Abstract
Scientists develop conceptual frameworks in an effort to better understand and manage the world around them. The dominant framework for most authors in this book and others concerned with Earth Stewardship is a coupled human-natural systems framework. This framework continues to provide new insights and promising management strategies. However, we argue that the addition of a third major domain, infrastructure/technology would more accurately reflect the key dynamics in today’s world and allow more sustainable outcomes. Further we argue that scientists associated with each of these domains adhere to overlapping, but distinct sets of rules and fundamental assumptions that inhibit successful interdisciplinary collaboration. Rectifying this misalignment should be a cornerstone of future Earth Stewardship.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Allenby BR (2005) Reconstructing Earth: technology and environment in the age of humans. Island Press, Washington, DC
Chapin FS III, Pickett STA, Power ME et al (2011) Earth stewardship: a strategy for social–ecological transformation to reverse planetary degradation. J Environ Stud Sci 1:44–53
Fiksel J (2006) Sustainability and resilience: toward a systems approach. Sustain Sci Pract Policy 2(2):14–21
Grimm NB, Redman CL (2004) Approaches to the study of urban ecosystems: the case of Central Arizona-Phoenix. Urban Ecosyst 7:199–213
Holling CS, Gunderson LH (2002) Resilience and adaptive cycles. In: Gunderson LH, Holling CS (eds) Panarchy: understanding transformations in human and natural systems. Island Press, Washington, DC, pp 25–62
Leach M, Scoones I, Stirling A (2010) Dynamic Sustainabilities. Earthscan, London
Lui J, Dietz T, Carpenter SR et al (2007) Complexity of coupled human and natural systems. Science 317:1513–1516
Miller TR, Baird TD, Littlefield CM et al (2008) Epistemological pluralism: reorganizing interdisciplinary research. Ecol Soc 13(2):46 [online]. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss2/art46/
Miller TR, Munoz-Erickson T, Redman CL (2011) Transforming knowledge for sustainability: towards adaptive academic institutions. Int J Sustain High Educ 12(2):177–192
Park J, Seager TP, Rao PSC (2011) Lessons in risk-versus resilience-based design and management. Integr Environ Assess Manag 7(3):396–399
Redman CL (2013) Transforming the silos: Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability. In: Chase G, Barlett P (eds) Sustainability in higher education: stories and strategies for transformation. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp 229–239
Redman CL (2014) Should sustainability and resilience be combined or remain distinct pursuits? Ecol Soc 19(2):37
Redman CL, Foster DR (eds) (2008) Agrarian landscapes in transition: comparisons of long-term ecological and cultural change. Oxford University Press, New York, p 296
Ramaswami A, Weible C, Main D, Heikkila T, Siddiki S, Duvall A, Pattison A, Bernard M (2012) A social-ecological-infrastructural systems framework for interdisciplinary study of sustainable city systems. J Ind Ecol 16(6):801–813
Rozzi R, Armesto JJ, Gutiérrez JR et al (2012) Integrating ecology and environmental ethics: earth stewardship in the southern end of the Americas. Bioscience 62(3):226–236
Sarewitz D (2010) Against holism. In: Frodeman R, Klein JT, Mitcham C (eds) Oxford handbook of interdisciplinarity. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Smith A, Stirling A (2010) The politics of social-ecological resilience and sustainable socio-technical transitions. Ecol Soc 15(1):11
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Redman, C.L., Miller, T.R. (2015). The Technosphere and Earth Stewardship. In: Rozzi, R., et al. Earth Stewardship. Ecology and Ethics, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12133-8_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12133-8_17
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-12132-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-12133-8
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)