Learning module 2: Across scales
Guiding questions:
- Why is it important to consider different scales (space, time) and levels for anticipating and managing synergies and trade-offs?
- What are relevant scales and levels for understanding interactions between outcomes?
- Which levels are often underrepresented in assessments?
Here we introduce the scales and levels and why these matter. The learning materials in this module all connect different levels of assessment and describe how decisions at one spatial level influence other levels. The Lesson Learned essay describes how promising field level changes are not necessarily promising at farm level. The Case Studies show how field and farm level management influence the landscape/watershed and vice versa. The presentation and Looking Ahead essay both elaborate on the complex relationship between the landscape/watershed and the wellbeing of the rural households that live there.
For more of an orientation about this module click here or dive directly into the learning materials below.
interview
Lulseged shares his perspective – from years of field and landscape work in Ethiopia – on the major synergies and tradeoffs to consider around ecosystems functions and services when restoring land.
By Lulseged Tamene
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Lessons learned
Promising changes at the field level are no guarantee for good results at the farm level.
By Roos de Adelhart Toorop
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Lessons learned
Adaptive collaborative management to advance jointly gender equality, biodiversity, climate, and land restoration goals in Uganda.
By Marlène Elias
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Looking ahead
A ”fishy” situation: social ecological traps in small-scale fisheries and a gender transformative approach for synergistic solutions.
By Steven Cole
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Case study
An assessment of the impact of water infrastructure in the Tana Basin on Ecosystem Services.
By Matthew P. Mc Cartney
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Case study
The push-pull system needs to better consider farmers’ constraints and needs.
By Yodit Kedebe
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Question for reflection
Do you know of examples where a change at landscape level positively impacted farm sustainability? And vice versa – do you know of examples where changes at farm level positively impacted the landscape sustainability?
From your perspective, what can help to strengthen the synergies between these levels?
Some geographical examples:
