Deadline for applications: 30 July 2016 We live in a new planetary era – the Anthropocene - where human activities have become a major driver of ecosystem dynamics at local to global scales. There is growing evidence that anthropogenic impacts are increasing the risk of transgressing tipping points that could trigger catastrophic environmental regime shifts, such as the collapse of an important fishery or the Greenland ice sheet. Such regime shifts threaten the supply of essential ecosystem services on which human societies depend - including provisioning (e.g. crops), regulating (e.g. flood regulation), and cultural (e.g. recreation) services - and can [...]

SAPECS-affiliated researchers Jessica Cockburn and Mathieu Rouget, together with a team of researchers and practitioners working in the eThekwini Municipal Area (Durban, South Africa), recently published a paper on bridging the science-action gap in the journal Ecology and Society. Through presenting empirical insights and lessons learnt from a local collaboration between a university (University of KwaZulu-Natal) and a municipality (eThekwini Municipality), the paper contributes to a growing body of research on the role of transdisciplinary research in bridging the gap between science and society. The paper uses the Durban Research Action Partnership (D’RAP) as a case study to test and [...]

Recently, SAPECS teamed up with CGIAR’s programme on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) and the Natural Capital Project (NatCap) to run a workshop on the NatCap’s approach and tools for modelling ecosystem services.  In recent years, NatCap’s modelling platforms, particularly INVEST and RIOS, have become indispensable communication, scoping and scenario development tools for social-ecological projects globally. Although anyone can download and use their software, NatCap pride themselves on iteratively developing tools through a deep engagement with on-the-ground projects.  The main objective of our training was to foster such an engagement between NatCap and various SAPECS and WLE projects, and to [...]

"Scenarios" are descriptions and visualizations of the potential future of a social-ecological system. In participatory scenario planning different groups of people use their local and scientific knowledge to develop sets of scenarios that provide multiple perspectives on real-world problems. A recent study by SAPECS researchers and a diverse group of international colleagues compares and contrasts 23 examples of participatory scenario planning. The study, published in Ecology and Society, aims to improve the rigor, inclusiveness and effectiveness of scenario planning exercises in place-based research. This is increasingly important as global initiatives such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) are [...]

- by Odirilwe Selomane Just before the first ever Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS) conference this past November in Stellenbosch, SAPECS organised a pre-conference learning event for early career social-ecological systems researchers at STIAS; coordinated and facilitated by Christo Fabricius from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU). The topic of the event was “Participatory Action Research in Social-Ecological Systems”, and the focus was particularly on discussing the principles and practice of doing this research. The format for the day was three 15 minute food-for-thought presentations, each followed by an hour of dialogues and discussions in break-out groups, with a [...]

We have entered a new geological era called the Anthropocene, where human actions that are characterized by an increase in connectivity, speed and mobility are profoundly influencing the functioning of the earth system. Arguably the challenges of living in the Anthropocene are too complex and intractable to be solved by scientists, policymakers or corporate business in isolation of one another. To tackle the problem of navigating the complex mix of intertwined social-ecological drivers, biophysical constraints and improved social conditions for all, the Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS) (an approved project of the Future Earth) hosted a Science-Policy-Practice Dialogue [...]

The first PECS conference, held near Stellenbosch on 3 - 5 November, was a resounding success, with provocative and insightful keynote presentations, innovative sessions and much merry mingling aided by some of the best wine South Africa has to offer! More posts on this conference will follow in the coming days on this website, but in the meantime, a great Twitter overview is available at the following Storify account: https://storify.com/PECS_Project/pecs2015-conference Stay tuned for more!