The programme on ecosystem change and society (PECS)–a decade of deepening social-ecological research through a place-based focus

The Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS) was established in 2011, and is now one of the major international social-ecological systems (SES) research networks. During this time, SES research has undergone a phase of rapid growth and has grown into an influential branch of sustainability science. In this Perspective, we argue that SES research has also deepened over the past decade, and helped to shed light on key dimensions of SES dynamics (e.g. system feedbacks, aspects of system design, goals and paradigms) that can lead to tangible action for solving the major sustainability challenges of our time. We suggest four ways in which the growth of place-based SES research, fostered by networks such as PECS, has contributed to these developments, namely by: 1) shedding light on transformational change, 2) revealing the social dynamics shaping SES, 3) bringing together diverse types of knowledge, and 4) encouraging reflexive researchers

Women’s social networks in resettlement areas: The case of Metema resettlement site, Ethiopia

This study is designed to understand the existing formal and informal social networks among re-settlers in Ethiopia. Its main purpose is to explore the extent and gender implica¬tions of women’s participation in different social networks. The study aims to identify options for enhancing the role and sustainability of these social networks for promoting agricultural innovation in the Metema resettlement site in Ethiopia. Using multistage sampling procedure, the study is based on the selection of 2 out of 18 Peasant As¬sociations (PAs) in the district, and on a random sample of 160 households. The results show significant variations between previous and recent settlers, and between male and female headed households in terms of membership in different social networks. Relatives, friends and neighbors are the most important source of information and mutual support; and of influential networks in the adoption and diffusion process in the study area. The study recommends for government and NGOs to provide genuine support to social networks, to strengthen their organization, and to promote community based self help groups

High-Tech Urban Agriculture in Amsterdam : An Actor Network Analysis

The agriculture and horticulture sector in the Netherlands is one of the most productive in the world. Although the sector is one of the most advanced and intense agricultural production systems worldwide, it faces challenges, such as climate change and environmental and social unsustainability of industrial production. To overcome these challenges, alternative food production initiatives have emerged, especially in large cities such as Amsterdam. Some initiatives involve producing food in the urban environment, supported by new technologies and practices, so-called high-tech urban agriculture (HTUA). These initiatives make cultivation of plants inside and on top of buildings possible and increase green spaces in urban areas. The emerging agricultural technologies are creating new business environments that are shape d by technology developers (e.g., suppliers of horticultural light emitting diodes (LED) and control environment systems) and developers of alternative food production practices (e.g., HTUA start-ups). However, research shows that the uptake of these technological innovations in urban planning processes is problematic. Therefore, this research analyzes the barriers that local government planners and HTUA developers are facing in the embedding of HTUA in urban planning processes, using the city of Amsterdam as a case study. This study draws on actor-network theory (ANT) to analyze the interactions between planners, technologies, technology developers and developers of alternative food production practices. Several concepts of ANT are integrated into a multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions (MLP) to create a new theoretical framework that can explain how interactions between technologies and planning actors transform the incumbent social\u2013technical regime. The configuration of interactions between social and material entities in technology development and adoption processes in Amsterdam is analyzed through the lens of this theoretical framework. The data in this study were gathered by tracing actors and their connections by using ethnographic research methods. In the course of the integration of new technologies into urban planning practices, gaps between technologies, technology developers, and planning actors have been identified. The results of this study show a lacking connection between planning actors and technology developers, although planning actors do interact with developers of alternative food production practices. These interactions are influenced by agency of artefacts such as visualizations of the future projects. The paper concludes that for the utilization of emerging technologies for sustainability transition of cities, the existing gap between technology developers and planning actors needs to be bridged through the integration of technology development visions in urban agendas and planning processe

Planning Rural Water Services in Nicaragua: A Systems-Based Analysis of Impact Factors Using Graphical Modeling

The success or failure of rural water services in the developing world is a result of numerous factors that interact in a complex set of connections that are difficult to separate and identify. This research effort presented a novel means to empirically reveal the systemic interactions of factors that influence rural water service sustainability in the municipalities of Darío and Terrabona, Nicaragua. To accomplish this, the study employed graphical modeling to build and analyze factor networks. Influential factors were first identified by qualitatively and quantitatively analyzing transcribed interviews from community water committee members. Factor influences were then inferred by graphical modeling to create factor network diagrams that revealed the direct and indirect interaction of factors. Finally, network analysis measures were used to identify “impact factors” based on their relative influence within each factor network. Findings from this study elucidated the systematic nature of such factor interactions in both Darío and Terrabona, and highlighted key areas for programmatic impact on water service sustainability for both municipalities. Specifically, in Darío, the impact areas related to the current importance of water service management by community water committees, while in Terrabona, the impact areas related to the current importance of finances, viable water sources, and community capacity building by external support. Overall, this study presents a rigorous and useful means to identify impact factors as a way to facilitate the thoughtful planning and evaluation of sustainable rural water services in Nicaragua and beyond

The Transition to a Low Carbon Economy: The Dynamics of Environmental Stakeholder Networks

