The document discusses essential features for enhancing place-based sustainability research on social-ecological systems, emphasizing the importance of transdisciplinary collaboration and engagement with non-academic stakeholders. Successful projects require long-term relationships, careful integration of diverse perspectives, and actionable policy recommendations, while also addressing challenges such as funding and conflicting interests. The findings suggest that practical experience and open communication are key to creating effective collaborative governance and management in sustainability research.

1. Albert Norström
Executive director
@AlbertNorstrm
@PECS_Project

2. PECS approaches
1
PECS approaches - place-based social-ecological research

3. PECS approaches
1
2
PECS approaches – dynamic working groups

4. PECS working group on collaborative governance and management
Chanda Meek
University of
Alaska-
Fairbanks
Ro Hill
CSIRO
Derek
Armitage
University of
Waterloo
Christo Fabricius &
Cathy Robinson
Nelson Mandela
University
Lisen Schultz
Stockholm Resilience
Centre
Michael
Schoon
Arizona State
University
Georgina
Cundhill
Rhodes
University

5. Balvanera et al (2016) Ecology & SocietySome lessons from all PECS cases
PECS and transdisciplinarity

6. Balvanera et al (2016) Ecology & Society
SURVEY to PI’s and co-PI’s of PECS-
affiliated projects using questionnaire w/
open, closed and semi-structured
questions.
Some lessons from all PECS cases
PECS and transdisciplinarity

7. Key features for more successful place-based sustainability research
on social-ecological systems
SES research wants to generate knowledge through a problem and solution-oriented
and transdisciplinary process that includes engagement and collaboration with actors
from outside academia.
Dual challenge of understanding complex and dynamic SES, while fostering a true
transdisciplinary process that is capable of facilitating knowledge exchange across disciplinary
boundaries and between researchers and users
How is such research initiated and framed; how should practitioners be involved; how should
the research be funded; how are established academic disciplines integrated with practical
knowledge and what new methods are capable of achieving such integration; what type of
outreach and communication is relevant and generates impact; and how should progress and
success be generally measured and defined
Successful research projects are those that enhance social-ecological understanding amongst
both research and user communities while engendering actionable policy or management
recommendations and options.
Balvanera et al. Ecology & Society (in press)

8. Key features for more successful place-based sustainability research
on social-ecological systems
SES research wants to generate knowledge through a problem and solution-oriented and
transdisciplinary process that includes engagement and collaboration with actors from outside
academia.
Dual challenge of understanding complex and dynamic SES, while fostering a true
transdisciplinary process that is capable of facilitating knowledge exchange across
disciplinary boundaries and between researchers and users
How is such research initiated and framed; how should practitioners be involved; how should
the research be funded; how are established academic disciplines integrated with practical
knowledge and what new methods are capable of achieving such integration; what type of
outreach and communication is relevant and generates impact; and how should progress and
success be generally measured and defined
Successful research projects are those that enhance social-ecological understanding amongst
both research and user communities while engendering actionable policy or management
recommendations and options.
Balvanera et al. Ecology & Society (in press)

9. Key features for more successful place-based sustainability research
on social-ecological systems
SES research wants to generate knowledge through a problem and solution-oriented and
transdisciplinary process that includes engagement and collaboration with actors from outside
academia.
Dual challenge of understanding complex and dynamic SES, while fostering a true
transdisciplinary process that is capable of facilitating knowledge exchange across disciplinary
boundaries and between researchers and users
How is such research initiated and framed; how should practitioners be involved;
how should the research be funded; how are established academic disciplines
integrated with practical knowledge and what new methods are capable of achieving
such integration; what type of outreach and communication is relevant and
generates impact; and how should progress and success be generally measured and
defined
Successful research projects are those that enhance social-ecological understanding amongst
both research and user communities while engendering actionable policy or management
recommendations and options.
Balvanera et al. Ecology & Society (in press)

10. Key features for more successful place-based sustainability research
on social-ecological systems
SES research wants to generate knowledge through a problem and solution-oriented and
transdisciplinary process that includes engagement and collaboration with actors from outside
academia.
Dual challenge of understanding complex and dynamic SES, while fostering a true
transdisciplinary process that is capable of facilitating knowledge exchange across disciplinary
boundaries and between researchers and users
How is such research initiated and framed; how should practitioners be involved; how should
the research be funded; how are established academic disciplines integrated with practical
knowledge and what new methods are capable of achieving such integration; what type of
outreach and communication is relevant and generates impact; and how should progress and
success be generally measured and defined
Successful research projects are those that enhance social-ecological understanding
amongst both research and user communities while engendering actionable policy or
management recommendations and options.
Balvanera et al. Ecology & Society (in press)

