Developing Transdisciplinary Approaches to Sustainability Challenges: The Need to Model Socio-Environmental Systems in the Longue Durée

Fabio Silva (), Fiona Coward, Kimberley Davies, Sarah Elliott, Emma Jenkins, Adrian C. Newton, Philip Riris, Marc Vander Linden, Jennifer Bates, Elena Cantarello, Daniel A. Contreras, Stefani A. Crabtree, Enrico R. Crema, Mary Edwards, Tatiana Filatova, Ben Fitzhugh, Hannah Fluck, Jacob Freeman, Kees Klein Goldewijk, Marta Krzyzanska, Daniel Lawrence, Helen Mackay, Marco Madella, Shira Yoshi Maezumi, Rob Marchant, Sophie Monsarrat, Kathleen D. Morrison, Ryan Rabett, Patrick Roberts, Mehdi Saqalli, Rick Stafford, Jens-Christian Svenning, Nicki J. Whithouse and Alice Williams
Additional contact information
Fabio Silva: Institute for the Modelling of Socio-Environmental Transitions, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole BH12 5BB, UK
Fiona Coward: Institute for the Modelling of Socio-Environmental Transitions, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole BH12 5BB, UK
Kimberley Davies: Institute for the Modelling of Socio-Environmental Transitions, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole BH12 5BB, UK
Sarah Elliott: Institute for the Modelling of Socio-Environmental Transitions, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole BH12 5BB, UK
Emma Jenkins: Institute for the Modelling of Socio-Environmental Transitions, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole BH12 5BB, UK
Adrian C. Newton: Institute for the Modelling of Socio-Environmental Transitions, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole BH12 5BB, UK
Philip Riris: Institute for the Modelling of Socio-Environmental Transitions, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole BH12 5BB, UK
Marc Vander Linden: Institute for the Modelling of Socio-Environmental Transitions, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole BH12 5BB, UK
Jennifer Bates: Department of Archaeology and Art History, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
Elena Cantarello: Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole BH12 5BB, UK
Daniel A. Contreras: Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32603, USA
Stefani A. Crabtree: Department of Environment and Society, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA
Enrico R. Crema: Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3ER, UK
Mary Edwards: School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, University Road, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
Ben Fitzhugh: Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Hannah Fluck: National Trust–Heelis, Swindon SN2 2NA, UK
Jacob Freeman: The Anthropology Program, The Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84321, USA
Kees Klein Goldewijk: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, 2584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands
Marta Krzyzanska: Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3ER, UK
Daniel Lawrence: Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
Helen Mackay: Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
Marco Madella: CaSEs Research Group (Culture and Socio-Ecological Dynamics), Department of Humanities, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08002 Barcelona, Spain
Shira Yoshi Maezumi: Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Geoanthropology, 07743 Jena, Germany
Rob Marchant: York Institute for Tropical Ecosystems, Department of Environment and Geography, University of York, Heslington YO10 5NG, UK
Sophie Monsarrat: Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE), Department of Biology, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark
Kathleen D. Morrison: Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Ryan Rabett: Archaeology & Palaeoecology, School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
Patrick Roberts: Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Geoanthropology, 07743 Jena, Germany
Mehdi Saqalli: CNRS GEODE (Geography of Environment) CNRS, Université Toulouse-Jean Jaurès, CEDEX 9, 31058 Toulouse, France
Rick Stafford: Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole BH12 5BB, UK
Jens-Christian Svenning: Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE), Department of Biology, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark
Nicki J. Whithouse: Archaeology, School of Humanities, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
Alice Williams: Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 16, 1-20

Abstract: Human beings are an active component of every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. Although our local impact on the evolution of these ecosystems has been undeniable and extensively documented, it remains unclear precisely how our activities are altering them, in part because ecosystems are dynamic systems structured by complex, non-linear feedback processes and cascading effects. We argue that it is only by studying human–environment interactions over timescales that greatly exceed the lifespan of any individual human (i.e., the deep past or longue durée ), we can hope to fully understand such processes and their implications. In this article, we identify some of the key challenges faced in integrating long-term datasets with those of other areas of sustainability science, and suggest some useful ways forward. Specifically, we (a) highlight the potential of the historical sciences for sustainability science, (b) stress the need to integrate theoretical frameworks wherein humans are seen as inherently entangled with the environment, and (c) propose formal computational modelling as the ideal platform to overcome the challenges of transdisciplinary work across large, and multiple, geographical and temporal scales. Our goal is to provide a manifesto for an integrated scientific approach to the study of socio-ecological systems over the long term.

Keywords: transdisciplinarity; archaeology; paleoecology; history; prehistory; modelling; longue durée (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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