Seven approaches to research in socio-ecological practice & five insights from the RWC-Schön-Stokes model

Abstract

In this review article, I examine seven commonly used approaches to research in socio-ecological practice and share insights about their defining characteristics, similarities, differences and connections. I derived these approaches and gained insights through the RWC-Schön-Stokes model, a theoretical framework for codifying, tabulating, examining and comparing multiple ways of methodical knowing in socio-ecological systems. For this reason, I begin with an introduction of the model and, in a chronological order, provide a review of its association with three intellectual ancestors: the Bush linear model (1945), the Stokes quadrant model (1997) and the Schön-Stokes model (2017).

Keywords: Approach to research; Ecopracticology; Pasteur’s quadrant; Socio-ecological practice; Socio-ecological practice research; The RWC–Schön–Stokes model.