Abstract:The sustainability discourse is, essentially, centered on the question of how complex relations between nature and society can be conceptualized, analyzed and shaped. In this paper, we present a specific interpretation of social ecology as an attempt to address this question. For this purpose, we establish Frankfurt Social Ecology (FSE) as a formal research program, which is based on the concept of societal relations to nature (SRN). The basic idea of the SRN concept is to put the modern distinction between nature and society at the start of a critical analysis. Such an analysis, we argue, has to focus on the interplay between what we call patterns and modes of regulation. Whereas patterns of regulation stand for the material and symbolic aspects of the organization of the individual and societal satisfaction of needs, modes of regulation mirror the norms and power structures of a society. Using an approach that is based on reformulating social-ecological systems as provisioning systems, we show how this interplay can be analyzed empirically. Finally, we propose critical transdisciplinarity as the research mode of choice of FSE. To conclude, we discuss how FSE can contribute to the development of a research program for a sustainable Anthropocene.

Transformation has become a major topic of sustainability research. This opens up new perspectives, but at the same time, runs the danger to convert into a new critical orthodoxy which narrows down analytical perspectives. Most research is committed towards a political-strategic approach towards transformation. This focus, however, clashes with ongoing transformation processes towards un-sustainability. The paper presents cornerstones of an integrative approach to social-ecological transformations (SET), which builds upon empirical work and conceptual considerations from Social Ecology and Political Ecology. We argue that a critical understanding of the challenges for societal transformations can be advanced by focusing on the interdependencies between societies and the natural environment. This starting point provides a more realistic understanding of the societal and biophysical constraints of sustainability transformations by emphasising the crisis-driven and contested character of the appropriation of nature and the power relations involved. Moreover, it pursues a transdisciplinary mode of research, decisive for adequately understanding any strategy for transformations towards sustainability. Such a conceptual approach of SET is supposed to better integrate the analytical, normative and political-strategic dimension of transformation research. We use the examples of global land use patterns, neo-extractivism in Latin America and the global water crisis to clarify our approach.

Interactions between climate change, environmental degradation and population movements in the West African Sahel have received a great deal of scholarly attention in recent years. Since the majority of the population living in Sahelian countries depend on subsistence and small-scale farming, climate changes such as increasing temperatures and declining rainfall pose considerable risks to their livelihoods. Migration is one possible response to changing ecosystems. This paper examines the interactions between climate change, land degradation and migratory processes in rural areas of the West African Sahel. The analysis is based on empirical research conducted in Bandiagara, Mali, and Linguère, Senegal, using an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach. From a theoretical perspective, the nexus of climate, environment and migration is conceptualised as a social-ecological system. Against this background, the paper addresses empirical findings on the motives for migration, the mobility patterns and the issue of migration as a strategy to adapt to climate change. The paper further discusses relevant institutions and policy frameworks that impact the livelihoods and mobility of people in the study regions.

In 2010, there was a bold commitment to take action in halting global biodiversity loss by 2020. Now, half way through the Convention on Biological Diversity strategic plan 2011-2020, the success of the mission is under discussion. With the Twelfth Conference of the Parties attesting a lack of action, attention is now focused on the science-policy interface. This article offers a critical examination of the current debate on the science-policy interface and its implications for biodiversity research. The aim is to demonstrate the need for a social-ecological perspective. First, we argue that there is not only a lack of action but also a lack of knowledge. Second, we present socialecological systems as a common framework for biodiversity research. Third, we explain the potential of transdisciplinarity in biodiversity research. We finish by calling for a decisive turning point to consider the hybrid notions of biodiversity in science, politics and conservation activities.