Workers harvesting bananas for export to the Chinese market, Luang Namtha Province, Laos, February 2018. Photo: Cecilie Friis
Workers harvesting bananas for export to the Chinese market, Luang Namtha Province, Laos, February 2018. Photo: Cecilie Friis

Telecoupling Research Towards Sustainable Transformation of Land Systems

Short Description

The telecoupling concept has been proposed to describe socio-economic and environmental interactions, flows and feedbacks over distance and across scales that cause change in otherwise separated land systems. As an analytical framework, the telecoupling framework brings together a systemic perspective on land-use change with flow- and network-oriented analytical approaches. As such, it is a clear and concrete response to the scientific and applied need for interdisciplinary exchange to tackle the challenges of global interconnectivity and (un)sustainability in land-use change.

Yet, while methodological and conceptual advancements have been made, and an emerging body of empirical studies is examining telecoupling in land-use systems, more collaboratory research is urgently needed in order to 1) foster a better understanding of how global interconnectivity influences land-use change in particular places and at particular moments in time; 2) capture and account for distant, unexpected feedbacks and spillovers that challenge social and environmental sustainability and 3) enhance evidence-based decision- and policy-making through transformative land governance initiatives for the sustainable management of land.

Goals and Objectives

The specific objectives of this Working Group are:

  1. Provide a platform for the diverse group of Land System Scientists working on telecoupling related questions to foster better interdisciplinary exchange and the consolidation of knowledge on methodological, conceptual and empirical issues related to telecoupling of land use systems.
  2. Advance the understanding of challenges and opportunities presented by telecoupling to sustainable land-use change
  3. Identify potential best practices and methodologies for designing transformative interventions into telecoupled land use systems that fosters sustainable development.
  4. Bringing together early and advanced-stage researchers
  5. Communicating telecoupling research activities and advances to non-academic stakeholders

GLP Themes: Telecoupling of land use systems

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Related Information

Event

June 25, 2020

GLP Webinar: Modelling Telecoupling Land Use Changes

Friday, September 4, 2020 - 2:30pm

The GLP Telecoupling Working Group will hold its third webinar on September 4th to discuss the progress and challenges of modelling telecoupled systems, by presenting two different modelling attempts of simulating land use changes in Brazil and China through the flow of international soybean trade.

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News

May 25, 2020

Why telecoupling research needs to account for environmental justice

A group of GLP Members published this piece in the Journal of Land Use Science, highlighting the potential of incorporating elements of environmental justice scholarship into the evolving telecoupling framework that focuses on distant interactions in land systems.

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News

May 25, 2020

Drivers of Decoupling and Recoupling of Crop and Livestock Systems at Farm and Territorial Scales

Incoming SSC Member Rachael Garrett, GLP Member Owen Cortner, and colleagues published a new article in Ecology and Society that found branding integrated crop and livestock systems as sustainable could improve adoption, but would likely be unsuccessful at encouraging wide-scale change. 

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Working Group Coordinators

 

Working Group Members