A systemic approach to resilience and ecological sustainability during the COVID-19 pandemic: Human, societal, and ecological health as a system-wide emergent property in the Anthropocene

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a worldwide disruption. Most people have never witnessed such a global threat, and the world’s leaders have not dealt with a crisis of this magnitude; moreover, Research & Innovation (R&I) teams have little time to invent new pharmaceutical therapies. Nations are trying to implement controlling strategies for avoiding significant losses, but this pandemic has already imprinted itself upon their citizens’ psyche, created social anxiety, and disrupted national economies. The complexity of the psychological, social, and economic interrelations of this new source of stress cannot be appropriately understood by scientific reductionism and specialised thinking only. It needs to be considered how the current pandemic links to questions of ecological sustainability and resilience. Further, we must rethink the complex interactions of human-nature health that drove the crisis, as proof of an unsustainable human civilisation. Accordingly, this paper aims to contribute to the transdisciplinary resilience dialogue on the health maintenance and life-supporting processes of the biosphere by focusing on the COVID-19 crisis. It explores various frameworks that are contributing to the transdisciplinary meta-perspective of resilience. Moreover, it proposes a humanistic approach based on not only controlling strategies involving containment and social isolation but also the ecological balance considering the human, societal, and ecological health as a system-wide emergent property. Conceptual frameworks of resilience are discussed—as mapping methodologies to structure the discourse—focusing on the role of leadership and empowerment. Furthermore, some positive insights are discussed, as a transdisciplinary integrator and solidarity facilitator of coping, mitigation, and decision-making in the time of uncertainty and anxiety created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

RETRACTED: “Recovering With Nature”: A Review of Ecotherapy and Implications for the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Restoring the ecosystems has been mentioned in many strategies for dealing with the COVID-19 and also the post-pandemic aftermath. Zabaniotou ( 31 ) while discussing the uncertainty and stress of the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizes on the importance of preserving bio-diversity, enhancing bio-capacity and conceptualizes various frameworks of resilience by promoting a holistic health of the planet. The positive insights gained from the pandemic are viewed through the transdisciplinary lens of social and ecological solidarity that can facilitate a resilient globalization, coping and help mitigate the growing uncertainty.…”

From Multidisciplinarity to Transdisciplinarity and from Local to Global Foci: Integrative Approaches to Systemic Resilience Based upon the Value of Life in the Context of Environmental and Gender Vulnerabilities with a Special Focus upon the Brazilian Amazon Biome

“…The theoretical content of gender as a concept is difficult to be applied to societies without an institutional framework of economic or political power, and functional work specialization [48]. Most scholars agree that in such societies, relationships between men and women can be defined in terms of complementariness, which does not necessarily entail a form of male power that involves the subordination of women [13]. In these contexts, such as in the Amazonas, the inequality experienced by women depends on its intersection with other forms of inequality, therefore gender inequality is understood within a framework of social inequalities.…”

“…In these contexts, such as in the Amazonas, the inequality experienced by women depends on its intersection with other forms of inequality, therefore gender inequality is understood within a framework of social inequalities. Additionally, the discussion should be framed on women and other marginalized groups being active agents for transforming and adapting to change, collectively [13].…”

“…Bringing gender mainstreaming into planning and policy development and designing and implementing adaptive strategies is also needed [44]. Finally, there is a need for a more grounded and localized understanding of global environmental change (GEC), which recognizes the experiences of individuals and communities bound in local places and local culture and knowledge [13].…”

Spatial heterogeneity in and distributional characteristics of rural ecological livability in China——The case of Fujian Province

“…The global epidemic crisis highlights the need for reforms to promote a more transparent and a more resilient ecological process [1]. We must rethink the complex interactions within the ecological balance, considering personal, societal, and ecological health as a system-wide emergent property [2]. More importantly, with the outbreak of COVID-19, the importance of rural areas in ecological reform has been gradually highlighted, and the importance of REL has been gradually recognized [3].…”