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

News

November 25, 2019

Focus on Leakage: Informing Land-Use Governance in a Tele-Coupled World

Several GLP Members and SSC Member Patrick Meyfroidt are the guest editors of a focus collection in Environmental Research Letters. The ERL issue explores new ways to put tools and data to work towards improving our understanding of direct and indirect land-use change caused by governance interventions. 

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News

September 24, 2019

First GLP telecoupling webinar recording and materials now available

The GLP working group on telecoupling held its first webinar, which introduced the freely-available FABIO model, in September. View a recording of the full webinar, download a copy of the presentation, and more.

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News

March 27, 2019

Book Publication on Telecoupling: How Researchers track Land-Use Change in a Globalised World

Telecoupling Working Group Coordinator Cecilie Friis and SSC Member Jonas Nielsen have published a book that presents an overview of telecoupling and its relevance in understanding global land-use change and its sustainablility challenges.

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Working Group Coordinators

 

Working Group Members