. The assessment spans 39 local, intermediate and global supply chain case studies across different commodities and countries. Assessment criteria cover environmental, economic, social, health and ethical sustainability dimensions. A closer view of the food system demonstrates a highly dynamic local-global continuum where actors, while adapting to a changing environment, establish multiple relations and animate several chain configurations. The evidence suggests caution when comparing "local" and "global" chains, especially when using the outcomes of the comparison in decision-making. Supply chains are analytical constructs that necessarily-and arbitrarily-are confined by system boundaries, isolating a set of elements from an interconnected whole. Even consolidated approaches, such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), assess only a part of sustainability attributes, and the interpretation may be controversial. Many sustainability attributes are not yet measurable and "hard" methodologies need to be complemented by "soft" methodologies which are at least able to identify critical issues and trade-offs. Aware of these limitations, our research shows that comparing local and global chains, with the necessary caution, can help overcome a prioripositions that so far have characterized the debate between "localists" and "globalists". At firm level, comparison between "local" and "global" chains could be useful to identify best practices, benchmarks, critical points, and errors to avoid. As sustainability is not a status to achieve, but a never-ending process, comparison and deliberation can be the basis of a "reflexive governance" of food chains.},
keywords = {Assessment, Food supply chain, Global, Local, Post-normal science, Reflexive governance, sustainability},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This paper summarizes the main findings of the GLAMUR project which starts with an apparently simple question: is "local" more sustainable than "global"? Sustainability assessment is framed within a post-normal science perspective, advocating the integration of public deliberation and scientific research. The assessment spans 39 local, intermediate and global supply chain case studies across different commodities and countries. Assessment criteria cover environmental, economic, social, health and ethical sustainability dimensions. A closer view of the food system demonstrates a highly dynamic local-global continuum where actors, while adapting to a changing environment, establish multiple relations and animate several chain configurations. The evidence suggests caution when comparing "local" and "global" chains, especially when using the outcomes of the comparison in decision-making. Supply chains are analytical constructs that necessarily-and arbitrarily-are confined by system boundaries, isolating a set of elements from an interconnected whole. Even consolidated approaches, such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), assess only a part of sustainability attributes, and the interpretation may be controversial. Many sustainability attributes are not yet measurable and "hard" methodologies need to be complemented by "soft" methodologies which are at least able to identify critical issues and trade-offs. Aware of these limitations, our research shows that comparing local and global chains, with the necessary caution, can help overcome a prioripositions that so far have characterized the debate between "localists" and "globalists". At firm level, comparison between "local" and "global" chains could be useful to identify best practices, benchmarks, critical points, and errors to avoid. As sustainability is not a status to achieve, but a never-ending process, comparison and deliberation can be the basis of a "reflexive governance" of food chains.
Beyond “beyond GDP indicators:” The need for reflexivity in science for governance Journal Article
Kovacic, Zora; Giampietro, Mario
In: Ecological Complexity, 21 , pp. 53–61, 2015, ISSN: 1476945X.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Complexity, Integrated assessment, Post-normal science, Quality assurance, sustainability, Uncertainty
@article{Kovacic2015b,
title = {Beyond “beyond GDP indicators:” The need for reflexivity in science for governance},
author = {Zora Kovacic and Mario Giampietro},
url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1476945X14001494},
doi = {10.1016/j.ecocom.2014.11.007},
issn = {1476945X},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-03-01},
journal = {Ecological Complexity},
volume = {21},
pages = {53--61},
abstract = {"Beyond GDP" initiatives flag the limits of the quantitative indicators of progress currently used for governance. Focusing on the quality assessment of quantitative information used for governance, we use some of the conceptual tools of theoretical ecology and evolutionary biology in order to identify the pre-analytical choices that determine the usefulness and pertinence of a model. Starting from the definition of a model as a formal representation of a specific and necessarily subjective observation, we show that the production of indicators is the final result of a series of decisions on what to observe and how. These choices, in turn, depend on the narrative, or set of narratives, adopted. Narratives provide causality and context to knowledge claims and are needed to select the indicators to be used for policy. Moving beyond the GDP debate requires reflexivity, that is, awareness of the key role that pre-analytical choices play in the definition of both the relevance of the chosen perceptions and narratives (determined by the normative stands of different actors - who defines wellbeing?), and the usefulness of the chosen models and data (determined by the pertinence of the resulting representation - how to measure wellbeing?). Reflexivity is essential in order to take into account the purposes for which different indicators were created and to define new purposes for the "beyond GDP" indicators.},
keywords = {Complexity, Integrated assessment, Post-normal science, Quality assurance, sustainability, Uncertainty},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
"Beyond GDP" initiatives flag the limits of the quantitative indicators of progress currently used for governance. Focusing on the quality assessment of quantitative information used for governance, we use some of the conceptual tools of theoretical ecology and evolutionary biology in order to identify the pre-analytical choices that determine the usefulness and pertinence of a model. Starting from the definition of a model as a formal representation of a specific and necessarily subjective observation, we show that the production of indicators is the final result of a series of decisions on what to observe and how. These choices, in turn, depend on the narrative, or set of narratives, adopted. Narratives provide causality and context to knowledge claims and are needed to select the indicators to be used for policy. Moving beyond the GDP debate requires reflexivity, that is, awareness of the key role that pre-analytical choices play in the definition of both the relevance of the chosen perceptions and narratives (determined by the normative stands of different actors - who defines wellbeing?), and the usefulness of the chosen models and data (determined by the pertinence of the resulting representation - how to measure wellbeing?). Reflexivity is essential in order to take into account the purposes for which different indicators were created and to define new purposes for the "beyond GDP" indicators.
