Publications
Perception and Representation of the Resource Nexus at the Interface between Society and the Natural Environment Journal Article
Giampietro, Mario
In: Sustainability, 10 (7), pp. 2545, 2018, ISSN: 2071-1050.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Buzzword, Complex systems, Metabolic pattern, Relational analysis, Resource nexus, Semiotic process, Social-ecological system
@article{Giampietro2018a,
title = {Perception and Representation of the Resource Nexus at the Interface between Society and the Natural Environment},
author = {Mario Giampietro},
url = {http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/7/2545},
doi = {10.3390/su10072545},
issn = {2071-1050},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-07-01},
journal = {Sustainability},
volume = {10},
number = {7},
pages = {2545},
abstract = {Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in the resource nexus. This has created the co-existence of different understandings and uses of the concept. In this regard, experiences in the EU H2020 project ‘Moving towards adaptive governance in complexity: Informing nexus security' are consistent with findings reported in the literature: (i) The inconvenient message of the nexus is difficult to get across, it being incompatible with the currently dominant rosy narratives about sustainability. Indeed, from a historic perspective, the nexus can be seen as a revival of the ideological fight between cornucopians and neo-Malthusians; (ii) Silo structures in existing institutions are a problem for the governance of the nexus, and so is the resulting reductionist strategy of addressing and fixing one issue at the time; (iii) Scientific inquiry is currently not providing the quality inputs needed for a meaningful discussion of the resource nexus. Entanglement of resource flows is rooted in the complex metabolic pattern of social-ecological systems, the analysis of which requires a complex systems approach and relational analysis. Contemporary reductionist models simply make the nexus invisible to the analyst.},
keywords = {Buzzword, Complex systems, Metabolic pattern, Relational analysis, Resource nexus, Semiotic process, Social-ecological system},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Charcoal Production in Complex Social-Ecological Systems Journal Article
González-López, Rafael; Giampietro, Mario
In: Frontiers in Environmental Science, 5 , pp. 54, 2017, ISSN: 2296-665X.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Charcoal, Metabolic pattern, MuSIASEM, Relational analysis, Social-ecological system
@article{Gonzalez-Lopez2017,
title = {Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Charcoal Production in Complex Social-Ecological Systems},
author = {Rafael Gonz\'{a}lez-L\'{o}pez and Mario Giampietro},
url = {http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fenvs.2017.00054/full},
doi = {10.3389/fenvs.2017.00054},
issn = {2296-665X},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-08-01},
journal = {Frontiers in Environmental Science},
volume = {5},
pages = {54},
abstract = {textcopyright 2017 Gonz\'{a}lez-L\'{o}pez and Giampietro. We propose and illustrate a multi-scale integrated analysis of societal and ecosystem metabolism (MuSIASEM) as a tool to bring nexus thinking into practice. MuSIASEM studies the relations over the structural and functional components of social-ecological systems that determine the entanglement of water, energy, and food flows in a complex metabolic pattern. MuSIASEM simultaneously considers various dimensions and multiple scales of analysis and therefore avoids the predicament of quantitative analysis based on reductionism (one dimension and one scale at the time). The different functional elements of society (the parts) are characterized using the concept of "processor," that is, a profile of expected inputs and outputs associated with the expression of a specific function. The processors of the functional elements of the social-ecological system can be either scaled-up to describe the metabolic pattern of the system as a whole, or scaled-down by considering the characteristics of its lower-level parts-i.e., the different processors associated with the structural elements required to express the specific function. An analysis of functional elements provides insight in the socio-economic factors that pose internal constraints on the development of the system. An analysis of structural elements makes it possible to study the compatibility of the system with external constraints (availability of natural resources and ecological services) in spatial terms. The usefulness of the approach is illustrated in relation to an example of the use of charcoal in a rural village of Laos.},
keywords = {Charcoal, Metabolic pattern, MuSIASEM, Relational analysis, Social-ecological system},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
AGAUR Grant ID 2017 SGR 230 / Copyright © 2023