University of the Virgin Islands: Living on Earth III: Social-Ecological Systems Workshop 2012, October 24-28, 2012

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The Living on Earth III (LOE III) workshop, October 24-28, 2012, University of the Virgin Islands,addresses the need for effective integration of processes linking scientific knowledge and analytical approaches in social-ecological systems research. This workshop continues the important work of the two previous workshops (LOE I and II) organized and hosted by Alaska EPSCoR, between 2009-2011, including among others, building science and research capacity in sustainability science and coupled human-natural/socio-ecological systems (SES) science across EPSCoR jurisdictions and facilitating the formalization and functionality of a LOE-SES scientific network promotes cutting-edge and transformative science ideas. LOE III focuses on conceptualizing SES science in the context of small, yet critical ecosystems with challenging human dimensions. Specifically,the workshop emphasizes three focal themes, namely, promoting science to inform our knowledge and understanding of critical coupled human-natural system transformations; the role of social emergence in addressing vulnerability while promoting ecosystem stewardship across multiple social-ecological transformations, and; deepening scientific integration at nested multiple scales promoting sustainable and resilient outcomes. In addition to these three core themes, the LOE III workshop provides participants and participant EPSCoR jurisdictions the skills and capability to build and develop social-ecological system's activities at their home institutions, by offering a "Bringing it Home" activity development session. In this session the workshop participants create a meaningful social-ecological systems exercise for their local community, university, and/or institution.Evaluation of the workshop will be conducted in multiple levels: continuously throughout the workshop by incorporating participant evaluations following the scientific discourse and interactive dialogue; online through a survey tool for each session and for the overall experience of the workshop, and post-workshop by EPSCoR jurisdictions where each team will be tasked to report on specific outcomes promoted or planned after the LOE III experience.Specific outcomes from the workshop are to: (a)formalize and structure a new LOE-SES EPSCoR scientific network building upon previous informal network approaches from LOE I and II; (b) generate thematic sub-network groups with specific aims and goals (such as NSF proposal submissions incorporating cross-EPSCoR collaborations, special-issue or book proposal submissions, sections or panel proposals for conferences and scientific meetings, etc., and; (c) develop a LOE-SES network toolkit for building within-EPSCoR jurisdictional capacity especially for integrating biophysical with social/behavioral scientists for SES science.