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. Journal articles › Research › Peer-reviewed
  2. 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 contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. 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 contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. 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 contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. 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 contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. 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 contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. 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 contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. 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 contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. 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 contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. 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 contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. 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 contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review