Skip to main content
View expanded cover

International Conference on Research Challenges in Information Science

RCIS 2022: Research Challenges in Information Science pp 321–337Cite as

Conceptual Integration for Social-Ecological Systems

An Ontological Approach

  • 433 Accesses

Part of the Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing book series (LNBIP,volume 446)

Abstract

Sustainability research and policy rely on complex data that couples social and ecological systems (SESs) to draw results and make decisions, therefore understanding the dynamics between human society and natural ecosystems is crucial to tackle sustainability goals. SESs frameworks are employed to establish a common vocabulary that facilitates the identification of variables and the comparison of results. A variety of SESs approaches have been proposed and explored, however integration and interoperability between frameworks is missing, which results in a loss of relevant information. In addition, SESs frameworks often lack semantic clarity which exacerbates difficulties in developing a unified perspective. In this paper we demonstrate the use of ontological analysis to unify the main elements of two prominent SESs paradigms, the social-ecological system framework (SESF) and the Ecosystem Services (ESs) approach, to build an integrated social-ecological perspectives framework. The proposed conceptual framework can be adopted to combine existent and future results from the two paradigms in unified databases and to develop broader explanatory and decision-making tools for SESs and sustainability research.

Keywords

  • Ontological analysis
  • Social-ecological system framework
  • Ecosystem Services

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-05760-1_19
  • Chapter length: 17 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-3-031-05760-1
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Softcover Book
USD   119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions
Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.

Notes

  1. 1.

    The images in this work can be found in high resolution at this link.

  2. 2.

    seslibrary.asu.edu.

  3. 3.

    We condense the notion of ecosystem process with ecosystem structure and function following results reported in [48].

  4. 4.

    dictionary.cambridge.org.

  5. 5.

    www.lexico.com.

  6. 6.

    dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/resource; www.lexico.com/en/definition/resource.

  7. 7.

    dictionary.cambridge.org/it/dizionario/inglese/actor; www.lexico.com/en/definition/actor.

  8. 8.

    dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/governance; www.lexico.com/en/definition/governance.

  9. 9.

    dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/policy.

  10. 10.

    dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/structure.

  11. 11.

    The distinction between social and natural roles can be found also in [5].

  12. 12.

    dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/service; https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/service.

  13. 13.

    dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/value; www.lexico.com/definition/value.

  14. 14.

    dictionary.cambridge.org/it/dizionario/inglese/benefit; www.lexico.com/definition/benefit.

  15. 15.

    In Fig. 3 “natural resource” “human resource”, “value entity” and “functional role’ are abbreviated respectively as “nr.”, “hr.”, “vr.” and “fr.”.

References

  1. Adamo, G.: Investigating business process elements: a journey from the field of Business Process Management to ontological analysis, and back. Ph.D. thesis, DIBRIS, Università di Genova, Via Opera Pia, 13 16145 Genova, Italy, May 2020

    Google Scholar 

  2. Adamo, G., Di Francescomarino, C., Ghidini, C.: Digging into business process meta-models: a first ontological analysis. In: Dustdar, S., Yu, E., Salinesi, C., Rieu, D., Pant, V. (eds.) CAiSE 2020. LNCS, vol. 12127, pp. 384–400. Springer, Cham (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49435-3_24

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  3. Anderies, J.M., Janssen, M.A., Ostrom, E.: A framework to analyze the robustness of social-ecological systems from an institutional perspective. Ecol. Soc. 9(1), 18 (2004). http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol9/iss1/art18/

  4. Andersson, B., Guarino, N., Johannesson, P., Livieri, B.: Towards an ontology of value ascription. In: Formal Ontology in Information Systems - Proceedings of the 9th International Conference, FOIS 2016, Annecy, France, 6–9 July 2016. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications, vol. 283, pp. 331–344. IOS Press (2016). https://doi.org/10.3233/978-1-61499-660-6-331

  5. Arp, R., Smith, B.: Function, role, and disposition in basic formal ontology. Nature Precedings, p. 1 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Assessment, M.E., et al.: Ecosystems and Human Well-Being, vol. 5. Island press United States of America (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Azevedo, C.L.B., et al.: Modeling resources and capabilities in enterprise architecture: a well-founded ontology-based proposal for ArchiMate. Inf. Syst. 54, 235–262 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Ban, N.C., Evans, L.S., Nenadovic, M., Schoon, M.: Interplay of multiple goods, ecosystem services, and property rights in large social-ecological marine protected areas. Ecol. Soc. 20(4), 2 (2015). https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-07857-200402

