A Management Perspective on Social Ecological Systems: A generic system model and its application to a case study from Peru

Abstract

This paper suggests a framework for operationalizing the concept of a social-ecological system (SES), through a generic system model that can be applied to different situations and used as a management tool. Four functional subsystems are identified: natural (N), worldview (W), control / management (C) and technology (T). These encompass four orders of system complexity: physical, biological, social and semiotic. Emergent systems properties are conceptualized as arising through exchanges of matter and meaning between subsystems, and between the system as a whole and its environment (E). The second half of the paper draws on field work undertaken in the Manu Biosphere Reserve, Peru, to illustrate how the generic model can be applied to the case of family farm systems in the reserve. The aim is to facilitate collaboration among specialists from a range of disciplines, and non-academics, working together to address social and environmental issues from a systems perspective.