The transition to a low carbon economy demands new strategies for maintaining competitiveness and benefiting from ‘green growth’. A network of stakeholders offers opportunities for, as well as constraints to, organisational growth and successful low carbon strategies. This multiple-case study explores the relational dynamics between the case organisations and a range of stakeholders. We find that stakeholders with institutional power bases are seen as the most influential. Top management is also a critical stakeholder in providing stewardship for the organisation’s low carbon initiatives. The study highlights the growing influence of customers upon the success of business strategies aimed at exploiting low carbon opportunities. Intra- and inter-organisational strategy-making practices are emergent arenas for stakeholder management in the context of the low carbon economy

Emerging research trends of total quality management in the COVID-19 pandemic: a dynamic evolution analysis

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages, the changing trends and emerging areas of total quality management (TQM) research before and after the COVID-19 pandemic are spotlighted, while the links between TQM and environmental social governance (ESG) are deeply discussed in this study. To explore the impact of the pandemic on TQM research, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis is conducted by collecting 1465 pre-pandemic and 76 post-pandemic publications from the WoS database. Further, the fundamental characteristics, conceptual structure and intellectual and social structure of TQM research are statistically analysed through bibliometric tools. Consequently, this article methodically sorts out the evolution, new research areas, primary sources, national collaboration networks and influential themes within an intricate and large TQM research system. The linkages between ESG and TQM are explored by focussing on some emerging topics after the outbreak such as sustainability and environmental management, which advances the innovative attempt towards the goal of cooperating sustainability. Finally, we offer some enlightening new perspectives on economic construction and social life during the pandemic to better cope with the negative effects of the pandemic

A grassroots sustainable energy niche? Reflections on community energy case studies

System changing innovations for sustainability transitions are proposed to emerge in radical innovative niches. ‘Strategic Niche Management’ theory predicts that niche level actors and networks will aggregate learning from local projects, distilling and disseminating best practice. This should lower the bar for new projects to form and establish, thereby encouraging the innovation to diffuse through replication. Within this literature, grassroots innovations emerging from civil society are an under researched site of sociotechnical innovation for sustainable energy transitions. We consider the emerging community energy sector in the UK, in order to empirically test this model. Community energy is a diverse grassroots led sector including both demand and supply side initiatives for sustainable energy such as community owned renewable energy generation, village hall refurbishments, behaviour change initiatives and energy efficiency projects. Our analysis draws on in depth qualitative case study research with twelve local projects, and a study of how intermediary organisations aim to support local projects and encourage replication. This rich data allows us to examine the extent and nature of interactions between projects and intermediary actors in order to evaluate the utility of niche theories in the civil society context. In particular, we investigate which types of knowledge, support and resources were needed by our case study projects to become established and thrive, and compare and contrast this with those offered by the emerging community energy niche. Our findings indicate that while networking and intermediary organisations can effectively collate and spread some types of learning and information necessary for replication, this is not sufficient: tacit knowledge, trust and confidence are essential to these projects’ success, but are more difficult to abstract and translate to new settings. We draw out the implications of our findings for niche theory, for community energy and other grassroots practitioners aiming to build robust influential niches, and for policymakers eager to harness civil society’s innovative potential for sustainability

Examining the use of informal networks by NGOs in Azerbaijan and Georgia

To date little is known about the non-governmental organizations' (NGOs) use of informal networks, contacts and connections, as well as about the ‘informalization’ of post-communist civil society in the former Soviet Union. Research on the subject has been mostly restricted to the study of civil society organizations in Central Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Russia, leaving the use and significance of informality among the South Caucasus's NGOs largely ignored. Drawing on qualitative in-depth elite interviews, this study examines the importance of informal networking within the NGO sectors of post-Soviet-rule Azerbaijan and Georgia. The findings of this study document that in Azerbaijan and Georgia the practices of using informal networks of relying on patron–client relations with donors and of individuals using their positions within organizations for profit-making are widespread among the NGOs included in this research

Sustainability and the “urban peasant”: rethinking the cultural politics of food self-provisioning in the Czech Republic

From the introduction: The third article, written by environmentalists Petr Jehlička and Joe Smith, overturns accounts of food self-provisioning in post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe that are rooted in myths of the “urban peasant”. After reviewing and rejecting those accounts the authors introduce very different explanations for high rates of growing and sharing food outside the market system based in social anthropological research in the region. The authors have extended that work with their own qualitative and quantitative research over a period of six years in the Czech Republic, and here present findings that confirm the contribution that food self-provisioning is making to both the social and ecological sustainability

Making new connections towards cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma game

Evolution of cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma game is studied where initially all players are linked via a regular graph, having four neighbors each. Simultaneously with the strategy evolution, players are allowed to make new connections and thus permanently extend their neighborhoods, provided they have been successful in passing their strategy to the opponents. We show that this simple coevolutionary rule shifts the survival barrier of cooperators towards high temptations to defect and results in highly heterogeneous interaction networks with an exponential fit best characterizing their degree distributions. In particular, there exist an optimal maximal degree for the promotion of cooperation, warranting the best exchange of information between influential players.Comment: 6 two-column pages, 7 figures; accepted for publication in Europhysics Letter