Integrative Systems Approaches to Natural and Social Dynamics PDF Download

Author: M. Matthies
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642565859
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 626

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Book Description
At the start of the new millennium, mankind is challenged by a paradox: the more we know about the world the more uncertain we become in understanding and predicting how it works. This book presents an outline of a new basis for Systems Science, and a methodology for its application in complex environmental, economic, social, and technological systems.

Author: Saskia Elske Kunnen
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 1136511016
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
The dynamic systems approach is a rapidly expanding advancement in the study of developmental research, particularly in the domain of adolescent development. It provides a unique way of examining the subject, and this innovative study of developmental processes helps social scientists to translate dynamic systems conceptualizations into clear empirical research that readers will be able to implement themselves. The first part of this edited book discusses techniques that describe and assess specific process characteristics such as variability, sudden jumps and attractor states. The second part explores the different techniques for building a dynamic systems model, which can simulate the behaviour of a system to investigate the mechanisms behind the processes. Each chapter describes one technique and is based on a specific practical example of its application in adolescent development. Step-by-step instructions for model-building and examples of ready-made models are provided on the website that belongs to the book: www.psypress.com/dynamic-systems-approach. This book provides a clear step-by-step description of theories and techniques that are designed for the study of developmental processes, and is therefore ideal for researchers of developmental psychology who do not specialise in statistics or research methods.

Author: Nikolay K. Vitanov
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319416316
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 299

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Book Description
This book deals with methods to evaluate scientific productivity. In the book statistical methods, deterministic and stochastic models and numerous indexes are discussed that will help the reader to understand the nonlinear science dynamics and to be able to develop or construct systems for appropriate evaluation of research productivity and management of research groups and organizations. The dynamics of science structures and systems is complex, and the evaluation of research productivity requires a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods and measures. The book has three parts. The first part is devoted to mathematical models describing the importance of science for economic growth and systems for the evaluation of research organizations of different size. The second part contains descriptions and discussions of numerous indexes for the evaluation of the productivity of researchers and groups of researchers of different size (up to the comparison of research productivities of research communities of nations). Part three contains discussions of non-Gaussian laws connected to scientific productivity and presents various deterministic and stochastic models of science dynamics and research productivity. The book shows that many famous fat tail distributions as well as many deterministic and stochastic models and processes, which are well known from physics, theory of extreme events or population dynamics, occur also in the description of dynamics of scientific systems and in the description of the characteristics of research productivity. This is not a surprise as scientific systems are nonlinear, open and dissipative.

Author: Jaan Valsiner
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 038795922X
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 688

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Book Description
All psychological processes—like biological and social ones—are dynamic. Phenomena of nature, society, and the human psyche are context bound, constantly changing, and variable. This feature of reality is often not recognized in the social sciences where we operate with averaged data and with homogeneous stereotypes, and consider our consistency to be the cornerstone of rational being. Yet we are all inconsistent in our actions within a day, or from, one day to the next, and much of such inconsistency is of positive value for our survival and development. Our inconsistent behaviors and thoughts may appear chaotic, yet there is generality within this highly variable dynamic. The task of scientific methodologies—qualitative and quantitative—is to find out what that generality is. It is the aim of this handbook to bring into one framework various directions of construction of methodology of the dynamic processes that exist in the social sciences at the beginning of the 21st century. This handbook is set up to bring together pertinent methodological scholarship from all over the world, and equally from the quantitative and qualitative orientations to methodology. In addition to consolidating the pertinent knowledge base for the purposes of its further growth, this book serves the major educational role of bringing practitioners—students, researchers, and professionals interested in applications—the state of the art know-how about how to think about extracting evidence from single cases, and about the formal mathematical-statistical tools to use for these purposes.

Author: Judith C. Enders
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317634624
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
While sustainability has become a buzzword in discussions about the environment and development, work on theories of sustainable development has received much less attention. However, theory is vital as understanding the origins and development of the concept is the key to achieving successful implementation of sustainability. This book offers an interdisciplinary collection of research articles on the theories of sustainable development, drawing on a wide range of subjects including history, politics, governance, complex systems, economics and philosophy. It advocates viewing sustainable development not only as the establishment of a permanent, globally practicable and future-capable mode of life and economics, but as a complex array of problems involving a wide range of social-scientific and humanistic disciplines. This innovative approach means that the book is oriented toward current problems, not toward the established academic boundaries, and it draws out lessons that are relevant for those studying and working in sustainability across the world. This book will be of great interest to researchers and students of sustainable development and environmental politics, as well as practitioners working with sustainable development in politics, business, administration, and civil society organizations.

Author: Peter Bartelmus
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402069669
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 339

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Book Description
This thought-provoking and colorful book cuts through the fog of vision and advocacy by comparing and applying new quantitative tools of both environmental and ecological economics. Environmental accounts and empirical analyses provide operational concepts and measures of the sustainability of economic performance and growth. The text raises doubts, however, about the measurability of sustainable development. Further reading sections are provided at the end of each chapter.

