Revisiting the relationships between human well-being and ecosystems in dynamic social-ecological systems: Implications for stewardship and development

Abstract

Non-technical summaryWe argue that the ways in which we as humans derive well-being from nature – for example by harvesting firewood, selling fish or enjoying natural beauty – feed back into how we behave towards the environment. This feedback is mediated by institutions (rules, regulations) and by individual capacities to act. Understanding these relationships can guide better interventions for sustainably improving well-being and alleviating poverty. However, more attention needs to be paid to how experience-related benefits from nature influence attitudes and actions towards the environment, and how these relationships can be reflected in more environmentally sustainable development projects.

Conceptualising sustainability through environmental stewardship and virtuous cycles—a new empirically-grounded model

“…Selection of a given framework both highlights and hides elements, preferencing one set of perspectives, ethics and outcomes over another (Preiser et al 2017;Raymond et al 2013). The closed-loop framework, expanded beyond production to encompass values, services and dis-services, as well as positive and negative human impacts on ecosystems, has some limitations yet has potential for broad application (Masterson et al 2019;Raymond et al 2013). It is manifest in varying degrees in a number of existing systems models or derivative frameworks.…”

“…They encouraged future research to detect the practices contributing to virtuous cycles and provide evidence of the resulting social and ecological outcomes. Masterson et al (2019) most recently conceptualised the relationship between ecosystems and human wellbeing as a holistic cycle that can be either positive (virtuous), or negative. The virtuous cycle results from effective stewardship, whilst the negative cycle results from overexploitation of the environment and poor management.…”

Fishing Livelihoods and Wellbeing

“…Another reason the wellbeing approach enables participation from across disciplines is that it is a framework, rather than a method itself. Various methods are used, often mixed to gain a comprehensive picture (McGregor et al, 2015), such as qualitative interviews, social psychological tools (Britton & Coulthard, 2013;Coulthard et al, 2014), semiquantitative questionnaires, economic analysis (Voyer et al, 2017) and ecosystem services methods (Chaigneau et al, 2019;Masterson et al, 2019). Thus, people from different disciplinary perspectives are usually able to see some kind of method they recognise as rigorous and appropriate in wellbeing studies.…”

Contributions of place-based social-ecological research to address global sustainability challenges

“…This themed collection contributes conceptual as well as methodological insights on how best to co-construct more sustainable and just realities and futures. By drawing on different disciplines, Masterson et al (2019) claim that a more holistic understanding of the reciprocal relationship between nature and human well-being can contribute to the sustainable management of ecosystems and poverty alleviation. They argue that the ways in which humans derive well-being from nature, such as selling fish or developing physical experiences, feed back into how we behave towards nature.…”