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
- Journal articles › Research › Peer-reviewed
- Published
Disaggregating ecosystem services and disservices in the cultural landscapes of southwestern Ethiopia: a study of rural perceptions
Dorresteijn, I., Schultner, J., Collier, N. F., Hylander, K., Senbeta, F. & Fischer, J., 01.11.2017, In: Landscape Ecology. 32, 11, p. 2151-2165 15 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Discourses for deep transformation: perceptions of economic growth in two rural communities in Lower Saxony, Germany
Lübker, H. M., Abson, D. J. & Riechers, M., 01.11.2021, In: Sustainability Science. 16, 6, p. 1827-1840 14 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Disentangling associations of human wellbeing with green infrastructure, degree of urbanity, and social factors around an Asian megacity
Thapa, P., Torralba, M., Nölke, N., Chowdhury, K., Nagendra, H. & Plieninger, T., 08.08.2024, In: Landscape Ecology. 39, 8, 20 p., 152.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Disentangling Obstacles to Knowledge Co-Production for Early-Career Researchers in the Marine Sciences
Rölfer, L., Elias Ilosvay, X. E., Ferse, S. C. A., Jung, J., Karcher, D. B., Kriegl, M., Nijamdeen, T. M., Riechers, M. & Walker, E. Z., 13.05.2022, In: Frontiers in Marine Science. 9, 8 p., 893489.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Disentangling the Pathways and Effects of Ecosystem Service Co-Production
Palomo, I., Felipe-Lucia, M. R., Bennett, E. M., Martín-López, B. & Pascual, U., 2016, In: Advances in Ecological Research. 54, p. 245-283 39 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Disentangling the practice of landscape approaches: a Q-method analysis on experiences in socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes
Torralba, M., Nishi, M., Cebrián-Piqueras, M. A., Quintas-Soriano, C., García-Martín, M. & Plieninger, T., 01.07.2023, In: Sustainability Science. 18, 4, p. 1893-1906 14 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Disentangling trade-offs and synergies around ecosystem services with the influence network framework: Illustration from a consultative process over the French Alps
Crouzat, E., Martín-López, B., Turkelboom, F. & Lavorel, S., 01.01.2016, In: Ecology and Society. 21, 2, 18 p., 32.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
(Dis) integrated valuation: Assessing the information gaps in ecosystem service appraisals for governance support
Barton, D. N., Kelemen, E., Dick, J., Martin-Lopez, B., Gómez-Baggethun, E., Jacobs, S., Hendriks, C. M. A., Termansen, M., García- Llorente, M., Primmer, E., Dunford, R., Harrison, P. A., Turkelboom, F., Saarikoski, H., van Dijk, J., Rusch, G. M., Palomo, I., Yli-Pelkonen, V. J., Carvalho, L., Baró, F., Langemeyer, J., van der Wal, J. T., Mederly, P., Priess, J. A., Luque, S., Berry, P., Santos, R., Odee, D., Pastur, G. M., García Blanco, G., Saarela, S.-R., Silaghi, D., Pataki, G., Masi, F., Vădineanu, A., Mukhopadhyay, R. & Lapola, D. M., 01.02.2018, In: Ecosystem Services. 29, C, p. 529-541 13 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Diverse values of nature shape human connection to dryland landscapes in Spain
El Ghafraoui, Y., Quintas-Soriano, C., Pacheco-Romero, M., Murillo-López, B. E. & Castro, A. J., 01.09.2023, In: Journal of Arid Environments. 216, 10 p., 105023.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Does location really matter? An inter-colony comparison of seabirds breeding at varying distances from productive oceanographic features in the Bering Sea
Harding, A., Paredes, R., Suryan, R., Roby, D., Irons, D., Orben, R., Renner, H., Young, R., Barger, C., Dorresteijn, I. & Kitaysky, A., 01.10.2013, In: Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. 94, p. 178-191 14 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review