Machine intelligence, systemic risks, and sustainability

Galaz, V. et al. . 2021. Beijer Discussion Paper 274: Machine intelligence, systemic risks, and sustainability. Beijer Discussion Paper Series.

Automated decision making and predictive analytics in combination with rapid progress in sensor technology and robotics are likely to change the way individuals, communities, governments and private actors perceive and respond to climate and ecological change. Machine intelligent methods are already today being applied within a number of research fields related to climate change and environmental monitoring. Investments into applications of these technologies in agriculture,...

Algorithms and the Shift in Modern Science

W. Brian Arthur. 2020. Beijer Discussion Paper 269: Algorithms and the Shift in Modern Science. Beijer Discussion Paper Series.

In the 1600s science shifted from being expressed in geometric form to being expressed in terms of algebraic equations. This paper argues that a new shift is underway: scientific thought is moving from being expressed in equation form to being expressed in algorithmic form. The shift is deep and it is gradual. It allows “context” to be considered—the situation surrounding the problem at hand. It...

Our Future in the Anthropocene Biosphere: Global sustainability and resilient societies

Folke et al. 2020. Beijer Discussion Paper 272: Our Future in the Anthropocene Biosphere: Global sustainability and resilient societies. Beijer Discussion Paper Series.

The corona pandemic has exposed the interconnected, tightly coupled and vulnerable globalised world. This White Paper sets the scientific stage for understanding and responding to such crises for global sustainability and resilient societies. We provide a systemic overview of the current situation; where people and nature are dynamically intertwined and embedded in the biosphere, placing shocks and extreme events as part of this dynamic; where...

The social dynamics of basins of attraction

Sander van der Leeuw and Carl Folke. 2020. Beijer Discussion Paper 273: The social dynamics of basins of attraction. Beijer Discussion Paper Series.

This paper conceptualizes social-ecological, or socio-environmental transformations as societal shifts from one basin of attraction to another. Such transitions occur when a society’s infor-mation processing apparatus is no longer suitable to deal with the dynamics in which the society is involved. To understand when this might be the case, we conceive of two dynamic niches, one in the mind, containing an individual’s or a society’s...

Time and Politics in the Anthropocene: Too Fast, Too Slow?

Galaz, V. 2019. Time and Politics in the Anthropocene: Too Fast, Too Slow?. In: Biermann F. and E. Lövbrand. Anthropocene Encounters: New Directions in Green Political Thinking. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Pp. 109−127.

Anatomy and resilience of the global production ecosystem

Nyström, M., J.-B. Jouffray, A. V. Norström, B. Crona, P. Søgaard-Jørgensen, S. R. Carpenter, Ö. Bodin, V. Galaz, and C. Folke. 2019. Anatomy and resilience of the global production ecosystem. Nature 575:98-108.

Much of the Earth’s biosphere has been appropriated for the production of harvestable biomass in the form of food, fuel and fibre. Here we show that the simplification and intensification of these systems and their growing connection to international markets has yielded a global production ecosystem that is homogenous, highly connected and characterized by weakened internal feedbacks. We argue that these features converge to yield...

Capturing emergent phenomena in social-ecological systems: an analytical framework

Schlüter, M., L. J. Haider, S. J. Lade, E. Lindkvist, R. Martin, K. Orach, N. Wijermans, and C. Folke. 2019. Capturing emergent phenomena in social-ecological systems: an analytical framework. Ecology and Society 24(3):11.

Social-ecological systems (SES) are complex adaptive systems. Social-ecological system phenomena, such as regime shifts, transformations, or traps, emerge from interactions among and between human and nonhuman entities within and across scales. Analyses of SES phenomena thus require approaches that can account for (1) the intertwinedness of social and ecological processes and (2) the ways they jointly give rise to emergent social-ecological patterns, structures, and dynamics...

Global Challenges, Governance, and Complexity Applications and Frontiers

Galaz. V. (ed.). 2019. Global Challenges, Governance, and Complexity Applications and Frontiers. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK.

There is an increased interest in integrating insights from the complexity sciences to studies of governance and policy. While the issue has been debated, and the term of ‘complexity’ has multiple and sometimes contested interpretations, it is also clear the field has spurred a number of interesting theoretical and empirical efforts. The book includes key thinkers in the field, elaborates on different analytical approaches in...

EAT-Lancet vs. #yes2meat: Understanding the digital backlash to the ‘planetary health diet’

Garcia, D., V. Galaz and S. Daume. 2019. EAT-Lancet vs. #yes2meat: Understanding the digital backlash to the ‘planetary health diet’. The Lancet DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32526-7.

Governing for emergence in socialecological systems

C. Folke. 2019. Governing for emergence in socialecological systems. In: Galaz. V. (ed.). Global Challenges, Governance, and Complexity Applications and Frontiers. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK. Pp. 24-37.