On 27 March 2024, GlobalDev Blog, an online platform aiming to bridge the gap between development research and policy, published an article by Suneetha Subramanian (Research Fellow, UNU-IAS) calling for the recognition of people and nature interactions as one socio-ecological system.
The piece argues that socio-ecological resilience – defined as “the capacity to adapt in the face of change in social-ecological systems in ways that continue to support human well-being” – is beneficial for both biodiversity and human well-being.
Excerpt:
The uniqueness of the socio-ecological systems approach is that it embraces the diversity of social and ecological dimensions across different types of socio-political, environmental, and economic contexts. Furthermore, it allows informed choices to be made about the trade-offs that arise during human–human and human–nature interactions. That is to say, issues of equity and broader sustainability are embedded in the conceptual design of such systemic approaches.