Complexity Theory for a Sustainable Future

Edited by Jon Norberg and Graeme Cumming

Paper, 312 pages, 16 illus; 7 tables
ISBN: 978-0-231-13461-3
$34.50 / £24.00

April, 2008
Cloth, 312 pages, 16 illus; 7 tables
ISBN: 978-0-231-13460-6
$84.50 / £58.50

"The study of complex systems has seen a flowering in the last several decades, and its historical development is well documented in this book. Jon Norberg and Graeme S. Cumming have provided the first complete effort to build a bridge between the large body of theory that has emerged from places like the Santa Fe Institute and the application of that theory to achieving a sustainable future. The editors are to be commended for their seamless integration of resilience theory, sustainability concepts, and applications to specific case studies. The book's distinguished set of authors have provided state-of-art treatments of the translation and application of concepts from the theory of complex adaptive systems to coupled social-ecological systems, from the diversity and flows in ecological communities to the emergence of norms in human societies. This book is a unique contribution to the literature and will serve as a pillar in the development of a new science of sustainability." — from the foreword by Simon Levin, Princeton University

Series

• Complexity in Ecological Systems

About the Author

Jon Norberg is assistant professor of systems ecology at Stockholm University and is affiliated as a researcher with the Stockholm Resilience Center. Coming from a background in ecology, Norberg has become more transdisciplinary, studying the role of social phenomena such as information sharing and trust building for resource management. He completed his post-doc at Princeton University with Simon Levin and has been a long term participant in the resilience alliance. Graeme S. Cumming is Pola Pasvolsky Chair in Conservation Biology at the University of Cape Town. He runs a wide-ranging research program that focuses on the broad-scale spatial and temporal dynamics of ecological communities and ecosystems, with particular interests in conservation, resilience, and sustainability.

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