Posts Tagged ‘robustness’

14 Jun

PECS Webinar with Clara Therville on fragility and adaptiveness

Posted by michaelschoon in Uncategorized. Tagged: , , .

Here is a recording of our latest webinar for the PECS webinar series.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Title: 

Governing in the face of extreme variance and the inherent fragilities of adaptiveness: Insights from locusts

Abstract:

Locusts are a peculiar case of large-scale extreme events that has been poorly studied by social sciences. Their natural dynamic that alternates between recessions and periods of large-scale expansion imposes great spatio-temporal variabilities and discontinuities. These dynamics bring into sharp relief gaps in societal capacities to collaborate to face this transboundary and erratic bio-hazard, as well as successes where societies have been able to implement preventive strategies that effectively reduce frequency and amplitude of such events. Using three case studies – the desert locust, the Australian plague locust, and the South American locust – we analyzed the governance systems associated with locust management. We highlight that locust managers have implemented multi-level, nested, and adaptive systems, from local to international levels. While these systems necessarily have to present a high level of adaptiveness to face the extended, uncertain, and discontinuous dynamic imposed by locusts, such adaptiveness results in blurring the distribution of responsibilities and questions actors’ willingness and capacities to fulfill their roles through space and time – especially under a reduced frequency and amplitude regime of perturbation. We discuss how global trends towards decentralization and inclusion of local levels, and increased consideration of environmental issues, albeit essential, have intensified variability in the represented values, interests, and action capacities of the actors, and further challenged collaborative governance.

Bio: 

Clara Therville is a researcher at the French Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) since 2022. She was trained as an ecologist, but gradually switched to social sciences and now work on collaborative environmental governance. She uses tools linked to the analysis of socio-ecological system dynamics, as well as institutional analysis, to better understand the conditions of collaboration between stakeholders in a world in crisis. She worked on a variety of topics, and the policies and practices associated with them: biodiversity and protected areas, adaptation and vulnerability to climate change, agroecology, extreme events and locust invasions. She mobilizes inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches, particularly participatory ones, to better understand our capacity to act and decide collectively in the face of change.

__________________________________________________________________________________

This is the latest in a series of webinars. Past recordings can be found here.

30 Mar

The Robustness of Children

Posted by michaelschoon in Uncategorized. Tagged: , .

The old saw is that a man with one watch knows what time it is, but a man with two is never sure.  The same holds true for books on child development.  I’ve now read more books than I care to admit on childcare.  Each was written by an expert, generally with a tone that indicates any deviation from this plan will probably result in catastrophic events for you child.  But the first key takeaway that I’ve found is that kids thrive in spite of our best efforts.

This brings me back to the research that forms the foundation of this blog and website, resilience and robustness.  All of my work on resilience comes from the work on social-ecological systems instigated by the breakthroughs of Buzz Holling and his compatriots over the last (gasp) 40 years.  But there is a vast literature on “resilience” in childhood development.  Both research communities have very specific definitions and heaps of research that don’t necessarily speak anything close to the same language.  In the social-ecological community, there have been recent discussions on resilience (the ability to bounce back from disturbance) in contrast to robustness (system persistence when confronted by various types of disturbance or uncertainty).

Kids are robust to a huge variety of disturbances.  They prosper regardless of which child development program we follow.  The experts insist that raising healthy kids requires:

  • a regimented eating-activity-sleeping schedule, except for those that insist that this should be on demand with no schedule
  • co-sleeping, except for those that insist co-sleeping is evil
  • programmed activity and school starting by 2 years of age, except those that insist there should be no formal schooling
  • strict rules, except those that insist on levity and learning
  • pacifiers to satiate natural cravings, again, except by those that think this leads to poor nourishment

And the list goes on as long as we’d like, with phrases like nipple confusion, attachment dilemmas, and so on.

This leads me to Takeaway #2: Kids need three things and three things only:  food, love, and space to run.  This recipe works until at least the age of 3, but it probably holds until the age of 88.

Finally, everyone seems to have their favorite childcare book.  That’s great.  If you find one that works for you and (more importantly) your child, please use it.  However, let’s remember that you have a sample size of 1 (or 2 or 3), and let’s not assume that the same holds for anyone else, let alone everyone.  Now, back to the books.