SS 7

Integrating Ecological Wisdom with Ecology: A New Strategy for Socio-Ecosystem Planning and Management

As both a philosophical construct and practical instrument, ecological wisdom integrates knowledge from many sources into guidance for action, and has played an important role in human-nature co-evolution for thousands of years. Rooted in aboriginal societies across the globe, it has been later found, though only fortuitously, in the realm of ecology. For example, an early application of ecological wisdom within the ESA was the formation of a Committee for the Preservation of Natural Systems chaired by Victor Shelford in 1917. This led to establishment of The Nature Conservancy in 1951. Today, with the world facing steep challenges toward sustainability, ecological wisdom is regaining broader recognition, and being proposed for use in planning, management and research across social and ecological arenas. This is evidenced by a well-attended international symposium on "Ecological Wisdom for Urban Sustainability", held in 2014 in Chongqing, China. Participants of diverse disciplinary backgrounds from around the world explored collectively the applicability of ecological wisdom to urban sustainability as well as sustainability of ecosystem goods and services.

This special session provides a forum for ecologists to explore the prospect of building a new strategy for guiding ecosystem planning and management through integration of ecological wisdom principles with those from ecology. The agenda includes brief presentations on ecological wisdom, including one by the organizer of the Chongqing symposium, to be followed by a discussion among an international panel and the diverse audience expected at this 100th anniversary meeting of ESA.