Lesson 3 Overview

Complex Social-Ecological Systems:

As you work through this section, make sure you understand the different terms used well enough to use them correctly in your own thinking and writing (feedbacks, system state transition, thresholds, legacy, telecoupling, vulnerability, resilience, and adaptation). Can you identify examples of these outside of the course content?  

More broadly, consider these questions as you go through the material for this week as well as when completing your assignment:

  • Do we ever consider the long term effects of our actions in regards to the environment?
  • How connected are our lives with the health state of the ecosystems?
  • Have we reached the threshold of ecosystem resilience? Or have we ventured into the territory of irreversible damage?

Lesson 3 Checklist

Tasks
Task TypeItem or ActivityWhere to Find It / Instructions
To ReadRead the Lesson 3 course content.Use the links below to continue moving through the lesson material.
To ReadLiu, J., Dietz, T., Carpenter, S. R., Alberti, M., Folke, C., Moran, E., Pell, A. N., Deadman, P., Kratz, T., Lubchenco, J., & Ostrom, E. (2007). Complexity of coupled human and natural systems. Science, 317(5844), 1513–1516.Located in the Lesson 3 module.
To WatchAngry Inuk and Sustainability in a Tele-coupled WorldLinks to the films are provided in the Lesson 3 module.
To SubmitSee Canvas, course announcements.Not applicable

Note: Please refer to the Calendar in Canvas for specific time frames and due dates.