11. Balvanera et al. Ecology & Society (in press)
“…strong and trusted relationships between researchers
and stakeholder groups, but presents a time-consuming
challenge. There is a gradient, and that’s not bad…
…emphasized the importance of building on a past legacy
of stakeholder driven research in a region and trusted
contacts developed in this research as an important
enabling if not critical factor to support PBSESR.
…essential role of longstanding relationships with strategic
case stakeholders who act as gatekeepers to other local
actors.
…be prepared to invest significant time in interactions with
stakeholders through different activities.

12. Balvanera et al. Ecology & Society (in press)
“The alignment and relevance of projects to focal policy
issues…
…projects should be solutions-oriented and focus on the
development of actual interventions, thus going beyond
basic knowledge generation.”

13. Balvanera et al. Ecology & Society (in press)
“… is about solutions not only about knowledge generation,
and thus the products of this type of research consistently
included items beyond traditional academic products of
papers and research presentations”
“A wide range of communication with stakeholders and
produce outreach materials - such as posters, flyers, videos,
postcards, blogs, twitters - explicitly geared towards hat
stakeholders could use, was frequently mentioned.”

14. Balvanera et al. Ecology & Society (in press)
“…long initiation period to build an effective team…”
“Start-up time is slow and bumpy and funding is usually
short-term, e.g. 3 years…”
“These investments can often be viewed as opportunity
costs to producing conventional research outputs,
commonly resulting in tensions and competing priorities
within and between team members.”
"Design can be time consuming and move project away
from interesting research questions".

15. Balvanera et al. Ecology & Society (in press)
“Need careful navigation to integrate the different needs
and perspectives of stakeholders. The co-production of
knowledge implies the integration of multiple conflicting
beliefs, perceptions and interests.”
“Conflicts and inequitable power relations among different
groups may render this integration impossible and perhaps
even undesirable”
“However, research can often perform a useful role in
helping to articulate differences in values, world-views, and
activities. A common observation made by the projects
surveyed in this study is that shared conceptual
frameworks can be enormously useful in facilitating
communication both within research teams and with local
stakeholders.”

16. Balvanera et al. Ecology & Society (in press)
i)Need to foster long-term connections to a given place and
group of stakeholders.
ii)Identification of short, medium and long-term products.
iii)Adoption of internal monitoring processes to evaluate
success.
v)Pay particular attention the lessons that can be learn
from failure.

17. Balvanera et al. Ecology & Society (in review)
Balancing place-based and global perspectives
better understand the interconnections between social-
ecological systems that are separated geographically
sustainability research needs to be tailored to the
particular needs of each social-ecological context.
international collaborations around sustainability issues are
fostered in a way that allows global and local perspectives
to be integrated.

18. Chanda Meek
University of
Alaska-
Fairbanks
Ro Hill
CSIRO
Derek
Armitage
University of
Waterloo
Christo Fabricius &
Cathy Robinson
Nelson Mandela
University
Lisen Schultz
Stockholm Resilience
Centre
Michael
Schoon
Arizona State
University
Georgina
Cundhill
Rhodes
University
Some lessons from a PECS working group
PECS working group on collaborative governance and management

19. PECS working group on collaborative governance and management
Chanda Meek
University of
Alaska-
Fairbanks
Ro Hill
CSIRO
Derek
Armitage
University of
Waterloo
Christo Fabricius &
Cathy Robinson
Nelson Mandela
University
Lisen Schultz
Stockholm Resilience
Centre
Michael
Schoon
Arizona State
University
Georgina
Cundhill
Rhodes
University
“a) Practical experience: What were the big challenges and
opportunities for collaborative transformations from our
knowledge partner’s perspectives?
b) Knowledge needs: What research questions did our non-
academic partners feel would be useful to their practice?
(What research would help them develop their
collaborative efforts?)
c). Preferred process of engagement: Would non-academic
partners be willing to engage with us long term to explore
these questions? How would they like to be engaged, and
what would they hope the get from their engagement?

