Social and Ecological Approach to Livelihoods

The Foundation for Ecological Security and the Social Systems Design Lab have collaborated on the use of community based system dynamics to understand issues of energy poverty and groundwater exploitation in dryland regions of Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh over the last 10 years.  In 2017-2018, the two organizations are teaming up to operationalize a FES framework on Social and Ecological Approaches to Livelihoods (SEAL).  The project will include group model building workshops in 4 ecological and livelihood systems across India, workshops with program staff, and the development of learning simulation models to explore the interdependences between ecological and social resources to generate livelihoods.

Project Goals

• Improve the rigor and validate the SEAL framework in 3 to 4 diverse social-ecological economic geographies and with men, women and youth so as to position landless, small and marginal farmers at the forefront of sustainable livelihoods and agricultural growth
• Draw out key pathways and operational mechanisms for action on the ground to support practitioners in efforts towards resilient ecosystems and farm based livelihoods.