Laboratory for the analysis of social-ecological systems in a globalised world (LASEG)

The group LASEG aims to better understand how local and indigenous knowledge can contribute to environmental sustainability, and how to better reconcile biodiversity conservation and the provision of ecosystem services with human wellbeing, in both rural and urban settings.

Led by Victoria Reyes-García

Researching on how Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ knowledge is affected by environmental change and how such knowledge can contribute to understand environmental change impacts.

We strive for a better understanding of the conditions under which indigenous and local ecological knowledge can contribute to positive environmental outcomes (e.g., stewardship and sustainable management of natural resources, biodiversity conservation), and to the understanding of the manifestations, drivers and impacts of nature degradation and climate change.

We are also keen on exploring the potential of indigenous and of local knowledge systems to improve our understanding of local environmental change impacts on physical, biological, and socioeconomic systems and how such impacts are locally perceived and which strategies people adopt in their quest to adapt to change.

Projects

Led by Esteve Corbera

Researching environmental governance processes in the areas of climate change and the conservation of biodiversity, from international to national and local levels.

We examine the political, social, behavioural and ecological conditions that enhance or undermine the success of climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity conservation and sustainable land-use management policies and projects, with special emphasis on justice, poverty and wellbeing considerations, in both urban and rural contexts.

We are interested in examining how effective and socially just policy framings (e.g. ecosystem services, nature-based solutions) and instruments for biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable management of ecosystems actuarlly are.

We wish to disentangle which factors (e.g. culture, history, institutions, behaviour) mediate the design and effectiveness of such policies and instruments.

Projects

Led by Johannes Langemeyer

Investigating transformative pathways toward sustainability founded upon the concept of ecosystem services and nature-based solutions.

We investigate socio-economic, ecological, digital and policy transformative pathways that can reduce the vulnerability of urban and rural citizens to global environmental change whilst enhancing their resilience, with specific attention being devoted to green infrastructure projects in cities and agroecological transformations in food systems.

We analyse how we can reduce the social-ecological vulnerability and enhance the resilience of rural and urban communities to global environmental change; and how green urban green infrastructure and nature-based solutions influence the value, distribution and maintenance of ecosystem services in rural and urban contexts;

We are also keen on exploring ways in which agroecology principles and practice could be upscaled in both cost-effective and socially just ways.

Projects

Laboratory for the analysis of social-ecological systems in a globalised world (LASEG)

Indigenous and local ecological knowledge

Enviromental governance and conservation

Resilience and transformation

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