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Introduction: Interdisciplinarity, GIScience, and Socio-Environmental Research in Latin America

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Socio-Environmental Research in Latin America

Part of the book series: The Latin American Studies Book Series ((LASBS))

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Abstract

Accelerated environmental change worldwide threatens the sustainability of the Earth system. Calls for research that involves community outreach and solutions to raising environmental concerns have triggered integrative research approaches to assess the myriad of factors affecting human-environment interactions. Some of the proposed solutions have required a re-thinking of human-environment relationships and the roles that science, policy makers, governmental and non-governmental organizations, communities, and individuals play in achieving local or regional sustainability. Interdisciplinary applied research in Latin America, the main regional focus of this book, has advanced in the past three decades to address issues of land degradation, forest loss, conservation of biodiversity, economic development, and more. Some of the solutions have been techno-scientific and embedded in geographic information science, which has allowed the identification of not only locations threatened by environmental degradation, but the factors, geographic patterns, and spatio-temporal trends of socio-environmental change. The contribution of geographic information science toward the advancement of socio-environmental knowledge in Latin America is undeniable. Drawing on research from various countries and biogeographical regions across Latin America, the chapters in this book bring new interdisciplinary insights, deeply rooted in geographic information science and technologies, on the complex socio-environmental dynamics that characterizes this diverse region, thus contributing to a vibrant research area within human-environment geography.

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  1. School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington Bothell, Bothell, WA, USA

    Santiago López

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    Santiago López

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López, S. (2023). Introduction: Interdisciplinarity, GIScience, and Socio-Environmental Research in Latin America. In: López, S. (eds) Socio-Environmental Research in Latin America. The Latin American Studies Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22680-9_1

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