Convergence science in the Anthropocene: Navigating the known and unknown

Authors

David G. Angeler, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences & University of Nebraska – LincolnFollow
Craig R. Allen, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Ana Carnaval, The City College of New York & The Graduate Center of the City University of New York

ORCID IDs

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2197-7470

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

3-18-2019

Citation

2020 The Authors. People and Nature published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society

Comments

DOI: 10.1002/pan3.10069

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pan3 People and Nature. 2020;2:96–102.

Abstract

1. Rapidly changing ecological and social systems currently pose significant societal challenges. Navigating the complexity of social-ecological change requires ap- proaches able to cope with, and potentially solve, both foreseen and unforeseen societal challenges.

2. The emergent field of convergence addresses the intricacies of such challenges, and is thus relevant to a broad range of interdisciplinary issues.

3. This paper suggests a way to conceptualize convergence research. It discusses how it relates to two major societal challenges (adaptation, transformation), and to the generation of policy-relevant science. It also points out limitations to the further development of convergence research.