Convergence science in the Anthropocene: Navigating the known and unknown

David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen, Ana Carnaval

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Rapidly changing ecological and social systems currently pose significant societal challenges. Navigating the complexity of social-ecological change requires approaches able to cope with, and potentially solve, both foreseen and unforeseen societal challenges. The emergent field of convergence addresses the intricacies of such challenges, and is thus relevant to a broad range of interdisciplinary issues. 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. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)96-102
Number of pages7
JournalPeople and Nature
Volume2
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2020

Keywords

  • adaptation
  • convergence
  • interdisciplinary science
  • resilience
  • societal change
  • sustainability
  • transformation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Convergence science in the Anthropocene: Navigating the known and unknown'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this