12/31/2023 0 Comments Landscape definition ecology![]() Moving landscapes toward sustainability often requires fundamental societal transformations (also called transitions, see Kates and Parris 2003 Lambin 2005 Loorbach 2010), including changes in how landscapes are valued, newly established relations between societal actors, and new governance approaches. Science can facilitate societal transformations towards sustainability ![]() Hence, collaborative and participatory (transdisciplinary) research aimed at creating solutions is essential (Lang et al. Generating sustainable landscape solutions requires societal engagement, collaboration between sectors and creativity in seeking new landscape patterns to make sure that solutions are embedded in society (Nassauer and Opdam 2008 Musacchio 2011). Therefore, solutions-oriented research must now be a priority (Miller et al. However, generating landscape solutions has been less widely pursued within sustainability science-despite it being defined as a place-based, use-inspired science (Kates 2012). ( 2015) have pointed out, SES has been the dominant focus of sustainability science thus far. This relationship can be taken as a basis for analytical and integrative research for understanding complex social-ecological systems (SES). Solutions-oriented research receives inadequate attention in scienceīy definition, sustainability hinges on the dynamic relationship between society and nature. 2015) so that local decision makers are aware of the implications of their own choices for the sustainability of the ‘system earth’. Therefore, science should give insight about how local, regional, and global drivers and effects are connected (Verburg et al. Another example is that the whole global population benefits from climate mitigation capacities of forested landscapes in a region. For example, lowering the intensity of food production in one area may trigger an increase of land use intensity elsewhere. Changes to make local landscapes more sustainable have implications for landscapes elsewhereĪlthough we argue that landscape sustainability is framed in the context of local or regional landscapes, any decision to adapt the use of a local landscape may have consequences for the sustainability of landscapes elsewhere in the world (Meyfroidt et al. 2003 Wu 2013) may be used to deepen understanding of what a sustainable landscape may be. In this dialogue the concepts of weak and strong sustainability (Ekins et al. Scientists could bring in the concept of natural capital and determine in dialogue what level of natural capital is critical for maintaining the capacity of the landscape to provide long-term landscape benefits to future generations. ![]() For example, in a modelling approach with socio-economic scenarios that facilitates building a vision about a future landscape, scientists should select indicators for sustainability in dialogue with stakeholders and determine with them which are the required levels of those indicators to meet the sustainability aims of local society. This dialogue is a fundamental connection between scientific knowledge and human experiences in local landscapes (Miller 2013), and should allow for choices about the future landscape to be expressed by mixed groups of stakeholders (including policy makers). Therefore, science can identify a sustainable landscape only in dialogue with these stakeholders. The identification of problems and solutions is inevitably connected to beliefs, values and preferences of people who live in the landscape, as well as others who depend on its resources and functions. However, this may mean different things to different stakeholders. It recognizes that landscape functions are the foundation for solutions to problems of human well-being (Wu 2013). Research alone cannot determine whether a particular landscape is in a sustainable stateĪ sustainable landscape is a normative concept. For landscape ecologists, we think the following four insights are of particular relevance. Reflective papers on the progress in sustainability research have produced important insights in key features and enabling factors that determine how science may contribute to transitions towards sustainability (Lang et al.
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