The interrelations of human beings with ecosystems experience rising importance in sustainable land use planning and lead to the concept of socio-ecological system. Socio-ecological systems include both, a bio-geo-physical component and the related local to regional actors. Their system boundaries depend on the problem context and can be either determined by environmental parameters or socio-cultural factors. Socio-ecological systems experience constant change and adaptation processes related to utilization, management, policy, ecological, and external influences.
The scope of Change and Adaptation in Socio-Ecological Systems is to publish original papers, review and synthesis papers, and short communications, and research letters addressing an interdisciplinary point of view on change and adaptation of socio-ecological systems from management unit level to policy level. Thematically, Change and Adaptation in Socio-Ecological Systems aims to address all studies that have a focus on the impact of global change and climate change, on functioning or services of socio-ecological systems and related human-environment interactions, on understanding, monitoring and proposing innovative approaches, tools and technologies to adapt and bring forward system management and development.
Our range of topics includes studies related to agriculture, forestry, and their interactions, water management, urban systems and rural-urban interface. Focus is laid on highly integrative studies, but also welcome contributions enhancing innovative aspects within one of these areas as long as they address one or more of the following cross-cutting issues: (a) management of the ecological integrity and ecosystem functioning on local, regional to supra-regional scale, (b) adaptive system management under external pressures such as climate or societal changes, land-use change, and urbanization processes/development of megacities, (c) socio-economic and political issues such as regional economy, change management, management support, (d) provision of functions, goods and services, sustainable processing of natural resources and regional value clusters, and (e) innovative models and technologies in socio-ecological system development planning support, stakeholder involvement and participatory processes.
Why read
Studies related to socio-ecological systems and their change and adaptation create increasingly cross-disciplinary research results. These are so far dispersed in journals of different disciplines. Therefore, Change and Adaptation in Socio-Ecological Systems offers a unique perspective that covers all relevant land use sectors and a wide range of cross-cutting issues. This specific journal scope increases the transparency of the reported findings for the exchange of ideas among related disciplines.
Major topics we address are (i) observations on highly relevant global, regional and local drivers of changes and their effects on socio-ecological systems, (ii) knowledge, techniques, approaches and concepts of how to further develop, manage and adapt socio-ecological systems in their political, cultural and natural context and (iii) approaches to assess the impact of changes and the efficiency of adaptation and management measures to ensure a sustainable system development.
With Change and Adaptation in Socio-Ecological Systems, we address scientists and practitioners in land/ecosystem management, land use/regional/spatial planning, environmental policies consulting and socio-cultural/socio-ecological system development.
Why submit
The growing body of research of the land system, global and climate change community demands enlarged publication opportunities, especially with a focus on system change and adaptation.
Change and Adaptation in Socio-Ecological Systems offers an exclusive forum for R&D (a) on changes that impact the functioning of socio-ecological systems such as climate change or global change and (b) on measures, strategies and policies in tackling and adaption to current and future changes.
Focus is laid on inter- and transdisciplinary work oriented on solving questions and problems, but also theoretical papers and reviews that provide in depth-analysis and concise overview are welcome. Especially welcome are contributions communicating lessons learned from case studies, from the application of methods or the (further) development of methods including (a) monitoring and assessment of global, regional or local changes that impact sustainable resources provision and vulnerability of ecological-economic systems, (b) modeling and simulation of adaptation opportunities at local, regional and global scale including management measures, planning strategies or environmental policies, and (c) evaluation of adaptation measures, resilience, sustainability strategies, and policies.
Encouraged are also contributions dealing with critical aspects and failures to enhance the discussion on approaches in socio-ecological systems, their understanding and development, such as through participatory research approaches.
- Transparent, comprehensive and fast peer review.
- The journal does not have article processing charges (APCs) nor article submission charges.
