Structuring wicked problems in transdisciplinary research using the Social-Ecological Systems framework: an application to the montado system, Alentejo, Portugal

The aspiration to establish an effective dialogue between science and society has inspired some ground breaking examples of transdisciplinarity (TD). The core idea of TD is that different academic disciplines work jointly with practitioners to solve common problems. The first step of TD implies a contextualization that requires holistic and systemic thinking. To achieve this contextualization, we applied the Social–Ecological Systems (SES) framework with the aim of developing TD to deal with the recorded decline in area and tree density of the montado land-use system located in the Alentejo region, Portugal. The study was based both on a literature review and on the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data collected in a number of research projects on the montado. The results show that the lack of consensus regarding the system boundaries, the diverse range of mental models, and the disconnection between policymaking and system singularities are some of the conditions that can hinder TD efforts. The framework allowed the identification of knowledge gaps that limit the understanding of the problem complexity to be dealt with by a TD research process. There is a need to gain a better understanding of the governance system, and to characterize the different types of agro-silvo-pastoral combinations that can be designated as montado. With this detailed understanding, a tailored TD process can be designed. This work argues for the active use of the SES framework in TD in environmental management. Future research could focus on the framework’s utility in developing tools to assess and monitor transdisciplinary research

How to assess relation between local flows of agriculture and wellbeing of rural communities?

One of the stated goals of the CAP post-2013 and further rural policies in Europe is improving the sustainability of European rural areas, including the wellbeing of rural communities, so that rural areas keep on being attractive as living places. The multidimensional nature of well-being is an important challenge in terms of evaluation and consequently there is a need for developing appropriate evaluation methods based on meaningful information, leading to a broader understanding of the wellbeing in rural areas. Over the past two decades, many rural places have witnessed unprecedented change and transformation of local economies, property and management drivers, including public policies. This has led to a dramatic reconstitution of rural populations, with less people engaged in agricultural production, but with new actors increasingly demanding non-production functions of agriculture, and sensibly the formation of a new set of rural social geographies. It is unambiguous that improving wellbeing in rural territories is beyond the capabilities of the agricultural sector alone. Hence, agriculture still has a vital impact on the economic, social and cultural relationships of their inhabitants, thereby determining the contribution it can make to rural wellbeing and to the sustainability of territories. Agriculture is seen as an active and dynamic component of local flows and different agricultural types can interact differently with specific flows, including resource flows, people flows, natural flows and economic flows. Hence, the principal message of this paper will be the discussion of theoretical and conceptual aspects of place-evaluation approaches to assess wellbeing of rural communities. Especial focus will be addressed to wellbeing dimensions that are in the reach of local agriculture. This theoretical understanding of an overlap between agriculture and wellbeing dimensions are critical for definition of appropriate approaches to measure agriculture’s influence on and improvement of local community wellbeing

Coleta de dados no campo (biológico e social)

A coleta de dados biológicos e sociais na escala de paisagem é um grande desafio devido as características únicas dessa escala de análise, como grandes extensões, dificuldade de se alcançar uma cobertura espacial amostral com esforço adequado, deficiência de se obter réplicas, controles e de se executar experimentos. Tais particularidades demandam uma clara definição a priori da pergunta a ser respondida, e uma detalhada avaliação preliminar dos padrões espaciais a serem abordados, buscando um bom planejamento do desenho experimental para a coleta de dados. Neste contexto, a coleta de dados biológicos busca a detecção de padrões e/ou processos ecológicos, que são então relacionados aos padrões espaciais. Por outro lado, os objetivos da coleta de dados sociais são mais relacionados a entender as interações entre os seres humanos e as paisagens, ou seja, as influências antrópicas ou os mecanismos responsáveis pelos padrões espaciais observados. Apresentamos ao longo do capítulo ferramentas de coletas de dados biológicos e sociais, e discutimos o que entendemos ser uma mudança de paradigma na aquisição desses dados. Novas ferramentas e tecnologias tem promovido enormes mudanças nas formas de coleta de dados, onde grandes quantidades de informações são obtidas, o que acreditamos irá revolucionar os estudos de paisagem num futuro próximo.APEP - Associação Portuguesa de Ecologia da Paisagem / IALE-BRinfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Dealing with landscape fuzziness in preference studies: using photo based questionnaires in Mediterranean context/areas.

Mediterranean landscapes reveal extremely adequate conditions for the development of other functions besides production (nature conservation, recreation, life quality, local identity). These functions support the provision of public goods and services increasingly recognized by society. With this goal, the production of knowledge that may support decision is highly needed. In Mediterranean extensively used areas, the analysis of landscape features and related public preferences is complex, as the landscape pattern is highly fuzzy and land cover classes are often mixed. Resulting from multiple research developments, this paper demonstrates how photo-based surveys can be a suitable tool for assessing landscape preferences by specific public groups. Landscape functions addressed are closely linked to land cover patterns, as resulting from land cover systems. Thus using photographs in landscape questionnaires is useful in focusing the discussion on specific aspects, related with the variations in land cover and in their combinations with other specific landscape features. But the photos shown need to be clear and easily perceivable by the respondents. In order to cope with the underlying fuzziness of these landscapes, manipulation of images has been developed as the best solution so that the variations shown to respondents are adequately controlled in the study and landscape features are easily recognized by the respondents. The methodological approach as well as the results of applied approaches, of two studies on the users preferences, applied to a case-study area in Alentejo region, Portugal, are presented. The issues concerned with photo manipulation are a particular focus of discussion.

A landscapes-based approach to improving linkages among research, management and planning of multi-functional land-use systems; the example of the Montado.

Multi-functional land-use systems are acknowledged as highly sustainable and resilient, and play an important role in confronting global challenges such as increasing climate hazards, decreasing food security, decline in social capital and biodiversity conservation. The Montado of Central and Southern Portugal falls within such category. The Montado is a Mediterranean silvo-pastoral land-use system dominated by Holm and Cork Oaks covering a wide range of tree densities. It is recognized in its capacity to deliver a wide variety of ecosystem services. However, a slight decline in its extent has been detected driven by the inherent difficulty in incorporating many of these services into current markets and decision-making frameworks. We argue that applying a landscape-based approach can bring a number of advantages compared to those arising from ecosystems-based approaches. This is particularly relevant for Mediterranean environments that are characterized by a long-term history of human transformations and by deep cultural values. From a conceptual perspective such advantages include the inherent nature of landscapes as complex social-ecological constructs that bridge together the natural, socio-economic and cultural dimensions of land-use, the spatial and scalar alignment of landscapes with key land-use planning and management structures and systems, and a potential for jointly engaging scientists, land managers and other stakeholders. Consequently, we argue that a landscapes-based approach can help in improving linkages amongst research, management and planning. In the present context of post-normal and trans-disciplinary science, knowledge is co-constructed by multiple actors within a participatory and multi-level framework. We argue that in such context a landscapes-based approach can become valuable for designing and implementing novel governance models that are effective in achieving increased levels of sustainability and resilience of land-use systems. To test such arguments we examined the Montado of Central Alentejo (NUTS 3) focusing on landscape services and multi-functionality, and also on territorial impacts driven by landscape changes that are dynamic in time and space. Central Alentejo is a region for which a broad dataset of spatial, institutional, socio-cultural, economic and bio-physical information has been built up by our institution over the years, and where mutual trust and bonds with key stakeholders, a key factor of success for action-oriented research, has been gained. Arising from our experience, we can argue that employing a landscapes-based approach potentially represents advantages for implementation of action-research schemes in the context of multi-functional land-use systems such as the Montado, and eventually also for other silvo-pastoral systems.H2020-SUFISA (European Commission