Under and over-consumption problems exist side-by-side, and public institutions often lag way behind private sector initiatives and actions. The challenges are acute for sustaining the livelihoods of the poor and politically marginalized. For them many of the new, and even the older, linkages are out of their control.

New state systems of governance and knowledge often don´t fit each other or their corresponding local systems. In this context, building and maintaining adaptive capacity of communities to self-organize, manage their resource and adjust their livelihoods is crucial.

In this talk he will highlight emerging theories from the study of linked social-ecological systems undergoing re-organization and illustrate their value and shortcomings with examples from the uplands, coastal zone and urban development in Thailand and Vietnam.

About Dr. Lebel
Dr. Louis Lebel is a research affiliate of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and Director of the Unit for Social and Environmental Research (USER) at Chiang Mai University, Thailand.

He is also the Science Coordinator for Southeast Asia for START. Current research interests include: shrimp aquaculture, sustainable livelihoods of upland farmers, resilience, institutional interplay, social networks.