Foto por Hugo Inda

Transformation is defined as the ability to create a new system when the existing ecological, economic and social structures of a system are unsustainable or unviable to maintain objectives, goods or services that are considered essential.

In the field of social-ecological systems, intentional transformations are designed from a desired trajectory or one deemed as beneficial. The desired configurations may correspond to a historical reference (observed in the past) or a new configuration agreed upon and made explicit.

In fact, resilience is the joint analysis of adaptation and transformation abilities. It is a positive or negative attribute, depending on whether the current configuration of the social-ecological system is considered favorable or unfavorable. For instance, in extreme poverty reduction programs we must overcome multiple feedback mechanisms that affect a resilience that we seek to overcome in the transformation process. In the opposite sense, when controlling the overload of cattle and sheep per hectare in the natural grasslands of the pampas in South America, we intend to maximize the adaptability and resilience of the productive system to extreme drought events, avoiding loss of resources and producers. In this last example we try to ensure the persistence of a productive system.

The need for multiple transformations identified and promoted by the scientific world is linked to the interactions between humans and the biosphere, from a local to a global scale, which are trapped in unsustainable paths. On the one hand, there are contradictions between environmental governance and the dynamics of ecosystems, affecting them, sometimes irreversibly. On the other, the separation between human and natural systems reduces the latter to mere suppliers, consequently degrading and eroding the resilience of systems which are essential for life on the planet. As a result, there is growing interest in reconnecting with the biosphere. This implies taking the limits of the planet in account and considering the human being as part of the biosphere and the key responsible for maintaining its integrity over time.

To address this challenge, the required transformations must take place simultaneously, covering different areas such as technology, economics, social organization, institutions, demography, information and also the ideological domain. In other words, they must include multiple levels, phases and processes across several scales.
Finally, the transformation also includes people and their social behavior that must overcome the individualistic view as a consumer and assume responsibility as a citizen of an interconnected planet. Understanding how ecosystems work, collaborative learning and public interest are components of this process.

Berkes, F., Colding, J., Folke, C., eds. (2003). Navigating Social-ecological Systems. Cambridge University Press.

Chapin III, F.S., Kofinas, G. P., Folke, C., eds. (2009). Principles of Ecosystem Stewardship Resilience-Based Natural Resource Management in a Changing Worldv Springer Science+Business Media

Jacobi, P. R., Ferraz de Toledo, R., Giatti, L. L. (2019) Ciência Pós-normal. Ampliando o dialógo com a sociedade diante das crises ambientais contemporâneas. Faculdade De Saúde PúblIca, Universidade de Sao Pablo

Moore, M.-L., O. Tjornbo, E. Enfors, C. Knapp, J. Hodbod, J. A. Baggio, A. Norström, P. Olsson, and D. Biggs. 2014. Studying the complexity of change: toward an analytical framework for understanding deliberate social-ecological transformations. Ecology and Society 19(4): 54. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-06966-190454RA Working Groups

Olsson, P., C. Folke, and T. Hahn. 2004. Social-ecological transformation for ecosystem management: the development of adaptive comanagement of a wetland landscape in southern Sweden. Ecology and Society 9(4): 2. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol9/iss4/art2/

Olsson, P., V. Galaz, and W. J. Boonstra. 2014. Sustainability transformations: a resilience perspective. Ecology and Society 19(4): 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-06799-190401

Rockström, J., Steffen, W., Noone, K., Persson, Å., Chapin, III, F. S., Lambin, E., Lenton, T. M., Scheffer, M., Folke, C., Schellnhuber, H., Nykvist, B., De Wit, C. A., Hughes, T., Van der Leeuw, S., Rodhe, H., Sörlin, S., Snyder, P. K., Costanza, R., Svedin, U., Falkenmark, M., Karlberg, L., Corell, R. W., Fabry, V. J., Hansen, J., Walker, B., Liverman, D., Richardson, K., Crutzen, P., Foley, J. (2009). Planetary boundaries: exploring the safe operating space for humanity. Ecology and Society, 14(2), 32. https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol14/iss2/art32/

Walker, B. H. and D. Salt 2006. Resilience Thinking: Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World. Island Press. Washington, U.S.A.

Westley, F. R., O. Tjornbo, L. Schultz, P. Olsson, C. Folke, B. Crona, and Ö. Bodin. 2013. A theory of transformative agency in linked social-ecological systems. Ecology and Society 18(3): 27. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-05072-180327

Additional suggested readings

Dietz, T., Ostrom, E., Stern, P. (2003). The Struggle to Govern the Commons. Science, New Series, Vol. 302, No. 5652, pp. 1907-1912

Mazzeo, N., Steffen, M., Bianchi, P. (2017). Cambio climático, procesos de análisis y toma de decisión. Alianza Clima y Desarrollo (CDKN).

Mazzeo, N., Zurbriggen, C., Trimble, M., Bianchi, P., Gadino, I., Steffen, M. (2017). Sostenibilidad ambiental del Uruguay: aportes desde el pensamiento resiliente. Instituto Sudamericano para Estudios sobre Resiliencia y Sostenibilidad (SARAS). Bella Vista, Maldonado, Uruguay