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Seminar series on Challenging theories and frameworks on socio-ecological systems with empirical results

Seminar series on "Resilience, Vulnerability and Political ecology" - three schools of thought, theory, and framework to analyze the dynamics and management of socio-ecological systems.

Venue: Jacques Alliot Amphitheather, CIRAD Montpellier

Conference dates: 2-3 July and 9-10 July

See programs : 2 & 3 July and 9 & 10 July

Contacts : francois.bousquet@cirad.fr, martine.antona@cirad.fr, denis.gautier@cirad.fr

This project is supported by Agropolis Fondation

Learn more about the project:

For the last twenty years, the research units participating in this project have been developing research activities on socio-ecological systems aiming at understanding relationships between agriculture and biodiversity, policies and landscapes dynamics, watershed management, ecosystem management and health risk, etc. At the same time, diverse schools of thought have developed theories and frameworks to analyse the dynamics and management of socio-ecological systems (Resilience,Vulnerability, Political ecology ).

The objective of this project is to assess the relevance and the complementarities of these theoretical frameworks by applying and testing them in the case of four empirical research case studies (Wetlands of the Rhone river delta, Locust control in Sahelian region, Multiple uses of Sahelian ecosystems, Management of Bemisia-phytovirus risk .) developed by the participating units based in Montpellier for the last twenty years. On one hand this assessment will enhance the value of such empirical research and on the other hand these project activities will clarify the respective potential of these different theoretical frameworks. The lessons from this project will also provide the basis for new conceptualisations of socio-ecological systems dynamics and management.

In 2009-2010 senior researchers (Lance Gunderson, Allyson Quinlan, Colin Polsky, Marco Janssen, Paul Robbins, Nancy Peluso, Tom Bassett, Tor Benjaminssen, Tim Lynam, John Anderies) will be hosted for short periods (from one to two months each) during which they will interact with the participating units in Montpellier. The same case studies will be presented to all invited researchers. Thus the relevance, strengths and weaknesses, and complementarities of the theoretical frameworks proposed by the visiting fellows will be assessed. Each case study will be analysed from a different angle leading to progress in the understanding of the dynamics and management of the socio-ecological system under study.

Each invited researcher will give an open seminar ( Bassett, Robbins, Benjaminsen, Peluso, Lance Gunderson, Marco Janssen, Colin Polsky, Allyson Quinlan). A project management committee made of a small group of researchers based in Montpellier will also be in charge of the preparation of a series of syntheses on the knowledge acquired after each fellow's visit and will establish linkages between the different points of views proposed by the visiting fellows.

At the end (mid 2010) of this series of visits and after the synthesis phase, an international workshop will be organized to present the results of the project.