The Laboratory for the Analysis of Social-Ecological Systems in a Globalised world (LASEG) is a research group at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB). We aim to better understand how local and indigenous knowledge can contribute to environmental sustainability, and how to better reconcile biodiversity conservation and the provision of ecosystem services with human wellbeing.
We conduct our research in a large range of societies (i.e., indigenous peoples, urban and rural communities) and we pay attention to temporal scales (i.e. contemporary and archival work). We employ a variety of quantitative and qualitative research techniques from the social and natural sciences, and the combination of different types of data and disciplinary backgrounds enriches our work and makes it potentially more relevant to multiple disciplinary audiences.
Researching on how Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ knowledge is affected by environmental change and how such knowledge can contribute to understand environmental change impacts.
Researching environmental governance processes in the areas of climate change and the conservation of biodiversity, from international to national and local levels.
Investigating transformative pathways toward sustainability founded upon the concept of ecosystem services and nature-based solutions.
Severe droughts reduce river navigability and isolate communities in the Brazilian Amazon. The most recent drought, in 2023, afflicted more than half a million people in the Brazilian Amazon basin, making it one of the most severe droughts ever recorded. The drought was accompanied by enormous fish kills and the deaths of hundreds of river dolphins, all caused by extremely high air and water temperatures and low water levels in large areas. Tens of thousands of remote rural settlers along rivers were completely cut off from urban hubs and adjacent towns for weeks or months.
This project aims to enrich ethnobiology’s field-based ethos with a global analytical focus, connecting on-the-ground realities with the higher spheres of international decision-making.
The project will research and develop a ‘living heritage’ approach to conservation, promoting the ‘protection through use’ of upland environments and adjacent rural areas.