Cadillo-Benalcazar, Juan José
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2015, ISBN: 9788449057977.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Food, MuSIASEM, sustainability
@phdthesis{Cadillo-Benalcazar2015,
title = {El uso de la gram\'{a}tica del musiasem para el an\'{a}lisis cuantitativo de la sostenibilidad de los sistemas alimentarios},
author = {Juan Jos\'{e} Cadillo-Benalcazar},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10803/322819},
isbn = {9788449057977},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-01-01},
pages = {293},
school = {Universitat Aut\`{o}noma de Barcelona},
abstract = {In modern times, science is facing the challenge of how to represent the interaction between socio-economic systems and ecological systems, which together can be regarded as socio-ecological systems, in order to quantitatively analyze their sustainability. To face this challenge it is necessary to break the traditional reductionist approaches of science, to build an alternative paradigm that is aware of the unavoidable limitations in quantitative representations of these systems. These limitations arise from the lack of understanding that socio-ecological systems are complex systems organized across different levels of organization. From this perspective, socio-economic system and ecological systems can only be observed across different scales and dimensions. Indeed, the dynamics of these interactions cause any activity that happens in one to affect the other and vice versa, thus providing an analytical framework for sustainability. From an acknowledgment of these limitations, the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) introduces the concept of grammar as a means to overcome the epistemological challenge of representing complex systems. A grammar is defined as a set of relations established between semantic categories, previously defined, and formal categories in order to obtain a representation able to be operationalized in quantitative terms across different scales and dimensions. Thus, grammar is proposed as an analytical tool capable of assessing the sustainability of the socio-ecological system without falling in the risk of an excessive simplification of quantitative reductionism. A key aspect of the sustainability of any society is the proper fulfillment of basic needs such as food. In this regard, although the planet produces enough food for all, there are about 805 million people suffering from hunger and a third of production is lost or wasted. It is also expected that in the future these conditions will worsen as a result of reliance on technological inputs used in food production, changes in the diet of the population (with more animal products), biophysical resource depletion and climate change. Faced with this tragic reality, institutions and decision-making authorities have stressed the urgent need to devise strategies aimed at food security. There is a need to have an overview, which includes what society consumes; the inner vision of the metabolism, and where food comes from, how it is produced and what is consumed; the external view of the metabolism. Only then, can you have a holistic knowledge to discuss and improve strategies aimed at food security. In this thesis I tested the utility of the grammar renderer MuSIASEM as socio-ecological instrument, able to identify vulnerabilities in the food systems of societies and its potential as a source of information -based on the coherent integration of demographic, economic and biophysical variables- for decision-making. Three case studies - Mauritius, the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador as a whole \textendash were used for such a test.},
keywords = {Food, MuSIASEM, sustainability},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {phdthesis}
}
In modern times, science is facing the challenge of how to represent the interaction between socio-economic systems and ecological systems, which together can be regarded as socio-ecological systems, in order to quantitatively analyze their sustainability. To face this challenge it is necessary to break the traditional reductionist approaches of science, to build an alternative paradigm that is aware of the unavoidable limitations in quantitative representations of these systems. These limitations arise from the lack of understanding that socio-ecological systems are complex systems organized across different levels of organization. From this perspective, socio-economic system and ecological systems can only be observed across different scales and dimensions. Indeed, the dynamics of these interactions cause any activity that happens in one to affect the other and vice versa, thus providing an analytical framework for sustainability. From an acknowledgment of these limitations, the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) introduces the concept of grammar as a means to overcome the epistemological challenge of representing complex systems. A grammar is defined as a set of relations established between semantic categories, previously defined, and formal categories in order to obtain a representation able to be operationalized in quantitative terms across different scales and dimensions. Thus, grammar is proposed as an analytical tool capable of assessing the sustainability of the socio-ecological system without falling in the risk of an excessive simplification of quantitative reductionism. A key aspect of the sustainability of any society is the proper fulfillment of basic needs such as food. In this regard, although the planet produces enough food for all, there are about 805 million people suffering from hunger and a third of production is lost or wasted. It is also expected that in the future these conditions will worsen as a result of reliance on technological inputs used in food production, changes in the diet of the population (with more animal products), biophysical resource depletion and climate change. Faced with this tragic reality, institutions and decision-making authorities have stressed the urgent need to devise strategies aimed at food security. There is a need to have an overview, which includes what society consumes; the inner vision of the metabolism, and where food comes from, how it is produced and what is consumed; the external view of the metabolism. Only then, can you have a holistic knowledge to discuss and improve strategies aimed at food security. In this thesis I tested the utility of the grammar renderer MuSIASEM as socio-ecological instrument, able to identify vulnerabilities in the food systems of societies and its potential as a source of information -based on the coherent integration of demographic, economic and biophysical variables- for decision-making. Three case studies - Mauritius, the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador as a whole – were used for such a test.
