© COPYRIGHT 1999
The nature of the ecological economic system is much more complex than traditional science leads us to believe. The organization of natural ecological systems is dominated by feedback loops. This means that some external stresses on the ecosystem do not disturb it, they are simply absorbed, while other external stresses are amplified and quickly change the system. Sometimes a stress can have no effect for considerable time and then suddenly cause a rapid change in the system. Rapid re-organization of natural ecosystems is quite normal. They flip from one operating regime to another. The nature of these flips is dramatic, and often not predictable. What's more, for a given circumstance, there can be more than one appropriate configuration for the natural ecosystem. Which one is manifested on the landscape is a function of the history of the system and in many cases single events (such as floods) which happened decades earlier. An ecosystem approach must deal with these realities.
Against this background of complexity, we have come to realize that understanding ecological systems requires a careful choice of what to study (ground water, birds, landscapes, etc.) as different aspects of ecosystem will be germane to the situation. It also requires investigation at different scales (breeding populations, trees, forests, regions etc.) So an ecosystem approach must address the question of appropriate perspectives on the situation, both in a disciplinary and spatial and temporal sense.
Using ideas from complex systems thinking we have developed a conceptual model which explicitly describes the linkages between ecological and economic systems at different scales. The model identifies the important ecological process and structures, how they set the stage for the important socio-economic processes and structures, and how these in turn influence the ecological processes and structures. It closes the ecological-economic loop.
Developing this (eco)systems description, for a specific situation, is at the heart of the ecosystem approach. It is used to develop narratives that describe the suite of possible ecological scenarios for the given situation. Decisions concerning which ecological scenario to foster is about human values and aspirations in the situation.
Given that more than one natural ecological system is possible in a given situation, and given that the important elements of the socio-economic system is about human values, an ecosystem approach must be undertaken in the context of hopes, aspirations and concerns of the people involved in the situation. Achieving sustainability entails participation of a myriad of stakeholders, each with a legitimate perspective, and a resolution that all can live with. So in the ecosystem approach, a complement to the ecological-economic systems description (the conceptual model) is a human issues framework. The issues framework brings the diverse interests, visions, priorities and needs of the stakeholders into focus in an integrated way.
The issues framework is designed to explicitly: a) identify the actors and stakeholders b) describe and define the situation, c) determine the important issues and concerns, and d) disclose the values applied in making decisions and judgments. The issues framework takes the form of a hierarchical mapping of human concerns and preferences onto the ecosystem description which is the conceptual model. Thus it facilitates comparison of various scenarios which reflect the socio-economic and ecological possibilities. It defines integrity and sustainability for the situation in terms of a vision for the future. The issues framework lays the foundation for developing a clear statement of vision and articulated preferences in terms of characteristics or features of the desired ecological economic system, that is the sustainability vision
Taken together, the issues framework and the conceptual model provide the focus for the discussion of sustainability. The formulation of a sustainable society involves realizing a vision of how the landscape of human and natural ecosystems should co-evolve as a self-organizing entity The conceptual model informs society about known ecological constraints and possibilities. People provide an image of how they would like to see the landscape of human and natural ecosystems co-evolve, through the issues framework. An ecosystem approach must insure that a dialogue ensues which explores the desired and the feasible and reconciles these in a feasible vision of how to proceed. Having resolved a community vision for the future, the next phase in an ecosystem approach is to design an adaptive programme for the realization of the vision.
This adaptive programme consists of a plan and infrastructure for the triad of activities, governance, management and monitoring. Governance refers to the continuing process of learning, revisioning, resolving tradeoffs, and planning by the parties to adapt to the unfolding situation. This will entail the ongoing evolution of governance arrangements. We see this activity happening all around the Great Lakes with the emergence of virtual governance, community based initiatives which organize to focus on specific elements of the landscape such as watersheds or bays. Management is the activity of translating the vision into reality. It involves the development and implementation of strategies to promote or discourage specific forms of self-organization in the context of the communal vision and plan. Generally speaking management concentrates on the relationship between humans and natural ecosystems and guiding the human side of the relationship. Monitoring is the activity of observing the human and natural systems and synthesizing the observations together into a narrative of how the situation has actually unfolded and how it might unfold in the future. This narrative is used as the basis for governance and management, that is for learning, revisioning, and adapting human activities as the human and natural ecosystems co-evolve as a self-organizing entity.
In this ecosystem approach, monitoring, governance, and management make up a triad of activities that are carried out in the context of an issues framework of human concerns and an explicit conceptual model of the ecological-economic system. By furnishing a means for informed resolution of the tradeoffs necessary to sustain the health and integrity of the ecological economic system, the activities of monitoring, governance, and management, carried out in concert, chart the course to sustainability.
The elaboration of the ecosystem approach is the subject of:
Kay. J. 2000. "Ecosystems as Self-organizing Holarchic Open Systems : Narratives and the Second Law of Thermodynamics" in Sven Erik Jorgensen, Felix Muller (eds), Handbook of Ecosystems Theories and Management, CRC Press - Lewis Publishers. pp 135-160
Boyle, M., Kay. J., and Pond, B., 2001. Monitoring in Support of Policy: an Adaptive Ecosystem Approach, in Munn, T., (editor in chief), Vol.4 Encylopedia of Global Environmental Change, London, John Wiley and Son. pp.116-137.
Updated 27 December, 1999
Back to outline of ecosystem talk page