Skip to main content
Home / GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, Volume 30, Number 2

Open Access Crisis-induced disruptions in place-based social-ecological research ‐ an opportunity for redirection

Download Article:
Place-based research faces multiple threats, including both natural and global health hazards and political conflicts, which may disrupt fieldwork. The current COVID-19 pandemic shows how these threats can drastically affect social-ecological research activities given its engagement with different local stakeholders, disciplines, and knowledge systems. The crisis reveals the need for adaptive research designs while also providing an opportunity for a structural shift towards a more sustainable and inclusive research landscape.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; crisis; disruptions; fieldwork; social-ecological research

Document Type: Research Article

Affiliations: 1: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany 2: University of Koblenz-Landau, Landau, Germany 3: University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany 4: University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom 5: Technical University of Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany 6: Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany 7: Technical University of Dresden, Dresden, Germany 8: Technical University of Dresden, Dresden, Germany, and University of Bamen da, Bamenda, Cameroon 9: Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research, Bremen, Germany 10: United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, Bonn, Germany 11: University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria 12: University of Kassel and University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany 13: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Publication date: July 15, 2021

More about this publication?

  • GAIA is a peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to inter- and transdisciplinary research on and for sustainability transformations.

    Environmental problems cannot be solved by one academic discipline. The complex natures of these problems require cooperation across disciplinary boundaries. Since 1991, GAIA has offered a well-balanced and practice-oriented forum for transdisciplinary research. GAIA offers first-hand information on state of the art environmental research and on current solutions to environmental problems. Well-known editors, advisors, and authors work to ensure the high quality of the contributions found in GAIA and a unique transdisciplinary dialogue – in a comprehensible style.

    GAIA is an ISI-journal, listed in the Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Science Citation Index and in Current Contents/Social and Behavioral Sciences.

    All contributions undergo a double-blind peer review.

  • Editorial Board
  • Information for Authors
  • Subscribe to this Title
  • Ingenta Connect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites

Share Content

  • Access Key
  • Free content
  • Partial Free content
  • New content
  • Open access content
  • Partial Open access content
  • Subscribed content
  • Partial Subscribed content
  • Free trial content