The energy metabolism of China and India between 1971 and 2010: Studying the bifurcation Journal Article
Velasco-Fernández, Raúl; Ramos-Martín, Jesus; Giampietro, Mario
In: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 41 (1), pp. 1052–1066, 2015, ISSN: 13640321.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: China, Energy, India, Multi-scale integrated analysis, Societal metabolism, sustainability
@article{Velasco-Fernandez2015,
title = {The energy metabolism of China and India between 1971 and 2010: Studying the bifurcation},
author = {Ra\'{u}l Velasco-Fern\'{a}ndez and Jesus Ramos-Mart\'{i}n and Mario Giampietro},
url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1364032114007515},
doi = {10.1016/j.rser.2014.08.065},
issn = {13640321},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-01-01},
journal = {Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews},
volume = {41},
number = {1},
pages = {1052--1066},
abstract = {This paper presents a comparison of the changes in the energetic metabolic pattern of China and India, the two most populated countries in the world, with two economies undergoing an important economic transition. The comparison of the changes in the energetic metabolic pattern has the scope to characterize and explain a bifurcation in their evolutionary path in the recent years, using the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach. The analysis shows an impressive transformation of China's energy metabolism determined by the joining of the WTO in 2001. Since then, China became the largest factory of the world with a generalized capitalization of all sectors, especially the industrial sector, boosting economic labor productivity as well as total energy consumption. India, on the contrary, lags behind when considering these factors. Looking at changes in the household sector (energy metabolism associated with final consumption) in the case of China, the energetic metabolic rate (EMR) soared in the last decade, also thanks to a reduced growth of population, whereas in India it remained stagnant for the last 40 years. This analysis indicates a big challenge for India for the next decade. In the light of the data analyzed both countries will continue to require strong injections of technical capital requiring a continuous increase in their total energy consumption. When considering the size of these economies it is easy to guess that this may induce a dramatic increase in the price of energy, an event that at the moment will penalize much more the chance of a quick economic development of India.},
keywords = {China, Energy, India, Multi-scale integrated analysis, Societal metabolism, sustainability},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This paper presents a comparison of the changes in the energetic metabolic pattern of China and India, the two most populated countries in the world, with two economies undergoing an important economic transition. The comparison of the changes in the energetic metabolic pattern has the scope to characterize and explain a bifurcation in their evolutionary path in the recent years, using the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach. The analysis shows an impressive transformation of China's energy metabolism determined by the joining of the WTO in 2001. Since then, China became the largest factory of the world with a generalized capitalization of all sectors, especially the industrial sector, boosting economic labor productivity as well as total energy consumption. India, on the contrary, lags behind when considering these factors. Looking at changes in the household sector (energy metabolism associated with final consumption) in the case of China, the energetic metabolic rate (EMR) soared in the last decade, also thanks to a reduced growth of population, whereas in India it remained stagnant for the last 40 years. This analysis indicates a big challenge for India for the next decade. In the light of the data analyzed both countries will continue to require strong injections of technical capital requiring a continuous increase in their total energy consumption. When considering the size of these economies it is easy to guess that this may induce a dramatic increase in the price of energy, an event that at the moment will penalize much more the chance of a quick economic development of India.
AGAUR Grant ID 2017 SGR 230 / Copyright © 2023