Source: Steffen, W., Persson, A., Deutsch, L., Zalasiewicz, J., Williams, M., Richardson, K. et al. (2011).

The Anthropocene: From global change to planetary stewardship. Ambio: A Journal of the Human

Environment, 40(7), 739-761.

Global-Scale Changes in Earth Systemas a result of dramatic increase in human activity

Tony Biddle, 2010

Source: Merkel, 2003, p.63

Source:

Osberg, L.

(2008). A

Quarter

Century of

Economic

Inequality in

Canada: 1981-

2006. Ottawa:

CCPA.

„The scale, speed and

complexity of twenty-first

century challenges suggest that

responses based on marginal

changes to the current

trajectory of the human

enterprise— ‘‘fiddling at the

edges’’—risk the collapse of

large segments of the human

population or of globalised

contemporary society as whole.

(Steffen et al, 2011; Stockholm Resilience

Centre)

The March 2005 report of the United

Nations' Millennium Ecosystem Assessment,

issued this „stark warning‟:

Human activity is putting

such strain on the natural

functions of Earth that the

ability of the planet's

ecosystems to sustain future

generations can no longer be

taken for granted. ...

SOURCE: Barnosky, A. D., et al. (2012). Approaching a state shift in Earth's biosphere. Nature,

486(doi:10.1038/nature11018), 52-58.

Social Movements

Respond

Engaging Emergence

“possible higher-order complexity arising out

of chaos in which novel, coherent structures

coalesce through interactions among diverse

entities of a system” (Holman, 2010, p.18)

SIMPLEBaking a cake

COMPLICATEDRocket to moon

COMPLEXRaising a child

Recipe essential Protocols needed Rigid protocols often

not very helpful

Easily replicated

(follow directions)

Success with 1

increases likelihood of

next

Success with 1 is no

guarantee for next

No expertise required Considerable

expertise required

Expertise helps but

responsiveness key

Good recipe a good

guarantee

Key elements

required to succeed

Every child unique,

much uncertainty

Source: Adapted from Westley, Zimmerman & Patton, 2006, Getting to Maybe: How the World is Changed, Random House.

Settings as Complex Adaptive Systems

Dominant ParadigmRisk Management / Bounce-back

Resilience ApproachesBounce Forward / Engaging Emergence

Sees social & ecological systems as:

Mechanisms that can be predicted & controlledSocio-economic systems & nature separate but linked

Complex adaptive systems

Social & ecological systems tightly coupled

Management goal

Max. sustainable yieldEfficiency of production

Resilience, diversity, responsiveness, adaptive learning, creative reorganization

Disturbances seen as

Threats to ‘equilibrium’Nuisances to be eliminated

Tests of resilience; Part of natural cycleSources of innovation & adaptation

Typical response to disturbance

Redouble efforts, tighten control, add new layers of regulation & enforcement

Experiment & learnSeek out other perspectives, ways of doingWork with emergenceCreate opportunities for self-organization (enabling)