Applied research for enhancing human well-being and environmental stewardship: using complexity thinking in Southern Africa

Palmer, Carolyn G.; Biggs, Reinette; Cumming, Graeme S.

doi:10.5751/es-07087-200153

Cited by 12 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Secondly, the concepts of emergence, hierarchies, and boundaries (framing) are important in both critical realism and complex systems thinking [40]. In both views, human understanding of reality is recognized as partial and fallible, requiring researchers and program managers to be reflexive, humble and learn in an on-going manner from observations and experience [8,41]. This is thus an enabling philosophy which supports our commitment to a collective, reflexive approach to the Tsitsa project and this article.…”

Section: Critical Realism As An Underpinning Philosophymentioning

confidence: 75%

“…The Tsitsa Project designers argued that collaborative, multi-scale, polycentric governance approaches are needed to manage complex, place-based social-ecological systems such as landscapes [53], and these need to be underpinned by a social learning approach. This is supported by the literature [54,55] and by Tsitsa Project designers' own research [8,56]. Polycentric governance systems that match the scale of the resource system and are characterised by multiple, nested authorities 4 Upon further reflection after completion of our data collection and analysis, the Tsitsa Project team decided to adjust these principles for publication in its updated Research Investment Strategy (RIS Version 2), which is still in preparation.…”

Section: Principle 2: Encourage Polycentric and Participatory Governamentioning

confidence: 80%

“…We draw on the growing field of learning-based approaches to researching, managing and governing CSES (e.g., strategic adaptive management [12,13]) to frame our work in the Tsitsa Project and this article [14][15][16][17]. Since CSES are characterised by uncertainty, emergence, and surprise, understanding and managing them requires a commitment to systemic praxis [15] characterised by on-going reflection, learning-by-doing and the development of adaptive capacities [8,18]. Praxis is defined as purposeful practical action informed by theory and an intentional practice of reflexivity [15].…”

Section: Conceptual Framing: Reflexive Research Praxis In Complex Socmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By reflecting on the findings from a learning process convened approximately four years into the Tsitsa Project 1 [7], we provide grounded and, we hope, novel insights into these questions to deepen our understanding of praxis in CSES. Society's urgent sustainability issues require innovative and pragmatic approaches to researching and managing interconnected and interdependent CSES [6,8]. Such approaches recognise that addressing the challenges of sustainable natural resource management is no longer purely a question of more and better science [9] but that new constellations of stakeholders, which bring together diverse knowledge types and perspectives on natural resources and sustainability, are needed [10,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Navigating Multiple Tensions for Engaged Praxis in a Complex Social-Ecological System

Cockburn

Palmer

Biggs

et al. 2018

Land

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Innovative, pragmatic approaches are needed to support sustainable livelihoods and landscape management in complex social-ecological systems (CSES) such as river catchments. In the Tsitsa River Catchment, South Africa, researchers and natural resource managers have come together to apply such innovative approaches. Since CSES are characterised by uncertainty and surprise, understanding and managing them requires a commitment to reflexive praxis and transdisciplinarity. Accordingly, we facilitated a collective reflection and learning process in the project team to deepen our understanding of praxis in CSES. Our findings indicate that CSES thinking created an enabling framing. However, building new linkages among diverse actors to put CSES thinking into practice is challenging, since it requires the development of novel working relationships. Existing institutional structures, power dynamics, and ways of working impose significant constraints. A deeper critical realist analysis of our findings revealed a metaphor which explains why this work is challenging. In this metaphor, the Tsitsa Project team is navigating a bumpy terrain of dialectic tensions. These are tensions for example between natural science and social science, and between science and indigenous knowledge. Based on this metaphor, we suggest an expanding role for scientists and managers, and recommend transformative social learning processes to support teams navigating such bumpy terrains.

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Section: Critical Realism As An Underpinning Philosophymentioning

confidence: 75%

Section: Principle 2: Encourage Polycentric and Participatory Governamentioning

confidence: 80%

Section: Conceptual Framing: Reflexive Research Praxis In Complex Socmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Navigating Multiple Tensions for Engaged Praxis in a Complex Social-Ecological System

Cockburn

Palmer

Biggs

et al. 2018

Land

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…When things go wrong in complex systems the resulting problems have been called "wicked" (Rittel and Webber 1973) or "intractable" (Palmer et al 2015). Addressing wicked problems requires multiple, concurrent, strategic interventions and a willingness to monitor, learn and adapt.…”

Section: Strategic Adaptive Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

SASAqS and water: Law, management, crisis, and scientists as water activists

Palmer

2018

African Journal of Aquatic Science

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Evaluation and economic value of Hedera colchica in urban land management

Mirhosseini,

Saeb,

Kiadaliri

et al. 2023

CLEAN Soil Air Water

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Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing, securing and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In this study, the carbon sequestration capacity of Hedera colchica was investigated in soil of a semiarid region in Iran. Samples were taken from plants cultivated in the semiarid area of the polluted metropolis of Tehran and the amount of sequestered carbon in the aboveground and underground parts of the plant was measured. The conversion coefficient of carbon sequestration of plant organs (stem, leaf, and root) was determined separately by the combustion method. Carbon tax policy was used to evaluate the carbon sequestration function, as the shadow price of carbon. The results showed a significant difference in the amount of carbon sequestration in different organs of the plant. Stems and roots with 29.3 and 4.3 t ha−1, respectively, showed the highest and lowest amount of carbon deposition. The results of the economic value showed that the carbon shadow price was $40567.6 ha−1 on average. In general, the results of this study showed that the organs of H. colchica can have a beneficial effect in the process of carbon sequestration.

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Applied research for enhancing human well-being and environmental stewardship: using complexity thinking in Southern Africa

Cited by 12 publications

References 9 publications

Navigating Multiple Tensions for Engaged Praxis in a Complex Social-Ecological System

Navigating Multiple Tensions for Engaged Praxis in a Complex Social-Ecological System

SASAqS and water: Law, management, crisis, and scientists as water activists

Evaluation and economic value of Hedera colchica in urban land management

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