An Ecosystem Approach to Ecological Economics

1
An Ecosystem Approach to Ecological Economics

• Ashwani Vasishth
• vasishth_at_csun.edu
• http//www.csun.edu/vasishth

2
Some Names to Keep In Mind

• Kenneth Boulding
• Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen
• Herman Daly
• Robert Costanza

3
Setting the Frame

• Sustainability as Context

4
Sustainable Development

• is a form of development that
• meets the needs of the present
• without curtailing the ability
• of the future to meet its own needs
• - a la the Brundtland Commission

5
Sustainable Decision Making
6
(No Transcript)
7
Getting At An Ecological Economics

• Conceptual Structures

8
Factors of Production
9
Factors of Production
10
Factors of Production
11
Human Economy
Ecosphere
Human Economy
Nature
Environmental Economics
Ecological Economics
12
An Ecological Economics

• Considers the world to be constituted by the
  flows of matter, energy and information
• Takes account of natural, social and monetary
  capital
• Considers temporal flows in terms of
  intergenerational equity
• Takes the ecosphere as the overarching context
  within which the human economy operates

13
From Empty World Economics
14
to Full World Economics
15
The Transition to An Ecological Economics

• ...is the transition from
• a cowboy economy to
• a spaceship economy
• - a la Kenneth Boulding

16
Taking An Ecological View

• Understanding the Ecosystem Approach

17
What does it mean to take an Ecosystem
Approach?And why would we bother?
18
Descriptions Matter

• How we choose to make depictions of complex
  systems affects what we can see of context and
  consequence, and so affects outcomes
• Complex systems are best conceptualized as being
  arranged into nested levels of organization

19
Elements of An Ecosystem Approach

• Processes
• Boundaries
• Scales
• Purpose
• Perspective

20
Properties of An Ecosystem Approach

• Nested Assembly
• Scale-hierarchic Levels of Organization
• Rate-dependent Boundaries
• Purposive Descriptions
• Scale-dependent Structuring
• Functional Associations

21
An ecosystem approach based on nested
scale-hierarchic process-function ecology
offers the most effective basis for making
robust descriptions under complexity
22
Nested Systems
Bossel, H. 2001. Assessing Viability and
Sustainability A Systems-Based Approach for
Deriving Comprehensive Indicator Sets.
Conservation Ecology, 5(2) 12.
23
Levels of Organization
Allen, Timothy F.H. Thomas W.l Hoekstra. 1992.
Toward A Unified Ecology. New York Columbia
University Press. p. 30
24
Two Concepts of Significance

• The Ecosphere and its Carrying Capacity

25
The Ecosphere

• is constituted by bio-geo-chemical processes
• across nested levels of organization
• organized into scale hierarchic structures
• that must be viewed from multiple purposive
  perspectives
• and that can only be described at multiple
  spatial, temporal and organizational scales

26
Carrying Capacity

• is the ability of a system to support a
  particular intensity and magnitude of processes
  and functions
• IPAT
• Impact Population Affluence Technology
• where affluence is a proxy for level of
  consumption and technology is a proxy for
  capacity to do harm or cause pollution

27
Ecologizing New Orleans

• Context as Frame

28
For Example, New Orleans
29
Or, New Orleans?
30
Then, Ecological Economics is

• the study of the ecosphere, considered to be
  constituted by the flows of matter, energy and
  information, taking account of natural, social
  and economic capital, occurring across multiple
  levels of organization, seen at functionally
  relevant temporal, spatial and organizational
  scales, using multiple purposive perspectives,
  all embedded within the context of planetary
  carrying capacity

31
Or, Differently
Nested Systems
The Ecosphere
32
Ashwani Vasishth

• vasishth_at_csun.edu
• http//www.csun.edu/vasishth
• [phone]