Social ecology studies relationships between people and their environment, often the interdependence of people, collectives and institutions. Evolving out of
biological ecology
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...
,
human ecology
Human ecology is an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary study of the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments. The philosophy and study of human ecology has a diffuse history with advancements in ecolog ...
,
systems theory
Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its structu ...
and
ecological psychology
Ecological psychology is the scientific study of perception-action from a direct realist approach. Ecological psychology is a school of psychology that follows much of the writings of Roger Barker and James J. Gibson. Those in the field of Ec ...
, social ecology takes a “broad, interdisciplinary perspective that gives greater attention to the social, psychological, institutional, and cultural contexts of people-environment relations than did earlier versions of human ecology.” The concept has been employed to study a diverse array of social problems and policies within the behavioural and social sciences.
Conceptual orientation
As described by Stokols, the core principles of social ecology include:
* Multidimensional structure of human environments—physical & social, natural & built features; objective-material as well as perceived-symbolic (or semiotic); virtual & place-based features
* Cross-disciplinary, multi-level, contextual analyses of people-environment relationships spanning proximal and distal scales (from narrow to broad spatial, sociocultural, and temporal scope)
* Systems principles, especially feedback loops, interdependence of system elements, anticipating unintended side effects of public policies and environmental interventions
* Translation of theory and research findings into community interventions and public policies
* Privileging and combining both academic and non-academic perspectives, including scientists and academicians, lay citizens and community stakeholder groups, business leaders and other professional groups, and government decision makers.
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Transdisciplinary
Transdisciplinarity connotes a research strategy that crosses many disciplinary boundaries to create a holistic approach. It applies to research efforts focused on problems that cross the boundaries of two or more disciplines, such as research o ...
values and orientation, synthesizing concepts and methods from different fields that pertain to particular research topics.
[Nash, Justin M. "Transdisciplinary training: key components and prerequisites for success." American Journal of Preventive Medicine 35.2 (2008): S133-S140.]
Academic programs
Several academic programs combine a broad definition of “environmental studies” with analyses of social processes, biological considerations, and the physical environment. A number of social ecology degree-granting programs and research institutes shape the global evolution of the social ecological paradigm. For example, see:
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College of the Atlantic
College of the Atlantic (COA) is a private liberal arts college in Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island, Maine, United States. Founded in 1969, it awards bachelors and masters ( M.Phil.) degrees solely in the field of human ecology, an interdiscipli ...
* UC Irvine
School of Social Ecology
The School of Social Ecology (SSE) is a school at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) that focuses on social ecology.
Students in SSE at UCI undergo a multidisciplinary program that examines real-world social and environmental issues a ...
*
Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
Yale School of the Environment (YSE) is a professional school of Yale University. It was founded to train foresters, and now trains environmental leaders through four 2-year degree programs ( Master of Environmental Management, Master of Environm ...
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Cornell University College of Human Ecology
New York University, Environmental EducationThe Institute for Social Ecology in Plainfield, VTThe Institute for Social-Ecological Research, FrankfurtStockholm Resilience Centre
Most of the 120 listed programs at the link below are in human ecology, but many overlap with social ecology:
Society for Human Ecology list of programs and institutions
See also
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Social ecology (Bookchin)
Social ecology is a philosophical theory about the relationship between ecological and social issues. Associated with the social theorist Murray Bookchin, it emerged from a time in the mid-1960s, under the emergence of both the global environ ...
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Social ecological model
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Ecology
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...
*
Environmental stewardship
References
External links
Conceptual social ecology Google scholar search on social ecological systemsArticle on expansion of social ecological systems science
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