Author: Urbano Fra.Paleo
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 940179328X
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 517

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Book Description
This book explores the common language of politics, ecology and risk, and crosses their conceptual divides. It seeks to shed light on the underlying structural factors, processes, players and interactions in the risk scenario, all of which influence decision-making that both increases and reduces disaster risk. The first section explores risk governance under conditions of increasing complexity, diversity and change. The discussion includes chapters on The problem of governance in the risk society; Making sense of decentralization; Understanding and conceptualizing risk in large-scale social-ecological systems; The disaster epidemic and Structure, process, and agency in the evaluation of risk governance. Part II, focused on governance in regions and domains of risk, includes nine chapters with discussion of Climate governance and climate change and society; Climate change and the politics of uncertainty; Risk complexity and governance in mountain environments; On the edge: Coastal governance and risk and Governance of megacity disaster risks, among other important topics. Part III discusses directions for further advancement in risk governance, with ten chapters on such topics as the transition From risk society to security society; Governing risk tolerability; Risk and adaptive planning for coastal cities; Profiling risk governance in natural hazards contexts; Confronting the risk of large disasters in nature and Transitions into and out of a crisis mode of socio-ecological systems. The book presents a comprehensive examination of the complexity of both risk and environmental policy-making and of their multiple—and not always visible—interactions in the context of social–ecological systems. Just as important, it also addresses unseen and neglected complementarities between regulatory policy-making and ordinary individual decision-making through the actions of nongovernmental actors. A range of distinguished scholars from a diverse set of disciplines have contributed to the book with their expertise in many areas, including disaster studies, emergency planning and management, ecology, sustainability, environmental planning and management, climate change, geography, spatial planning, development studies, economy, political sciences, public administration, communication, as well as physics and geology.

Author: Abdel H. El-Shaarawi
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 9780471899976
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 660

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Book Description
A comprehensive overview of environmetric research and its applications... Environmetrics covers the development and application of quantitative methods in the environmental sciences. It provides essential tools for understanding, predicting, and controlling the impacts of agents, both man-made and natural, which affect the environment. Basic and applied research in this area covers a broad range of topics. Primary among these are the quantitative sciences, such as statistics, probability and applied mathematics, chemometrics, and econometrics. Applications are also important, for example in, ecology and environmental biology, public health, atmospheric science, geology, engineering, risk management, and regulatory/governmental policy amongst others. * Divided into 12 sections, the Encyclopedia brings together over 600 detailed articles which have been carefully selected and reviewed through the collaborative efforts of the Editors-in-Chief and the appropriate Section Editor * Presented in alphabetical order all the articles will include an explanatory introduction, extensive cross-referencing and an up-to-date bibliography providing literature references for further reading. Presenting state of the art information in a readable, highly accessible style, the scope and coverage provided by the Encyclopedia of Environmetrics will ensure its place as the landmark reference for the many scientists, educators, and decision-makers working across this multidisciplinary field. An essential reference tool for university libraries, research laboratories, government institutions and consultancies concerned with the environmental sciences, the Encyclopedia of Environmetrics brings together for the first time, comprehensive coverage of the full range of topics, techniques and applications covered by this multidisciplinary field. There is currently no central reference source which addresses the needs of this multidisciplinary community. This new Encyclopedia will fill this gap by providing a comprehensive source of relevant fundamental concepts in environmetric research, development and applications for statisticians, mathematicians, economists, environmentalists, ecologist, government officials and policy makers.

Author: Tom Beer
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401001677
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
1 AUK ISMAIL-ZADEH ,2, TOM BEER3 1 International Institute of Earthquake Prediction Theory and Mathematical Geophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Warshavskoye shosse 79-2, Moscow 113556, Russia; e-mail: [email protected] 2 Geophysikalisches Institut, Universittit Karlsruhe, Hertzstr. 16, Karlsruhe 76187, Germany; e-mail: [email protected] 3 CSIRO Environmental Risk Network, CSIRO Atmospheric Research, Aspendale, Vic. 3195 Australia; e-mail: [email protected] The world faces major threats to the sustainability of our planet. These threats are accompanied by the immediate dangers of natural and man-made disasters. Our vulnerability to them is greatly magnified with each passing year undermining our ability to maintain a sustainable and productive world into the 21st Century and beyond. Both history and common sense teach us that science has a tremendous potential to find ways to cope with these threats. 1 The EUROSCIENCE working group "Science and Urgent Problems of Society" 2 and the IUGG Commission on Geophysical Risk and Sustainability were initiators of the EUROSCIENCE - IUGG Advanced Research Workshop "Science for Reduction of Risk and Sustainable Development of Society" sponsored by the NATO Science Program. The Workshop was held on 15-16 June 2002 in Budapest, Hungary. More than 40 participants from 17 countries took part in the Workshop. Talks and discussions addressed mainly the question of how science can help in reduction of risk and sustainable development of society.

Author: Roland W. Scholz
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139503901
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 659

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Book Description
In an era where humans affect virtually all of the earth's processes, questions arise about whether we have sufficient knowledge of human-environment interactions. How can we sustain the Earth's ecosystems to prevent collapses and what roles should practitioners and scientists play in this process? These are the issues central to the concept of environmental literacy. This unique book provides a comprehensive review and analysis of environmental literacy within the context of environmental science and sustainable development. Approaching the topic from multiple perspectives, it explores the development of human understanding of the environment and human-environment interactions in the fields of biology, psychology, sociology, economics and industrial ecology. The discussion emphasises the importance of knowledge integration and transdisciplinary processes as key strategies for understanding complex human-environment systems (HES). In addition, the author defines the HES framework as a template for investigating sustainably coupled human-environment systems in the 21st century.