Martin J Bunch
Dr. Bunch is a Professor in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University, Director of the Spatial, Environmental and Action Research (SpEAR) Lab at FES, and Treasurer for the Network for Ecosystem Sustainability and Health (NESH), an NGO that develops and applies solutions to environment and health issues in agriculture, resource management and community development. He is a member of the Canadian Communities of Practice in Ecohealth.
Research Interests:
• Ecosystem approaches (such as ecohealth) as a means to address situations characterized by high levels of uncertainty and high decision stakes (e.g., turbulent environments, wicked problems), drawing on theory and methods from systems thinking, complexity science, adaptive management, soft systems methodology, participatory action research, post normal science, geographic information science and complexity modeling (particularly agent-based modeling).
• Rural sustainability in Costa Rica and Southern Ontario, applying complexity science tools (such as agent based modeling) and the ecohealth approach, and using watersheds as systemic management units.
• Geographic Information Systems in support of collaborative processes in planning and environmental management (Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) and Participatory GIS (PGIS)). This includes applications such as internet-distributed GIS for public engagement in environmental monitoring, scenario analysis in adaptive management, and community mapping in the context of participatory action research.
• International Development, in action-oriented and applied modes, in local contexts such as problems of developing area cities (particularly in Chennai India, especially “slums” aka squatter settlements), the urban environment, and environment and health, watershed management and community development.
Phone: Tel: 416-736-2100 x:22630
Address: Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change
York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M3J 1P3
Research Interests:
• Ecosystem approaches (such as ecohealth) as a means to address situations characterized by high levels of uncertainty and high decision stakes (e.g., turbulent environments, wicked problems), drawing on theory and methods from systems thinking, complexity science, adaptive management, soft systems methodology, participatory action research, post normal science, geographic information science and complexity modeling (particularly agent-based modeling).
• Rural sustainability in Costa Rica and Southern Ontario, applying complexity science tools (such as agent based modeling) and the ecohealth approach, and using watersheds as systemic management units.
• Geographic Information Systems in support of collaborative processes in planning and environmental management (Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) and Participatory GIS (PGIS)). This includes applications such as internet-distributed GIS for public engagement in environmental monitoring, scenario analysis in adaptive management, and community mapping in the context of participatory action research.
• International Development, in action-oriented and applied modes, in local contexts such as problems of developing area cities (particularly in Chennai India, especially “slums” aka squatter settlements), the urban environment, and environment and health, watershed management and community development.
Phone: Tel: 416-736-2100 x:22630
Address: Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change
York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M3J 1P3
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Books by Martin J Bunch
This is an edited volume highlighting collaborative research achievements among faculty and students at the Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University in Toronto, Canada. The book is organized in three sections:
Section 1: In our backyard: Toronto and its environs’
Section 2: Beyond our backyard - North America
Section 3: Our Global Community
A pdf of the introduction "Change Your World(view): A Setting for Interdisciplinary Research and Action" by Femida Handy and Martin Bunch can be downloaded from this site.
For a copy of this book contact:
Steve Glassman
Director, Bookstore, Printing & Mailing Services
York University Bookstore
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, ON, Canada
M3J 1P3
tel: (416) 736-2100 x 33018
fax:(416) 736-5733"
Complexity of the problem is due as much to human factors (population growth, poverty, uncontrolled urban development, jurisdictional conflicts, modes of behaviour of the citizenry, and institutional culture) as to physical characteristics of the system (flat topography, tidal action, blockage of the river mouth by sand bar formation, and monsoon flooding). Uncertainty in the situation is both structural (regarding main processes and activities in the system and the nature of relationships among the various actors and elements), and parametric (having to do with scarcity, poor quality and restricted access to data).
This work has drawn upon methods and techniques of Adaptive Environmental Management and Soft Systems Methodology to operate the ecosystem approach and address the problem. Specifically, this has involved a series of workshops which have brought together planners, researchers, NGOs, and other stakeholders in a participatory process oriented toward problem definition, system identification and conceptualization, determination of objectives for management, and the generation and exploration of management interventions. In addition, a central component of the program has been the development of a loosely-coupled GIS, environmental simulation model, and a decision support module. This is based upon a framework provided by participants in the first workshop in the series, and operationalizes a common understanding of the system.
In addition to generating new insight into the nature of the problem situation, the research has provided a potentially useful tool to planners, managers and researchers in Chennai in the form of a GIS database and decision support system (DSS). Aside from the tool itself , it was found that the process of developing a conceptual model, and attempting to represent this in the DSS has made a significant contribution to understanding of the Cooum system. In particular, this process forced assumptions to be stated explicitly and publically, highlighted areas of uncertainty and led to new understanding in participants’ conception of the problem situation. The program of research also provided a much needed forum for open debate and exchange of information which was removed from the restrictive institutional culture of government departments.
Papers by Martin J Bunch
This is an edited volume highlighting collaborative research achievements among faculty and students at the Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University in Toronto, Canada. The book is organized in three sections:
Section 1: In our backyard: Toronto and its environs’
Section 2: Beyond our backyard - North America
Section 3: Our Global Community
A pdf of the introduction "Change Your World(view): A Setting for Interdisciplinary Research and Action" by Femida Handy and Martin Bunch can be downloaded from this site.
For a copy of this book contact:
Steve Glassman
Director, Bookstore, Printing & Mailing Services
York University Bookstore
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, ON, Canada
M3J 1P3
tel: (416) 736-2100 x 33018
fax:(416) 736-5733"
Complexity of the problem is due as much to human factors (population growth, poverty, uncontrolled urban development, jurisdictional conflicts, modes of behaviour of the citizenry, and institutional culture) as to physical characteristics of the system (flat topography, tidal action, blockage of the river mouth by sand bar formation, and monsoon flooding). Uncertainty in the situation is both structural (regarding main processes and activities in the system and the nature of relationships among the various actors and elements), and parametric (having to do with scarcity, poor quality and restricted access to data).
This work has drawn upon methods and techniques of Adaptive Environmental Management and Soft Systems Methodology to operate the ecosystem approach and address the problem. Specifically, this has involved a series of workshops which have brought together planners, researchers, NGOs, and other stakeholders in a participatory process oriented toward problem definition, system identification and conceptualization, determination of objectives for management, and the generation and exploration of management interventions. In addition, a central component of the program has been the development of a loosely-coupled GIS, environmental simulation model, and a decision support module. This is based upon a framework provided by participants in the first workshop in the series, and operationalizes a common understanding of the system.
In addition to generating new insight into the nature of the problem situation, the research has provided a potentially useful tool to planners, managers and researchers in Chennai in the form of a GIS database and decision support system (DSS). Aside from the tool itself , it was found that the process of developing a conceptual model, and attempting to represent this in the DSS has made a significant contribution to understanding of the Cooum system. In particular, this process forced assumptions to be stated explicitly and publically, highlighted areas of uncertainty and led to new understanding in participants’ conception of the problem situation. The program of research also provided a much needed forum for open debate and exchange of information which was removed from the restrictive institutional culture of government departments.