Social-Ecological Systems Institute (SESI)

Organisational unit: Institute

Organisation profile

Vision & Mission

We envision a fair world where the benefits generated within social-ecological systems are shared sustainably with other species, both within and across generations. Solutions to sustainability challenges are developed collaboratively across diverse scientific disciplines, knowledge systems, and social interests. To realise our vision, we recognise the need for transformative change. In pursuit of such change we:

  • use place-based social-ecological systems thinking to understand and resolve sustainability challenges such as biodiversity loss and environmental injustice;
  • bring together insights and approaches from the natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities in genuinely collaborative endeavours;
  • integrate experiences, practices, and understandings from diverse knowledge systems;
  • embed tools for transformative change into the social-ecological systems thinking via a leverage points perspective;
  • develop and apply methods to bridge multiple scales and governance levels; and
  • provide spaces for people sharing our vision to meet and exchange ideas.

Main research areas

We primarily conduct integrative and transdisciplinary research. In particular, the following topics are central to the Institute's research work:

  • Biodiversity conservation
  • Biocultural diversity
  • Cross-scale governance
  • Leverage points & transformation
  • Ecosystem services
  • Relational values
  • Environmental justice
  1. Scientific review articles › Research
  2. Published

    A review of urban ecosystem services: six key challenges for future research

    Lüderitz, C., Brink, E., Gralla, F., Hermelingmeier, V., Rau, A.-L., Abson, D., Lang, D. J., von Wehrden, H., Wamsler, C., Sasaki, R., Partelow, S., Meyer, M., Lisa, N. & Panzer, L., 01.08.2015, In: Ecosystem Services. 14, p. 98-112 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  3. Published

    Assessing nature’s contributions to people: Recognizing culture, and diverse sources of knowledge, can improve assessments

    Díaz, S., Pascual, U., Stenseke, M., Martín-López, B., Watson, R. T., Molnár, Z., Hill, R., Chan, K. M. A., Baste, I. A., Brauman, K. A., Polasky, S., Church, A., Lonsdale, M., Larigauderie, A., Leadley, P. W., Van Oudenhoven, A. P. E., Van Der Plaat, F., Schröter, M., Lavorel, S., Aumeeruddy-Thomas, Y., Bukvareva, E., Davies, K., Demissew, S., Erpul, G., Failler, P., Guerra, C. A., Hewitt, C. L., Keune, H., Lindley, S. & Shirayama, Y., 19.01.2018, In: Science. 359, 6373, p. 270-272 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  4. Published

    Australia’s Stock Route Network: 1. A review of its values, and implications for future management

    Lentini, P. E., Fischer, J., Gibbons, P., Lindenmayer, D. & Martin, T., 08.2011, In: Ecological Management & Restoration. 12, 2, p. 119-127 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  5. Published

    Biocultural approaches to sustainability: A systematic review of the scientific literature

    Hanspach, J., Jamila Haider, L., Oteros-Rozas, E., Stahl Olafsson, A., Gulsrud, N. M., Raymond, C. M., Torralba, M., Martín-López, B., Bieling, C., García-Martín, M., Albert, C., Beery, T. H., Fagerholm, N., Díaz-Reviriego, I., Drews-Shambroom, A. & Plieninger, T., 09.2020, In: People and Nature. 2, 3, p. 643-659 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  6. Published

    Biodiversity, ecosystem function, and resilience: ten guiding principles for commodity production landscapes

    Fischer, J., Lindenmayer, D. B. & Manning, A. D., 03.2006, In: Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 4, 2, p. 80-86 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  7. Published

    Biosphere Reserves as catalysts for sustainability transformations: five strategies to support place-based innovation

    Dabard, C. H., Mann, C. & Martín-López, B., 01.04.2025, In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 73, 6 p., 101508.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  8. Accepted/In press

    Conceptualizing transformative climate action: insights from sufficiency research

    Richard, B., Nathan, B., Andreas, N. & Ernest, A., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Climate Policy. 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  9. Published

