Integrating humans and nature: reconciling the boundaries of science and society

Abstract

After many decades of separation, environmental and ecological sciences have formally undertaken an effort to reintegrate humans back into nature. Recent concern with the ‘human dimension’ represents a significant departure from historic traditions where the human–nature boundary has formed the division between natural and social sciences. Now, ecology and environmental sciences are thematically and functionally embedded in the social matrix, and the interrelationships and interdependence between humans and nature constitute the primary drivers of much ecological research. Integrating natural and human sciences derives from the recognition that many issues dominating society today (e.g. pollution, land-use practices, biodiversity, conservation and overpopulation) involve linking social and ecological approaches. This is represented by the integration of the human and natural sciences in many recent programs (e.g. Man and the Biosphere, the Sustainable Biosphere Initiative and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). Because of growing interest in integrating humans and nature, an interdisciplinary group of scholars gathered to discuss recent changes in how the human–nature boundary is perceived, and implications for ecological and environmental sciences * Rethinking the ‘and’ in humans and society: ecology at the boundary of human systems, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 10–13 March 2000. *Rethinking the ‘and’ in humans and society: ecology at the boundary of human systems, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 10–13 March 2000..