Socio-Ecological Systems (SES)

The importance of resilience in ecosystem development has been pointed out by Holling in 1986 introducing the metaphor of the adaptive cycle. The metaphor describes a circle of four phases of ecosystem development, being characterized by the dynamic interplay of three variables: potential, connectedness and resilience. The adaptive cycle became a central part of panarchy theory, as been established by the Resilience Network in 2002 (Gunderson & Holling 2002).

Studying the dynamics of face-to-face interaction networks is essential for a better understanding of contact mediated phenomena, e.g. contagion processes, and disease spreading [1]. Based on high-resolution proximity sensor data, recent studies analyzed the statistical properties of time-dependent contact networks [2,3], revealing heterogeneous distributions of inter-activity intervals, persistence time of groups and their size distribution, and typically strong circadian modulations.

Our use case is a EU project that aims to provide an interoperability layer for improved communication between member-state jurisdictions. The project is called e-CODEX. It resulted in a working service that has been tested successfully in practice. The EC (or its agencies) have strong feelings about promoting interoperability between member-state legal systems in practice. Concurrently, member-states see factions emerge that nurse strong feelings about national independency and how the EU is eroding it. In the debates divergent propositions are brought to bear.

Political corruption in Mexico is one of the most relevant problems of the last decades.

Most of the world poorest come from rural areas and depend on their immediate surroundings. Understanding mechanisms that give rise to and preserve poverty poses a great challenge and opportunity for research, policy making and development. Links between low soil quality and persistent poverty have already been observed and presented in literature, see [1] and [2]. We argue that the soil quality, locally available nutrients and water are important, but not the only determinants of livelihood and possibility to escape from poverty for the rural poor.