Perspective changes everything: managing ecosystems from the inside out

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dc.contributor.authorWaltner-Toews, David
dc.contributor.authorKay, James J
dc.contributor.authorNeudoerffer, Cynthia
dc.contributor.authorGitau, Thomas
dc.date.accessioned2012-07-23T14:48:13Z
dc.date.available2012-07-23T14:48:13Z
dc.date.issued2003
dc.description.abstractIn the past, environmental managers could behave as if they were managing a "natural" system to which they were external; criteria for successful management could be derived from historical data or from current pristine systems elsewhere in the world. With a few localized exceptions, this approach is no longer viable. Most of the ecosystems for which critical and urgent decisions need to be made are best seen as complex ecosocial systems, with people firmly embedded as an integral element. We can no longer manage ecosystems per se, but rather we must learn to manage our interactions within our ecological context. This view, which incorporates notions of multiple, interacting, nested hierarchies, feedback loops across space and time, and radical uncertainty with regard to prediction of system behavior, requires rethinking. How should we now think about science and science-based management? Post-normal science, complex systems theories, and the creation of collective narratives offer the best hope for making progress in this field. We use several ecosystem management and community health programs in Peru, Kenya, and Nepal to demonstrate the characteristics necessary for this kind of "inside-out" approach.en
dc.formatTexten
dc.format.extent1 digital file (p. 23-30 : ill.)en
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.citationWaltner-Toews, D., Kay, J. J., Neudoerffer, C., & Gitau, T. (2003). Perspective changes everything: managing ecosystems from the inside out. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 1 (1): 23-30. doi: 10.1890/1540-9295(2003)001[0023:PCEMEF]2.0.CO;2en
dc.identifier.issn1540-9295
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10625/49840
dc.language.isoen
dc.relation.journalFrontiers in Ecology and the Environment
dc.subjectNEPALen
dc.subjectKENYAen
dc.subjectPERUen
dc.subjectHEALTHen
dc.subjectECOSYSTEMSen
dc.subjectSELF ORGANISING HOLARCIC OPEN SYSTEMSen
dc.subjectPOST-NORMAL SCIENCEen
dc.subjectECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENTen
dc.subjectENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENTen
dc.titlePerspective changes everything: managing ecosystems from the inside outen
dc.typeJournal Article (peer-reviewed)en
idrc.copyright.holderThe Ecological Society of America
idrc.dspace.accessIDRC Onlyen
idrc.project.number004322
idrc.project.titleHealth, Biodiversity and Natural Resource Use in the Western Amazon Lowlands : an Integrated Agro-ecosystem Approachen
idrc.rims.adhocgroupIDRC SUPPORTEDen

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