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Complexity of Ecosystem Services and Social Systems: Insights from Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

Explore the intricate relationships between ecosystem services and human well-being in this lecture. Understand the complexity and interconnectivity of natural and social systems, delving into the impact on resilience and adaptability.

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Complexity of Ecosystem Services and Social Systems: Insights from Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

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  1. What are Ecosystem Services:Understanding complexity by Arild Vatn Department of Environment and Development, Norwegian University of Life Sciences Lecture at the international workshop: “Making Sense of Ecosystem Services: Ecosocial and Institutional Perspectives” Koli, Finland, August 25-27

  2. The structure of the presentation • The perspective of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment • Complexity, social systems and ecosystem services

  3. 1. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment The MEA classifies sets of ecosystem service functions • Supporting (e.g., nutrient cycling, soil formation) • Provisioning (e.g.,food, fuel) • Regulating (e.g., climate regulation, disease regulation) • Cultural (e.g., aesthetics, educational)

  4. 1. The Millennium EcosystemAssessment (cont.) Ecosystem services and human well being

  5. 2. Complexity: Social and ecological • Nested systems • Different scales (time; space) • Different processes operate at different scales  Multiple representations • Lack of (complete) predictability • Risk • Uncertainty • Ignorance (radical uncertainty)

  6. Strong deter-minism Risk - weak determinism Open ignorance Closed ignorance Reducible ignorance Irreducible ignorance Personal ignorance – education Common ignorance – research Chaos Novelty (geno-typic change 2. Complexity: Social and ecological (cont.)Complexity and knowledge Determinism – simple/compli- cated – outcomes all known Ignorance – complexity – uncertainty/ignorance After Faber et al. 1996

  7. 2. Complexity: Social and ecological (cont.)Systems complexity • Vulnerability • Adaptability • Resilience Attractor basin ? System’s position

  8. 2. Complexity: Social and ecological (cont.)Natural systems complexity • Evolution of species • Biogeochemical cycles • The interactions between biota, chemical and geological processes • Life has created its own conditions – e.g., the composition of the atmosphere • The rivet – popper analogy: redundancy, resilience and vulnerability • Interconnectedness • The entropy laws

  9. 2. Complexity: Social and ecological (cont.)Social systems complexity • Institutions bring order to a complex external world (Wittgenstein: The limits of my language means the limits to my world). Still multiple representations • Social complexity • Different representations – e.g., different perspectives and disciplines • Different values and value systems • Different interests • Different rationalities – e.g., individual vs. social rationality • Interest vs. value vs. data conflicts • Anthropocentric vs. non-anthropocentric values • Complex behavior – individual and group level

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