  9. Basurto, X., Gelcich, S., Ostrom, E.: The social-ecological system framework as a knowledge classificatory system for benthic small-scale fisheries. Glob. Environ. Change 23(6), 1366–1380 (2013)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  10. Berkes, F., Folke, C.: Linking social and ecological systems for resilience and sustainability. Beijer International Institute of Ecological Economics. The Royal Swedish (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Binder, C.R., Hinkel, J., Bots, P.W., Pahl-Wostl, C.: Comparison of frameworks for analyzing social-ecological systems. Ecol. Soc. 18(4) (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Boella, G., Lesmo, L., Damiano, R.: On the ontological status of plans and norms. Artif. Intell. Law 12(4), 317–357 (2004)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  13. Borgo, S., et al.: Technical artifacts: an integrated perspective. Appl. Ontol. 9(3–4), 217–235 (2014). https://doi.org/10.3233/AO-140137

  14. Bottazzi, E., Ferrario, R.: Preliminaries to a DOLCE ontology of organisations. Int. J. Bus. Process. Integr. Manag. 4(4), 225–238 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBPIM.2009.032280

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  15. Burkhard, B., Maes, J.: Mapping Ecosystem Services. Advanced Books 1, e12837 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Colding, J., Barthel, S.: Exploring the social-ecological systems discourse 20 years later. Ecol. Soc. 24(1) (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Commission, E.: Eu biodiversity strategy for 2030. Bringing nature back into our lives. Communication for the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions, p. 25 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Cox, M.: Applying a social-ecological system framework to the study of the Taos Valley irrigation system. Hum. Ecol. 42(2), 311–324 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Cox, M.: Understanding large social-ecological systems: introducing the SESMAD project. Int. J. Commons 8(2), 265–276 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Dastani, M., van der Torre, L., Yorke-Smith, N.: Commitments and interaction norms in organisations. Auton. Agents Multi-Agent Syst. 31(2), 207–249 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10458-015-9321-5

  21. De Groot, R.S., Wilson, M.A., Boumans, R.M.: A typology for the classification, description and valuation of ecosystem functions, goods and services. Ecol. Econ. 41(3), 393–408 (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Delmas, M.A., Young, O.R.: Governance for the Environment: New Perspectives. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Eugene, P.O.: Relationships between structure and function in the ecosystem. Jpn. J. Ecol. 12(3), 108–118 (1962)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Fadel, F.G., Fox, M.S., Grüninger, M.: A generic enterprise resource ontology. In: Third Workshop on Enabling Technologies: Infrastructure for Collaborative Enterprises, WET-ICE 1994, Proceedings, pp. 117–128. IEEE (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Farber, S.C., Costanza, R., Wilson, M.A.: Economic and ecological concepts for valuing ecosystem services. Ecol. Econ. 41(3), 375–392 (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Ferrario, R., Guarino, N.: Towards an ontological foundation for services science. In: Domingue, J., Fensel, D., Traverso, P. (eds.) FIS 2008. LNCS, vol. 5468, pp. 152–169. Springer, Heidelberg (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00985-3_13

  27. Frey, U., Cox, M.: Building a diagnostic ontology of social-ecological systems. Int. J. Commons 9(2) (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Guizzardi, G., de Almeida Falbo, R., Guizzardi, R.S.: Grounding software domain ontologies in the unified foundational ontology (UFO): the case of the ode software process ontology. In: CIbSE, pp. 127–140. Citeseer (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Guizzardi, G., et al.: UFO: unified foundational ontology. Appl. Ontol. 17, 1–44 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Guizzardi, R.S.S., Carneiro, B.G., Porello, D., Guizzardi, G.: A core ontology on decision making. In: Proceedings of the XIII Seminar on Ontology Research in Brazil and IV Doctoral and Masters Consortium on Ontologies (ONTOBRAS 2020). CEUR Workshop Proceedings, vol. 2728, pp. 9–21. CEUR-WS.org (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Guizzardi, R., Perini, A., Susi, A.: Aligning goal and decision modeling. In: Mendling, J., Mouratidis, H. (eds.) CAiSE 2018. LNBIP, vol. 317, pp. 124–132. Springer, Cham (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92901-9_12

  32. Haines-Young, R., Potschin, M.: Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) v5.1 Guidance on the Application of the Revised Structure. Fabis Consulting Ltd., The Paddocks, Chestnut Lane, Barton in Fabis, Nottingham (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Haines-Young, R., Potschin, M., et al.: The links between biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being. Ecosyst. Ecol. New Synth. 1, 110–139 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Hinkel, J., Bots, P.W.G., Schlüter, M.: Enhancing the Ostrom social-ecological system framework through formalization. Ecol.Soc. 19(3), 51 (2014). https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-06475-190351