20. PECS working group on collaborative governance and management
Chanda Meek
University of
Alaska-
Fairbanks
Ro Hill
CSIRO
Derek
Armitage
University of
Waterloo
Christo Fabricius &
Cathy Robinson
Nelson Mandela
University
Lisen Schultz
Stockholm Resilience
Centre
Michael
Schoon
Arizona State
University
Georgina
Cundhill
Rhodes
University
1. Ensure ample funding for face to face interactions, both
in-country and for whole networks. Our group made more
headway in 3 days of face to face discussion than we did in
the 2 month lead-up to our face-to-face project planning
meeting.
2. Don’t force transdisciplinary engagement (or knowledge
co-production) for every step of a research process. Forcing
transdisciplinary engagement and non-academic
participation for every step of a research process takes us
too close to what Cooke and Kothari called the “Tyranny of
Participation” – where non-academic partners are now
expected to volunteer their time in the interests of
researchers and the international research community.

21. Social-ecological dynamics of
ecosystem services in the
Norrström basin (SEEN)
Albert Norström, Garry Peterson, Cibele Queiroz, Megan
Meacham, Kristina Richter, Erik Andersson, Jon Norberg,
Co-management of ecosystem
service bundles in the Helge river
catchment area
Elin Enfors, Albert Norström, Lisen Schultz, Cibele Queiroz.
Some lessons from specific PECS cases

22. Social-ecological dynamics of
ecosystem services in the
Norrström basin (SEEN)
Albert Norström, Garry Peterson, Cibele Queiroz, Megan
Meacham, Kristina Richter, Erik Andersson, Jon Norberg,
Some lessons from specific PECS cases

23. Social-ecological dynamics of
ecosystem services in the
Norrström basin (SEEN)
Albert Norström, Garry Peterson, Cibele Queiroz, Megan
Meacham, Kristina Richter, Erik Andersson, Jon Norberg,
Some lessons from specific PECS cases

24. Social-ecological dynamics of
ecosystem services in the
Norrström basin (SEEN)
Albert Norström, Garry Peterson, Cibele Queiroz, Megan
Meacham, Kristina Richter, Erik Andersson, Jon Norberg,
Some lessons from specific PECS cases

25. Co-management of ecosystem
service bundles in the Helge river
catchment area
Elin Enfors, Albert Norström, Lisen Schultz, Cibele Queiroz.
Some lessons from specific PECS cases

26. Co-management of ecosystem
service bundles in the Helge river
catchment area
Elin Enfors, Albert Norström, Lisen Schultz, Cibele Queiroz.
Some lessons from specific PECS cases

27. Social-ecological dynamics of
ecosystem services in the
Norrström basin (SEEN)
Albert Norström, Garry Peterson, Cibele Queiroz, Megan
Meacham, Kristina Richter, Erik Andersson, Jon Norberg,
Co-management of ecosystem
service bundles in the Helge river
catchment area
Elin Enfors, Albert Norström, Lisen Schultz, Cibele Queiroz.
Some lessons from specific PECS cases
Stockholm case-study:
Reflect critically on the research process and roles as researchers. Researchers are not completely
objective, especially within the inherently normative field of sustainability science. Strive to continuously
write down reflections on position and assumptions and how they might shape participation.
When initiating a research project, discuss with collaborators what the different interests, goals, and
expectations are, trying to be as transparent as possible. Then explore whether project can be designed
that can meet as many of goals. This also helps to build trust in the ongoing collaboration.
Important, to keep research independent in the sense that it is not funded by the collaborating
organizations.
Different levels of evaluation are needed, both the more involved and the more detached. Evaluation by
people involved in designing and running the process is important for them to continuously refine the
process design and learn along the way, even though they are biased towards positive outcomes. The
other level of evaluation would preferably be conducted by an outsider person that follows up with key
actor interviews and observations of the process. In both cases, it is advisable to strategically select a
person to conduct the evaluation who will benefit from the opportunity to gain a lot of tacit knowledge.

28. Social-ecological dynamics of
ecosystem services in the
Norrström basin (SEEN)
Albert Norström, Garry Peterson, Cibele Queiroz, Megan
Meacham, Kristina Richter, Erik Andersson, Jon Norberg,
Co-management of ecosystem
service bundles in the Helge river
catchment area
Elin Enfors, Albert Norström, Lisen Schultz, Cibele Queiroz.
Some lessons from specific PECS cases
Helge Å case:
The selection of services, indicators and municipalities determines the outcome. Participatory process
used to ensure relevance of analysis
Initial consultation about which ES matter to people in the area (representatives of forest owners, farmers,
tourism sector, civil society organizations, municipalities and county board administrations)

30. Thank you
@AlbertNorstrm
@PECS_Project
www.pecs-science.org

31. Thank you
@AlbertNorstrm
@PECS_Project
www.pecs-science.org