Humankind's challenge: adaptation

After just over six months, the Stockholm Resilience Centre has attracted international attention. Collaboration on several projects has been initiated with world-class researchers, and expectations of the Centre are high.

The intention is to create a research centre from scratch, with the vision of conducting world-class, interdisciplinary environmental research. In this vision, social sciences, natural sciences, humanities and arts are integrated. And even before the first year has gone, activities are in full swing. Nine research areas have been established; an initial article has been published in Science; joint ventures have started with the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the University of Alaska and several other universities in the USA, for example. Collaboration with Swedish researchers at the Baltic Nest Institute has begun, as has a dialogue with science communicators at Albaeco, the environmental organisation.

Johan Rockström, head of the Stockholm Resilience Centre, thinks that what explains its rapid success is the heavy concentration of researchers engaged in interdisciplinary work whom the Centre has brought together. This makes the Centre attractive.

‘It´s gone much faster than we expected. We´ve been able to get world-class research going quickly,´ he says.

NEW CONCEPT
A concept fundamental to the Centre is, of course, ‘resilience´. Resilience is a matter of a system´s capacity to adapt to change and continue developing. What distinguishes the notion of resilience from previous research is, first, that it includes interaction between ecological and social systems and, second, that it does not presuppose linear, predictable development.

‘Take theBaltic Sea , for example. It´s been a relatively stable ecological system, long subjected to severe stresses, including overfishing and discharges of nitrogen and phosphorus. But when these multiple stress factors, which were gradually growing in strength, then began to reinforce one another, the tipping point was reached and the whole Baltic ecosystem changed. This was not precipitated by any sudden event: it was prolonged pressure from numerous socially and ecologically caused environmental factors that finally caused the system to tip. So the change was not linear or predictable; rather, when certain crucial limits were reached, the Baltic underwent radical change,´ says Johan Rockström.

The unpredictability of ecosystems means that a kind of buffer has to be established to make them more capable of withstanding sudden changes. This is where the connection between ecology and sociology comes in. Our society is a socioecological system: social systems affect ecological ones and vice versa.

‘A society must be capable of adjusting to change. Farming today is a matter of not only increasing harvests but also adaptation to a future climate characterised by more shocks, such as floods and droughts. To enable ecosystems to withstand change, decisions by and collaboration with social systems are required,´ he says.

ROBUST RESEARCH EMERGING
Arild Underdal, Professor of International Politics at the UniversityofOslo and Board Chairman of the Stockholm Resilience Centre, considers that the Centre has ample chances of meeting the high expectations.

‘This is a research field in which Sweden is at the frontline, with internationally minded researchers. For a long time, Sweden has invested in environmental research and this means that there are good prospects of the Centre succeeding. From the Board´s point of view, we aim to secure its position in a kind of global “champions league", and we´re already doing that,´ he says.

In Johan Rockström´s view, the Centre has attracted attention from the start, when it was calling for applications from researchers, and has itself set the bar extremely high.

‘We´re genuinely convinced that we face a great global upheaval. This is why our research has to be of top class from the very start, and why we need to address decision-makers, both informing them of our findings and canvassing their views to explore public opinion. We must conduct research that results in change,´ he says.

ABOUT THE STOCKHOLM RESILIENCE CENTRE
The Centre was initiated by Mistra, and has been granted SEK 105 million for the years 2007-13. In addition, there is an option of a further MSEK 100 in 2014-18. Mistra´s intention is to generate the sense of security needed for venturing to do something new, creating a breakthrough in integration among social sciences, humanities and natural sciences. The Centre is supported byStockholmUniversity , the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics under the auspices of the RoyalSwedishAcademy of Sciences, and the Stockholm Environment Institute. The principal focus will be on socioecological resilience, i.e. the ability to cope with change and undergo further development. The Centre emphasises the interdependence of ecological and social systems, with interactions at local and global levels alike. Read more here.