Averting lock-in risks in social-ecological systems: a roadmap for pluralistic research and governance

Le résumé fourni par la source

Although sustainability pathways are urgently needed to safeguard human and non-human life within a habitable Earth system, there is no consensual knowledge about how to trigger such pathways, due to differences in values, interests, and power at multiple levels. While we develop actionable knowledge about how to induce sustainability pathways in an equitable and just way, we need to better comprehend how to avoid “locked-in” outcomes—strongly entrenched situations minimizing potential for change—in social-ecological systems (SES). Here, we offer a roadmap to guide innovative research to observe, understand, and ultimately avoid, processes that can induce lock-ins at multiple spatiotemporal scales in SES. We use recent research illustrating lock-in dynamics in the Guadalquivir Estuary and Doñana Delta SES to funnel experiences and insights from other cases and produce a knowledge base comprehensive enough to highlight novel research avenues. Our roadmap is organized in three broad research areas: (1) general cross-cutting research themes; (2) policy, collective action and governance; (3) plurality of values and methodological pluralism, acknowledging the role of long-term socio-ecological research (LTSER) platforms as transdisciplinary knowledge co-production spaces supporting solution creation. Hopefully, this roadmap may serve to support solutions to collectively learn how to navigate away from lock-in in SES, towards safer and more equitable sustainability pathways.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.