    Consequences of nuclear accidents for biodiversity and ecosystem services

    von Wehrden, H., Fischer, J., Brandt, P., Wagner, V., Kümmerer, K., Kuemmerle, T., Nagel, A., Olsson, O. & Hostert, P., 01.04.2012, In: Conservation Letters. 5, 2, p. 81-89 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  10. Published

    Contributions of Net-Map to sustainability action research

    Cortés-Calderón, S. V., López-Rodríguez, M. D., Jiménez-Aceituno, A., Castro, A. J. & Mancilla-García, M., 08.2025, In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 75, 101542.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  11. Published

    Co-production of nature's contributions to people: What evidence is out there?

    Kachler, J., Isaac, R., Martín-López, B., Bonn, A. & Felipe-Lucia, M. R., 01.08.2023, In: People and Nature. 5, 4, p. 1119-1134 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  12. Published

    Crisis-induced disruptions in place-based social-ecological research - an opportunity for redirection

    Hermans, K., Berger, E., Biber-Freudenberger, L., Bossenbroek, L., Ebeler, L., Groth, J., Hack, J., Hanspach, J., Hintz, K. S., Kimengsi, J. N., Kwong, Y. M. C., Oakes, R., Pagogna, R., Plieninger, T., Sterly, H., van der Geest, K., van Vliet, J. & Wiederkehr, C., 15.07.2021, In: GAIA. 30, 2, p. 72-76 5 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  13. Published

    Disentangling gender and social difference for just and transformative biocultural approaches

    Díaz-Reviriego, I., Torralba, M., Vizuete, B., Ortiz-Przychodzka, S., Pearson, J., Heindorf, C., LLanque Zonta, A. & Oteros-Rozas, E., 08.2024, In: People and Nature. 6, 4, p. 1394-1406 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  14. Published

    Ecological quality as a coffee quality enhancer. A review

    Torrez, V., Benavides-Frias, C., Jacobi, J. & Speranza, C. I., 01.02.2023, In: Agronomy for Sustainable Development. 43, 1, 34 p., 19.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  15. E-pub ahead of print

    Exploring biocultural diversity: A systematic analysis and refined classification to inform decisions on conservation and sustainability

    Otamendi-Urroz, I., Quintas-Soriano, C., Hanspach, J., Requena-Mullor, J. M., Lagies, A. S. & Castro, A. J., 16.04.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Ambio. 17 p., e517.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  16. Published

    Exploring the “works with nature” pillar of food sovereignty: a review of empirical cases in academic literature

    Benavides-Frias, C., Ortiz Przychodzka, S., Díaz-Reviriego, I., Oteros-Rozas, E., Burke, L. & Hanspach, J., 2024, In: Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. 48, 3, p. 332-356 25 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  17. Published

    Five priorities to advance transformative transdisciplinary research

    Augenstein, K., Lam, D. P., Horcea-Milcu, A. I., Bernert, P., Charli-Joseph, L., Cockburn, J., Kampfmann, T., Pereira, L. M. & Sellberg, M. M., 01.06.2024, In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 68, 11 p., 101438.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  18. Published

    From disagreements to dialogue: unpacking the Golden Rice debate

    Kettenburg, A. J., Hanspach, J., Abson, D. J. & Fischer, J., 01.09.2018, In: Sustainability Science. 13, 5, p. 1469-1482 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  19. Published

    From grief to hope in conservation

    Fischer, J. & Riechers, M., 10.2021, In: Conservation Biology. 35, 5, p. 1698-1700 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  20. Published

    Future-proofing ecosystem restoration through enhancing adaptive capacity

    Frietsch, M., Loos, J., Löhr, K., Sieber, S. & Fischer, J., 12.2023, In: Communications Biology. 6, 1, 9 p., 377.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  21. Published

    Gender und Nachhaltigkeit: Neue Forschungsperspektiven

    Katz, C., 01.09.2006, In: GAIA. 15, 3, p. 206-214 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch