A Systemic-Relational Ethical Framework for Aquatic Ecosystem Health Research and Management in Social–Ecological Systems

Oghenekaro Nelson Odume and Chris de Wet
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Oghenekaro Nelson Odume: Unilever Centre for Environmental Water Quality, Institute for Water Research, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa
Chris de Wet: Unilever Centre for Environmental Water Quality, Institute for Water Research, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 19, 1-17

Abstract: This paper argues that if the goal of slowing global ecological degradation, and of sustained improvement in aquatic ecosystem health is to be achieved, then a departure is required from the traditional, discipline-focused approach to aquatic ecosystem health research and management. It argues that a shift needs to be made towards systemic, integrative, and holistic approaches, drawing on diverse disciplines, with values and ethics as fundamental to such approaches. The paper proposes the systemic-relational (SR) ethical framework to aquatic ecosystem health research and management as an essential contribution to addressing the potential intractability of the continuing deterioration of aquatic ecosystem health. The framework recognises the centrality of values in aquatic ecosystem health management, and the role of ethics in negotiating, and constructively balancing, conflicting values to realise healthy ecosystems in social–ecological systems (SES). The implications of the framework in terms of the research-practice interface, decision making, policy formulation, and communication are discussed.

Keywords: aquatic ecosystems; ethics; management; policy; social–ecological systems; values (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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