CHANS-Net: The International Network of Research on Coupled Human and Natural Systems

Journal or Book Title: MADERA Y BOSQUES

DOI:10.21829/myb.2018.2431673

Abstract: This work constitutes a theoretical revision of contributions of several areas of knowledge throughout the last century to date, among others: natural sciences, social sciences, philosophy, economic critique and international politics, to make evident coincidences between people trying to solve the socio-environmental problems that afflict humanity, closely related to quality of life and well-being. The paper analyzes the academic debate of sustainability concept, which is explained as the way that each social group has built a cultural system around the relation with nature, and argues in favor of recognizing that human life, society and, therefore, its economy as a human subsystem, are completely dependent on maintaining cycles and balances on planet Earth. Human social systems fit the profile of a living system, an autopoietic system as a structural and functional coupling of autopoietic units, dynamic and unstable, going to an unpredictable future. Considerations are offered from the complexity and transdisciplinarity to overcome apparent contradictions in fundamental dogmas and epistemology. Dialogue of knowledge brings out new qualities and possibility to include other areas of culture, such as art, religion, politics, economics and business. It seeks to harmonize criteria for cultural transformation needed to confront the global crisis that human kind are currently facing. We conclude that the dynamic human knowledge system offers opportunities to overcome the current limitations we face in designing and implementing a new vision on sustainable socio-ecological cultural system through space and time, within Earth life support and with culture as an interface between ecosystems and human beings.

Type of Publication: Article