LAPECS – Latin American Network of PECS (Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society)

PECS is a core project of Future Earth which aims to generate scientific knowledge about the social-ecological dynamics that contribute to sustainability transformations of social-ecological systems. PECS work is mainly based on comparative analysis of long-term case studies of placed-based social-ecological research, involving multiple methods and knowledges.

In Latin America there is a thriving community working on this kind of transdisciplinary research, involving different disciplines, approaches, knowledges, and actors (e.g. social organizations, resource users, decision makers). However, the interconnectivity between the research groups across the region is generally low. This is why SARAS (based in Uruguay) and Socio-Ecos Network from Mexico initiated efforts to create a Latin American network of PECS

• To enhance the development of transdisciplinary research on social-ecological systems in Latin America, focusing on existing social-ecological conflicts and promoting change and transformation towards sustainability in the region.
• To inform global sustainability and transformative policy with empirical evidence from Latin American visions, alternative methods for case studies and projects.
• To build strong and long-lasting South-South linkages to enhance sustainability science, while keeping an international focus in the context of global science and policy processes.

• Food systems
• Governance
• Transformative change
• Arts-Science-Hummanities
• Among others

Start: 2022

• Micaela Trimble (SARAS Institute) – mica.trimble@saras-institute.org
• Rafael Calderón (Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana) – rcalderon@cua.uam.mx

• Patricia Balvanera (Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)
• Pedro R. Jacobi (Instituto de Energia e Ambiente, Universidade de São Paulo) 
• Jorge Marcone (Rutgers University)
• Azahara Mesa (El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Laboratorio Transdisciplinario para la Sustentabilidad)
• María Perevotchikova (El Colegio de México A.C.)
• Cristiana S. Seixas (Núcleo de Estudos e Pesquisas Ambientais, Universidade Estadual de Campinas)

https://pecs-science.org/lapecs/

lapecs@saras-institute.org

Calderón-Contreras, R., Balvanera, P., Trimble, M., Langle-Flores, A., Jobbágy, E., Maass Moreno, M., Marcone, J., et al. 2022. A regional PECS node built from place-based social-ecological sustainability research in Latin America and the Caribbean. Ecosystems and People 18(1): 114. https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2021.2000501