Lessons and Legacies

This chapter discusses how the Human Ecosystem Model (HEM) consolidates and restructures some of the systematic thought and action on human–nature transactions. Specifically, it outlines a framework for decisions that are effective, efficient, and equitable in sustaining human and biophysical ecology. Not surprisingly, professionals and concerned citizens have generated many differing perspectives on the nature of the problems, the theories about cause and consequence, and the methods for resolving the perceived issues. The HEM seeks to fit this scientific and experiential information into a more manageable and cumulative organizational frame. This frame reduces much of the information “noise” to some key variables and relations that guide crucial questions about patterns and processes of the human ecosystem.