LUP 2013 - Special Issue on “Working with Wicked Problems in Socio-Ecological Systems: Theory and Practice”

Special Issue on “Working with Wicked Problems in Socio-Ecological Systems: Theory and Practice”
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of “Dilemmas in a general theory of planning” (1973), a seminal paper in which Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber formally presented the thesis that numerous problems concerning socio-ecological systems are by nature wicked. Today, as the world becomes more complexly connected, “wickedness” has become a pervasive though often unrecognized characteristic of planning practice (Xiang, 2013, this issue). Research and scholarship on many of wicked problems, such as global climate change, sustainability, resource management, and urbanization, fall within the Aims and Scope of LAND and are of great interest to the journal communities from around the world. As editors, we feel that it is ? tting for LAND to provide a forum for the members of the international communities of scholars and practitioners to garner greater insights and create more innovative strategies to work with these wicked problems. We therefore invite contributions for a special issue on “Working with wicked problems in socio-ecological systems: theory and practice.”
We look for papers that examine critically, through a wicked problems lens, substantive real world issues germane to one or all of the three aspects of urban and regional sustainability?ecological, social, and economic, and focus on themes of epistemological, methodological, and practical signi? cance. In particular, we are interested in papers that demonstrate how creative adaptation strategies and approaches can be substantiated on theoretical and/or empirical grounds (Xiang, 2013, this issue). Pure theoretical discussions are generally discouraged unless their relevance to practice is clearly demonstrated. We especially welcome contributions from scholars and practitioners in developing countries to share their experience in working with wicked problems. At any rate, all papers should have a broad international appeal.
An extended abstract (800 words) that outlines the thesis, scope, and substance of the proposed contribution and indicates the article type the contribution falls into should be submitted by email attachment on or before April 1, 2013 to LAND Editorial Assistant Ms. Ying Chen at ychen-AT-des.ecnu.edu.cn. Information on LAND article types can be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S.... Inquires should be directed to the Co-Editor-in-Chief, Wei-Ning Xiang (wnxiang-AT-mail.ecnu.edu.cn).