Abstracts


 * Abstracts**


 * Presentation Title: Urban Ecology in a Developing World: What can we learn from long-term socio-ecological research in rural and urbanizing South Africa?

Authors: Melissa McHale, Lori Bradford, David Bunn, Liesel Ebersohn, April James, Duarte Morais, Elizabeth Nichols, Funke Omidire, Steward Pickett, Toddi Steelman, Wayne Twine

British Ecological Society INTECOL 2013 – Organized Symposium - "Long-term urban ecological studies: linking pattern, process and ecosystem service towards sustainable cities" co-organized by Drs. Zhiyun Ouyang and Steward Pickett.**

Abstract: Socio-ecological theory developed through the study of urbanization has recently led to a new focus on comparative analyses of cities. Many of these studies have been concentrated in the Global North, yet urbanization is now occurring mostly in the developing world, with the fastest rates of growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. Here there are a variety of land cover changes that may challenge current definitions of urban and rural and bring into question assumptions associated with the connectivity of these dynamic socio-ecological systems. Exemplary of many migration patterns and urbanization trends in the Global South, is the rural and urbanizing region around the Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa, one of the world’s premier conservation areas. The continuing health of KNP’s savanna ecosystem is highly dependent on the communities that exist outside of this conservation area’s boundaries. Simultaneously, local residents will likely become more dependent on resources within the KNP as urbanization in the region is accompanied by major reductions in the ecosystem services that are now providing significant support for rural livelihoods in the region. For KNP and its neighbors to survive this new urban future, conservation managers, scientists, community residents, and local and regional government officials are going to have to find new ways to collaborate on projects that aim to achieve a healthy and resilient Greater Kruger National Park Socio-Ecological System. The IMAGINE program, an international collaboration among several institutions, including North Carolina State University, The University of Pretoria, The University of the Witwatersrand, and South African National Parks is working towards this goal by implementing a framework for interdisciplinary and comparative research analyses with substantial community participation. In our studies, we combine a unique set of analyses, including ecological and social surveys, interviews, focus group and participatory mapping exercises to facilitate the development of solutions to the most pressing and complex resource management issues in the region. We present results from a socio-ecological assessment of water reliability, availability, and quality in Hamakuya (Limpopo Province), as an example of how this kind of cooperative effort can lead to achieving long-term sustainability goals in the region. Long-term research efforts on urban development processes occurring in South Africa will advance a more comprehensive worldview of how future urbanization will influence the progress of sustainable societies.

Richard@BritishEcologicalSociety.org


 * Steelman, T., McHale, M., Bradford, L. Nichol, E. and A. James. 2014. A Framework for Systematic Learning for Sustainability Science. AASHE 2014: Innovation for Sustainable Economies & Communities, October 26-29th, Portland OR.**

Abstract Description The urgency of global problems including growing income inequality, climate change, threats to water security, loss of species and the intensification of urbanization suggest that the aspirations for sustainable development that were laid out in the late 1980s and early 1990s have largely not been met. Failures in conventional science to address these pressing problems and better serve society have led to calls for practicing a different kind of science-one that can lead to the goal of a more ecologically sustainable and equitable quality of life. A recommended path forward to achieve this kind of science is for researchers to participate in problem-oriented, co-designed, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary work that can contribute to this vision. The challenge is that while we have a vision of where we would like science to go, we do not have a clear road map that can get us there. The problem lies less with the articulation of the conceptual goals and more with how to execute or implement a sustainability science vision on the ground. This raises the important question: How do we practice sustainability science so as reduce inequality, promote health and psychological well-being, lessen the ecological impact as well as secure livelihoods. This presentation articulates a framework of criteria that can facilitate more systematic learning in how we practice sustainability science. Spangenberg (2011) makes a distinction about science for sustainability-conducting science to understand specific sustainability phenomena and science of sustainability-a discussion about how we actually practice sustainability science. In this article, we build on how we practice the science for sustainability. Using the literature on interdisciplinary and sustainability science we leverage the key criteria that can be used to assess the practice of sustainability science. In the spirit of sustainability science we then assess our sustainability project in Hamakuya, South Africa and how it measured up according to the framework for systematic learning. This assessment revealed some relative strengths and weaknesses in our attempt to practice sustainability science. This reflective practice contributes to the adaptive management cycle of social learning that is essential for the practice of science for sustainability. By way of example, we demonstrate how others might use this framework to deliver insights into their own projects. Furthermore, we also providing direction for fostering a foundation for systematic learning that can accelerate how sustainability science practitioners might enhance the application of practice sustainability science on the ground.

Learning Outcomes Attendees will learn about sustainability science, how we can evaluate it and what are some of the key opportunities and obstacles to practicing sustainability science. They will also learn about a specific sustainability science project in Hamakuya, South Africa that deals with water security concerns in a rural environment.