  35. Liu, S., Costanza, R., Farber, S., Troy, A.: Valuing ecosystem services: theory, practice, and the need for a transdisciplinary synthesis. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1185(1), 54–78 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Masolo, C., Borgo, S., Gangemi, A., Guarino, N., Oltramari, A.: WonderWeb deliverable D18 ontology library (final). Technical report, IST Project 2001-33052 WonderWeb: Ontology Infrastructure for the Semantic Web (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Masson-Delmotte, V. (eds.): Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  38. McGinnis, M.D.: An introduction to IAD and the language of the Ostrom workshop: a simple guide to a complex framework. Policy Stud. J. 39(1), 169–183 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0072.2010.00401.x

  39. McGinnis, M.D., Ostrom, E.: Social-ecological system framework: initial changes and continuing challenges. Ecol. Soc. 19(2), 30 (2014). https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-06387-190230

  40. Mizoguchi, R., Borgo, S.: A preliminary study of functional parts as roles. In: Proceedings of the Joint Ontology Workshops 2017 Episode 3: The Tyrolean Autumn of Ontology. CEUR Workshop Proceedings, vol. 2050. CEUR-WS.org (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  41. Ostrom, E.: A general framework for analyzing sustainability of social-ecological systems. Science 325(5939), 419–422 (2009)

    MathSciNet  CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  42. Ostrom, E., Burger, J., Field, C.B., Norgaard, R.B., Policansky, D.: Revisiting the commons: local lessons, global challenges. Science 284(5412), 278–282 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  43. Partelow, S.: Coevolving Ostrom’s social-ecological systems (SES) framework and sustainability science: four key co-benefits. Sustain. Sci. 11(3), 399–410 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  44. Partelow, S.: A review of the social-ecological systems framework. Ecol. Soc. 23(4) (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  45. Partelow, S., Winkler, K.J.: Interlinking ecosystem services and Ostrom’s framework through orientation in sustainability research. Ecol. Soc. 21(3) (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  46. Pavan, S., et al.: Mainstreaming the economics of nature: a synthesis of the approach, conclusions and recommendations of TEEB. Technical report, TEEB (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  47. Potschin, M., Haines-Young, R., et al.: Defining and measuring ecosystem services. In: Routledge Handbook of Ecosystem Services, pp. 25–44 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  48. Potschin-Young, M., et al.: Understanding the role of conceptual frameworks: reading the ecosystem service cascade. Ecosyst. Serv. 29, 428–440 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  49. Rhodes, R.A.: Governance and Public Administration. Debating Governance, vol. 5490 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  50. Sanfilippo, E.M., et al.: Modeling manufacturing resources: an ontological approach. In: Chiabert, P., Bouras, A., Noël, F., Ríos, J. (eds.) PLM 2018. IAICT, vol. 540, pp. 304–313. Springer, Cham (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01614-2_28

  51. Schägner, J.P., Brander, L., Maes, J., Hartje, V.: Mapping ecosystem services’ values: current practice and future prospects. Ecosyst. Serv. 4, 33–46 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  52. Stephan, M., Marshall, G., McGinnis, M.: An introduction to polycentricity and governance. In: Governing Complexity: Analyzing and Applying Polycentricity, pp. 21–44. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  53. Un, U.N.: Transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. Working papers, eSocialSciences (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  54. Vieu, L.: On the transitivity of functional parthood. Appl. Ontol. 1(2), 147–155 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  55. Vihervaara, P., et al.: Methodological interlinkages for mapping ecosystem services-from data to analysis and decision-support. One Ecosyst. 4, e26368 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  56. Winston, M.E., Chaffin, R., Herrmann, D.: A taxonomy of part-whole relations. Cognit. Sci. 11(4), 417–444 (1987)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by LARSyS (Projeto - UIDB/50009/2020).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ITI/LARSyS, Caminho da Penteada, 9020-105, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

    Greta Adamo & Max Willis

Authors
  1. Greta Adamo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Max Willis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Greta Adamo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Renata Guizzardi

  2. University of Geneva, CUI, Carouge, Switzerland

    Dr. Jolita Ralyté

  3. Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain

    Prof. Dr. Xavier Franch

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Adamo, G., Willis, M. (2022). Conceptual Integration for Social-Ecological Systems. In: Guizzardi, R., Ralyté, J., Franch, X. (eds) Research Challenges in Information Science. RCIS 2022. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 446. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05760-1_19

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05760-1_19

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-05759-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-05760-1

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)