HUMAN ENVIRONMENT

SYSTEM
Presenters:

• Mr. Jason del Rosario

• Ms. Cherry Ann Furukawa
• Mr. Jeffrey Bautista
• Mr. Danilo Abacaro
• Ms. Shella del Rosario

BPA EC 1A| Discipline and Ideas in Social Science

Prof. Adela Luat | Wednesday 5:30pm – 7:30pm
HUMAN ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM –
OVERVIEW
BPA EC 1A| Discipline and Ideas in Social Science
Prof. Adela Luat | Wednesday 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Presented by: Mr. Jason S. Del Rosario
 HUMAN ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM –
OVERVIEW
•What is the human environment
called?
Integrated geography (also,
integrative geography, environmental
geography or human–environment
geography) is the branch of
geography that describes and
explains the spatial aspects of
interactions between human
individuals or societies and their
natural environment, called coupled
human–environment systems.
HUMAN ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM: AN
INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH IN THE SOCIAL
SCIENCES
•The Human-Environment Systems (HES) in
the social sciences is an interdisciplinary
approach in the social sciences. It bridges
the gap between, and integrate knowledge
from, the social and the natural sciences
within one framework in the study of
environmental and social issues.
• Human-environment
system (HES) refers
to “the interaction of
human systems with
corresponding
environmental or
technological
systems”
 SCHOLZ AND BINDER
• The HES approach conceptualizes mutual dependence
between human and environmental systems. Scholz and
Binder describe this mutual dependence as two different
systems that exist in essential dependencies and
reciprocal endorsement.” The use of the term human
systems or” social systems ranging from society to
individuals” can be traced as far back as the time of the
ancient Greeks, while the use of the term environmental
systems began late in the early nineteenth Century
(Scholz and Binder n.d. 791).
 SCHOLZ AND BINDER
• Roland Werner Scholz is a
German mathematician,
psychologist, and Professor
Emeritus of Environmental
Systems Science at ETH Zurich.
Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology in
Zürich; German: Eidgenössische 
Technische Hochschule Zürich)
SCHOLZ AND BINDER
• Claudia R. Binder, a Swiss,
Canadian and Colombian
citizen. Full Professor
Fields of expertise include:
Transition research, Urban
metabolism, Energy,
Sustainability assessment,
Regulatory mechanisms in
human-environment systems,
Systems science and Inter-
and transdisciplinarity 
SCHOLZ AND BINDER
Environmental Literacy in Science and Society
This unique book provides a comprehensive review and
analysis of environmental literacy within the context of
environmental science and sustainable development.
Approaching the topic from multiple perspectives, it explores
the development of human understanding of the environment
and human-environment interactions in the fields of biology,
psychology, sociology, economics and industrial ecology. It
emphasizes the importance of knowledge integration and
transdisciplinary processes as key strategies for
understanding complex human-environment systems (HES).
In addition, the author defines the HES framework as a
template for investigating sustainably coupled human-
environment systems in the 21st century.
HUMAN ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM: AN
INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH IN THE SOCIAL
SCIENCES
•Human-environment interactions existed since time
immemorial, but the scope and intensity of these
interactions have increased significantly since the
Industrial Revolution. Whereas most of the early
human-environment interactions have taken place at
a local/national scale, contemporary interactions
between human and natural systems have not only
reached regional, subregional, continental, and global
scales but have also become special concerns.
HUMAN ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM: AN
INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH IN THE SOCIAL
SCIENCES
•The human-environment system, also referred to as
the “coupled human-environment system” or the
“coupled human and natural system” or CHANS
“acknowledges the fact that humans, as users, actors,
and managers are not external, but integral elements
of the human-environment system”. As integral parts
of the human-environment system—as users, actors,
and managers—they become duty bearers
themselves who must share the responsibility for the
sustainability of the human-environment system.
HUMAN ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM: AN
INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH IN THE SOCIAL
SCIENCES
•The science of CHANS builds on but moves beyond previous work such as
human ecology, ecological anthropology, and environmental geography. The
following are three central features of HES or CHANS.
•First, CHANS research focuses on the patterns and processes that link
human and natural systems. Second, CHANS research, such as integrated
assessment of climate change, emphasizes reciprocal interactions and
feedbacks—both the effects of humans on the environment and the effects of
the environment on humans. Third, understanding within-scale and cross-
scale interactions between human and natural components (e.g., how large-
scale phenomena emerge from local interactions of multiple agents and in
turn influence local systems) is a major challenge for the science of CHANS.
Although each of these three aspects has been addressed in some studies
on human-environment interactions, the science of CHANS promotes the
integration of all these aspects.
 HUMAN ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM –
OVERVIEW
What is the concept of human environment system
and its capacity to maintain the system to continue
its existence over a period of time?
• Sustainability is, in the simplest terms, the ability
for something to be maintained into the future. If
that something is a population, then for it to be
sustained, it cannot exceed the carrying capacity of
the system it's living in. This is just a brief
introduction to the idea of sustainability.
 THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

HUMAN ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM –

OVERVIEW
BPA EC 1A| Discipline and Ideas in Social Science
Prof. Adela Luat | Wednesday 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Presented by: Mr. Jason S. Del Rosario