Design principles for social-ecological research at the landscape scale applied to western Rwanda

Matthias Baumann, Dula Duguma, Susanne Vögele, Meike Wollni, Ping Sun, Gaelle Ndayizeye and Joern Fischer

PLOS ONE, 2025, vol. 20, issue 8, 1-11

Abstract: Place-based social-ecological systems research provides major opportunities to advance sustainability and often involves large, interdisciplinary groups. Researchers adopt various methodologies when studying landscapes, gathering a wide array of data such as socioeconomic information from households, ecological data from specific areas, and qualitative insights from interviews. To integrate these varied methods, we propose identifying social-ecological research units as shared anchor points for data collection across teams. We outline four design principles: (i) spatial scale of social-ecological units, (ii) key social-ecological gradients in the study area, (iii) accessibility of stratification data, and (iv) flexibility in response to logistical challenges. We applied these principles to design a social-ecological study on ecosystem restoration in western Rwanda. We identified five distinct and spatially homogenous clusters, from which we sampled a total of 152 villages (~9.5% of all villages in our study area), which will be visited by different researchers within our study consortium, hence enabling to identify cross-sectional similarities and differences. Through our stratification according to these principles, we created a framework to guide interdisciplinary collaboration. This structured approach supports integration of diverse research efforts and offers insights for advancing place-based social-ecological systems research globally. Sharing our stratification data and methodology, we highlight its potential applicability to other landscapes and sustainability challenges.

Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0330704

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0330704

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