Resilience of Social-Ecological Systems REM 660, Simon Fraser University Wed: 2:30-4:00pm Th: 12:30-2:20pm

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1 Resilience of Social-Ecological Systems REM 660, Simon Fraser University Wed: 2:30-4:00pm Th: 12:30-2:20pm First Class: AQ5014 All Following Classes: Strand Hall Annex Seminar Room Instructor: Dr. Anne Salomon Office: Rm TASC 1 Course Overview Managing for ecological and social resilience has become a priority in contemporary approaches to conservation and management, and a central theme in advancing our understanding of coupled social-ecological systems. Despite this, the extent to which resilience theory is applied to real-world management and decision-making remains in its infancy. This interdisciplinary, graduate-level seminar will provide an in-depth exploration of the concept of resilience, both in theory and in practice. This course will be composed of two modules; an introductory module that will address the core concepts of resilience theory and a research module where students will collaboratively design and conduct a social-ecological resilience assessment meta-analysis of coupled human-ocean systems. The first module will use assigned readings, presentations and interactive group dialogues to introduce and examine the key concepts of resilience, including nonlinearities, stability and alternative state dynamics, transformation, knowledge system integration and adaptive capacity. Students will present papers and lead discussions on both foundational and contemporary papers that address these topics. Following this introductory module, students will work in partnership to design and conduct a formal resilience assessment of coupled human-ocean systems, possibly being global fisheries meta-analysis. Students will then divide into small groups of 2-3 people to research various aspects of this group project and apply the resilience principles they learned in the introductory module to our collectively chosen research project. As a final product, student groups will prepare a concise contribution towards a draft research manuscript by the entire class designed to be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. 1 P age

2 Learning Outcomes By the end of this course, you will be able to: 1. Identify and synthesize the foundational and core principles of resilience theory 2. Understand the key processes that drive social-ecological system dynamics and the factors that confer their resilience 3. Design and conduct a quantitative resilience assessment 4. Prepare a manuscript for publication 5. Communicate complex conservation and management problems and alternative solutions clearly and effectively to the general public, government agencies and nongovernmental organizations Evaluation and Grading Introductory Module Activities 30% Paper Presentations and leading of group dialogues (15 x 2) Resilience Assessment Module & Research Contribution 50% Oral presentation (10) Written resilience assessment contribution (40) Class Participation 20% Participation in class dialogues, posing questions, catalysing discussions Active engagement with guest speakers 100% Paper Presentations and Dialogue Format: Presenters will prepare a concise summary and critical analysis of the paper, at least 3-4 questions aimed at catalyzing group discussion that each presenter will lead, and discuss and reference at least one additional associated paper. The rest of the class will come armed with 3-4 questions that will be used to contribute to the discussion. 2 P age

3 Module 1: Core Concepts of Resilience Theory Special Guest Lecture: Xavier Basurto Reading: Basurto et al. In Press Historical Foundations of Stability, Alternative States & Resilience Theory Lewontin 1969 Holling 1973 Sutherland 1974 May 1977 Connell and Sousa 1983 Pimm 1984 Knowlton 1992 Holling and Meffe 1996 Application of Resilience to Management and Social-Ecological-Systems Scheffer et al Folke et al Rockstrom 2009 Nyström et al Hughes et al Bleckner et al Introduction to Resilience Assessment Biggs et al Nemec et al Cosens and Fremier 2014 Quinlan et al Module 2: Collaborative Research on Coupled Human-Ocean Systems Managing the Marine Commons Hilborn et al McCay et al Gutierrez et al Cinner et al Research Project Design & Implementation Hone in on Alternative Questions to Test Identify Sample Coupled Human-Ocean Systems (i.e. Fisheries) Generate hypotheses Design Assessment Trail Assessment Collect & Analyze Data Presentations & Write up 3 P age

4 Week Day Topic Reading Presenters / Treats 1 Jan 6 Introduction to Class: Experimental Safe Fail Approach, Module Structure, Presentation & Dialogue Format & Learning Outcomes 1 Jan 7 No Class Sign up for Reading Presentations Begin your readings 2 Jan 13 Special Guest Lecture Basurto et al. In Press N/A Module 1: Core Concepts of Resilience Theory 2 Jan 14 Historical Foundations Lewontin 1969 Holling Jan 20 Historical Foundations Sutherland 1974 May Jan 21 Historical Foundations Connell and Sousa 1983 Pimm Jan 27 Historical Foundations Knowlton 1992 Holling and Meffe Jan 28 Application of Resilience to Management & SESs Scheffer et al Folke et al Feb 3 Application of Resilience to Management & SESs Rockstrom 2009 Nyström et al Feb 4 Application of Resilience to Management & SESs Hughes et al Bleckner et al Feb 10 Reading Break N/A N/A 6 Feb 11 Reading Break N/A N/A 4 P age

5 Week Day Topic Reading Presenters / Treats 7 Feb 17 Introduction to Resilience Assessment Biggs et al Nemec et al Feb 18 Introduction to Resilience Assessment Cosens and Fremier 2014 Quinlan et al Module 2: Collaborative Research on Coupled Human-Ocean Systems 8 Feb 24 Managing the Marine Commons Hilborn et al McCay et al Feb 25 Managing the Marine Commons Gutierrez et al Cinner et al Mar 2 Research Project Design 1. Hone in on alternative questions to test 2. Identify sample coupled human-ocean systems (i.e. Fisheries) 9 Mar 3 Research Project Design 1. Generate hypotheses 2. Begin to design assessment 10 Mar 9 No Class Research Project Design & Implementation 1. Trail Assessment 10 Mar 10 No Class 11 Mar 16 Research Project Design & Implementation 1. Discuss trail and rework assessment accordingly 11 Mar 17 Research Project Implementation 1. Collect data 12 Mar 23 Research Project Implementation 1. Collect data 12 Mar 24 Research Project Implementation 1. Collect data 5 P age

6 Week Day Topic Reading Presenters / Treats 13 Mar 30 Research Project Implementation 1. Analyze Data 13 Mar 31 Research Project Implementation 1. Analyze Data 14 Apr 6 Research Project Implementation 1. Analyze Data 14 Apr 7 Complete Research Project 1. Project Presentations All 6 P age