Evolutionary Dynamics And Sustainable Development

This work offers an approach to socio-economic systems which emphasizes their evolutionary nature. Economic development is shown as a process of structural change. The discussion in the book includes the use of decision tools which can simultaneously handle spatial and temporal evolution.

Drawing on the middle chapters from the first edition of J. Barkley Rosser's seminal work, From Catastrophe to Chaos, this book presents an unusual perspective on economics and economic analysis. Current economic theory largely depends upon assuming that the world is fundamentally continuous. However, an increasing amount of economic research has been done using approaches that allow for discontinuities such as catastrophe theory, chaos theory, synergetics, and fractal geometry. The spread of such approaches across a variety of disciplines of thought has constituted a virtual intellectual revolution in recent years. This book reviews the applications of these approaches in various subdisciplines of economics and draws upon past economic thinkers to develop an integrated view of economics as a whole from the perspective of inherent discontinuity.

In recent years, scientists have realized that evolution can occur on timescales much shorter than the 'long lapse of ages' emphasized by Darwin - in fact, evolutionary change is occurring all around us all the time. This work provides an authoritative and accessible introduction to eco-evolutionary dynamics, a cutting-edge new field that seeks to unify evolution and ecology into a common conceptual framework focusing on rapid and dynamic environmental and evolutionary change.

A multitude of complex systems and actors pursuing their own agenda shape the dynamics of our world. Better understanding of their actions and interactions is crucial, and can be achieved by a profound knowledge of systems and their properties, and their representation in models allowing simulation of probable behavior. Drawing on his extensive research and teaching experience in modeling and simulation of a wide range of systems - from engineering to social systems and ecosystems - the author presents the fundamental concepts and approaches for understanding and modeling the complex systems shaping the dynamics of our world. The book applies state space analysis and system dynamics to deal with the dynamic processes of "causal systems," discusses information processing approaches for modeling decision processes of "actors" and "agents," and uses aspects of the coevolutionary development of systems in their environment to deal with normative orientation, ethics, and evaluation of policies and long-term development. The concepts are applied in particular to the issue of sustainable development of human society in an evolving world. The book is complemented by a survey of system topics and of models from many fields, and by an extensive bibliography on the many systems-related subjects covered. Hartmut Bossel is Professor Emeritus of environmental systems analysis. He taught for many years at the University of California in Santa Barbara and the University of Kassel, Germany, where he was director of the Center for Environmental Systems Research until his retirement. He holds an engineering degree from the Technical University of Darmstadt, and a Ph.D. degree from the University of California at Berkeley. With a background in engineering, systems science, and mathematical modeling, he has led many research projects and future studies in different countries, developing computer simulation models and decision support systems in the areas of energy supply policy, global dynamics, orientation of behavior, agricultural policy, and forest dynamics and management. He has written numerous books on modeling and simulation of dynamic systems, social change and future paths, and has published widely in the scientific literature in several fields. Bossel is author of a System Zoo containing over one hundred simulation models of diverse systems.

There is widespread concern for long-term environmental issues in relation to economic processes and developments. Among the concerned scientists are economists, who have taken up the challenge to apply economic insights and tools for the study of long-term environment-economy interactions, and to give the concept of sustainable development 'economic hands and feet'. This book presents a pluralistic perspective on efforts, problems and successes in this area. This collection of papers was originally prepared for an international symposium titled Economic Modelling of Sustainable Development: Between Theory and Practice, which was hosted by the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, on December 20th 1996. The main motivation for this symposium was that the usefulness of the concept of sustainable development for theoretical and applied modelling is still being debated; growth theorists, resource economists, ecological economists, policy makers and many others are trying to deal with the concept in various, and sometimes conflicting, ways. The aim of the symposium was to bring together different theoretical and implementational perspectives on modelling for sustainable development. We hope that this volume will inform a wide audience about the perspectives and progress in this important area of research, as well as stimulate further research, notably on applied modelling and practical methods for the analysis of sustainable development at various (spatial) scales. The papers have, in due course, been revised several times based on comments made by discus sants, referees and the editors.

The theme of this volume is to discuss Eco-evolutionary Dynamics. Updates and informs the reader on the latest research findings Written by leading experts in the field Highlights areas for future investigation

This book contains a series of outstanding contributions on ecodynamics that appeared in limited editions before the emergence of the International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics, which has now become the primary focus for this area of research.The aim of ecodynamics is to relate ecosystems to evolutionary thermodynamics, which can lead to appropriate solutions for sustainable development. The contributions published in this volume relate to all aspects of ecosystems and sustainable development, ranging from physical sciences to economics and epistemology.The world of ecosystems has been dominated by the towering personality of Ilya Prigogine to whom this volume is dedicated. The first article is an extract from his autobiography written shortly before he died.Prigogine's ideas are directly reflected in many of the contributions in this volume. He helped set up numerous research groups all around the world, including that at Siena University headed by the late Enzo Tiezzi. He also influenced the work of Sven Jorgensen, Bernard Patten, Robert Ulanowicz, Simone Bastianoni, Nadia Marchettini, Ricardo Pulselli, T-S Chon, to name just a few amongst the many authors contributing to this volume.This compilation of influential papers currently unavailable in the open literature will make an important contribution to the field of ecodynamics.

This book takes up the challenge of developing an empirically based foundation for evolutionary economics built upon complex system theory.