Relating the Philosophy and Practice of Ecological Economics. The Role of Concepts, Models, and Case Studies in Inter- and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research
Stefan Baumgärtner () (Centre for Sustainability, Leuphana University of Lüneburg) Christian Becker (Research Centre for Environmental Economics, University of Heidelberg, Germany) Karin Frank (Department of Ecological Modelling, UFZ – Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research,Leipzig, Germany) Birgit Müller (Department of Ecological Modelling, UFZ – Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research,Leipzig, Germany) Martin F. Quaas () (Department of Ecological Modelling, UFZ-Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle)
Abstract
We develop a comprehensive multi-level approach to ecological economics (CML-approach) which integrates philosophical considerations on the foundations of ecological economics with an adequate operationalization. We argue that the subject matter and aims of ecological economics require a specific combination of inter- and transdisciplinary research, and discuss the epistemological position on which this approach is based. In accordance with this understanding of inter- and transdisciplinarity and the underlying epistemological position, we develop an operationalization which comprises simultaneous analysis on three levels of abstraction: concepts, models and case studies. We explain these levels in detail, and, in particular, deduce our way of generic modeling in this context. Finally, we illustrate the CML-approach and demonstrate its fruitfulness by the example of the sustainable management of semi-arid rangelands.
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