AnywhereToEverywhere

Metacoupling framework

Metacoupling framework is a holistic that systematically integrates human-nature interactions within a system (intracoupling), between adjacent systems (pericoupling), and between distant systems (telecoupling). It provides a unified lens to analyze local, regional, and global linkages simultaneously, capturing flows, feedbacks, and spillover effects across scales. This approach helps researchers understand complex socio-environmental dynamics and design strategies for global sustainability in an increasingly interconnected world.

Publications to learn more:

Liu, Jianguo 2023 Leveraging the metacoupling framework for sustainability science and global sustainable development. National Science Review 10(7), nwad090, https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwad090

Liu, Jianguo 2017 Integration across a metacoupled world. Ecology and Society 22(4):29. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09830-220429

Telecoupling framework

Telecoupling framework is an interdisciplinary tool that examines socioeconomic and environmental interactions between distant coupled human and natural systems. It identifies key components - sending, receiving, and spillover systems; agents; flows; causes; effects - to analyze how actions in one location create impacts in another. This approach helps reveal hidden global linkages, such as how trade, migration, or policy decisions in one region drive ecological and socioeconomical changes far away.

Publication to learn more:

Liu, Jianguo, Vanessa Hull, Mateus Batistella, Ruth DeFries, Thomas Dietz, Feng Fu, Thomas W. Hertel, Roberto César Izaurralde, Eric F. Lambin, Shuxin Li, Luiz Antonio Martinelli, William McConnell, Emilio F. Moran, Rosamond Naylor, Zhiyun Ouyang, Karen R. Polenske, Anette Reenberg,  Gilberto de Miranda Rocha, Cynthia S. Simmons, Peter H. Verburg, Peter M. Vitousek, Fusuo Zhang, Chunquan Zhu. 2013 Framing sustainability in a telecoupled world. Ecology and Society 18 (2): 26. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol18/iss2/art26/

Coupled Human and Natural System framework

The CHANS framework conceptualizes humans and nature as interconnected, co-evolving systems that interact dynamically through feedback loops and reciprocal effects. It integrates social, economic, and cultural dimensions of human systems with ecological, climatic, and biophysical components of natural systems, emphasizing that neither can be fully understood in isolation. This holistic approach is essential for analyzing complexity, managing sustainability challenges, and developing policies that address both ecological integrity and human well-being.

Publications to learn more:

Liu, Jianguo, Thomas Dietz, Stephen R. Carpenter, William W. Taylor, Marina Alberti, Peter Deadman, Charles Redman, Alice Pell, Carl Folke, Zhiyun Ouyang, and Jane Lubchenco 2021. Coupled Human and Natural Systems: The evolution and applications of an integrated framework. Ambio  50: 1778–1783. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-020-01488-5

Liu, Jianguo, Thomas Dietz, Stephen Carpenter, Marina Alberti, Carl Folke, Emilio Moran, Alice Pell, Peter Deadman, Timothy Kratz, Jane Lubchenco, Elinor Ostrom, Zhiyun Ouyang, William Provencher, Charles Redman, Stephen Schneider, and William Taylor. 2007 Complexity of Coupled Human and Natural Systems. Science 317:1513 - 1516. doi:10.1126/science.1144004

Liu, Jianguo, Thomas Dietz, Stephen R. Carpenter, Carl Folke, Marina Alberti, Charles L. Redman, Stephen H. Schneider, Elinor Ostrom, Alice N. Pell, Jane Lubchenco, William W. Taylor, Zhiyun Ouyang, Peter Deadman, Timothy Kratz, William Provencher. 2007 Coupled human and natural systems. Ambio 36:639-649. doi:10.1579/0044-7447(2007)36[639:chans]2.0.co;2.