TY - JOUR
T1 - Multi-causal and integrated assessment of sustainability
T2 - The case of agriculturization in the Argentine Pampas
AU - Manuel-Navarrete, David
AU - Gallopín, Gilberto C.
AU - Blanco, Mariela
AU - Díaz-Zorita, Martín
AU - Ferraro, Diego O.
AU - Herzer, Hilda
AU - Laterra, Pedro
AU - Murmis, María R.
AU - Podestá, Guillermo P.
AU - Rabinovich, Jorge
AU - Satorre, Emilio H.
AU - Torres, Filemón
AU - Viglizzo, Ernesto F.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments This material is based upon work supported by the U. S. National Science Foundation under Biocomplexity in the Environment Grant No. 0410348. This article is also based on research supported in part by a grant from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office (formerly the Office of Global Programs) through the Environment, Science and Development Program for the Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Development Project. Part of the ideas developed in this paper was partially published in Serie Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo 118 of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.
PY - 2009/6
Y1 - 2009/6
N2 - Assessing the sustainability of complex development processes requires multi-causal and integrated analyses. We develop a system-based methodology, rooted in interdisciplinary discussion and consensus building between 15 experts, to construct a multi-causal diagram which examines the sustainability of the Argentine Pampaś process of agriculturization. The resulting diagram includes 25 factors and provides a big-picture of the multiple dimensions and interrelations affecting sustainability. According to this examination, the increasing concentration of production and the incorporation of technological innovations, triggered by economic and institutional factors, are the cause of environmental distresses and social changes, whose consequences for sustainability are still highly disputed. Nevertheless, the symptoms of both environmental and social unsustainability are more evident in the case of the extra-Pampean regions than in the Pampas. This suggests that the Pampean agriculture model should not be transferred to these regions without substantial modifications. The experts did not reach consensus on whether the agriculturization process is overall sustainable or unsustainable. Lack of consensus revolved mainly around opposing perspectives regarding the significance of the threats to environmental sustainability. The magnitude of socio-distributive unbalance and loss of rural jobs were also contentious. Yet, the paper shows how the exercise of building a joint causal diagram was undoubtedly helpful for linking piece-meal disciplinary facts, brought in from all fronts, into a comprehensive and coherent picture.
AB - Assessing the sustainability of complex development processes requires multi-causal and integrated analyses. We develop a system-based methodology, rooted in interdisciplinary discussion and consensus building between 15 experts, to construct a multi-causal diagram which examines the sustainability of the Argentine Pampaś process of agriculturization. The resulting diagram includes 25 factors and provides a big-picture of the multiple dimensions and interrelations affecting sustainability. According to this examination, the increasing concentration of production and the incorporation of technological innovations, triggered by economic and institutional factors, are the cause of environmental distresses and social changes, whose consequences for sustainability are still highly disputed. Nevertheless, the symptoms of both environmental and social unsustainability are more evident in the case of the extra-Pampean regions than in the Pampas. This suggests that the Pampean agriculture model should not be transferred to these regions without substantial modifications. The experts did not reach consensus on whether the agriculturization process is overall sustainable or unsustainable. Lack of consensus revolved mainly around opposing perspectives regarding the significance of the threats to environmental sustainability. The magnitude of socio-distributive unbalance and loss of rural jobs were also contentious. Yet, the paper shows how the exercise of building a joint causal diagram was undoubtedly helpful for linking piece-meal disciplinary facts, brought in from all fronts, into a comprehensive and coherent picture.
KW - Agriculturization
KW - Integrated assessment
KW - Multi-causal diagrams
KW - Pampas
KW - Sustainability
KW - Syndromes of global change
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=67349201196&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=67349201196&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10668-007-9133-0
DO - 10.1007/s10668-007-9133-0
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:67349201196
VL - 11
SP - 621
EP - 638
JO - Environment, Development and Sustainability
JF - Environment, Development and Sustainability
SN - 1387-585X
IS - 3
ER -