•  
  •  
 

Tischa A. Muñoz-Erickson, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest ServiceFollow
Ariel E. Lugo, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest ServiceFollow
Elvia Meléndez-Ackerman, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Río PiedrasFollow
Luis E. Santiago-Acevedo, Graduate School of Planning, University of Puerto Rico, Río PiedrasFollow
José Seguinot-Barbosa, Department of Environmental Health, University of Puerto Rico, Medical SciencesFollow
Pablo Méndez-Lázaro, Department of Environmental Health, University of Puerto Rico, Medical SciencesFollow
Myrna Hall, College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry, State University of New YorkFollow
Braulio Quintero, College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry, State University of New YorkFollow
Alonso Ramírez, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Río PiedrasFollow
Diana García-Montiel, Independent ConsultantFollow
Robert Gilmore Pontius Jr., School of Geography, Clark UniversityFollow
Olga M. Ramos-González, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest ServiceFollow
Raúl Santiago-Bartolomei, Estudios Técnicos, Inc.Follow
Julio Verdejo-Ortíz, Independent ConsultantFollow
Jorge R. Ortíz-Zayas, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Río PiedrasFollow
Carmen M. Concepción, Graduate School of Planning, University of Puerto Rico, Río PiedrasFollow
Daniela Cusack, Department of Geography, University of California, Los AngelesFollow
Juan Giusti, University of Puerto Rico, Río PiedrasFollow
William McDowell, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New HampshireFollow
María Luz Cruz-Torres, School of Transborder Studies, Arizona State UniversityFollow
Julio Vallejo, Fundación Luis Muñoz MarínFollow
Lindsay Cray, Earthworks InstituteFollow
Jess Zimmerman, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Río PiedrasFollow
Víctor Cuadrado-Landrau, ThinkAMapFollow
Magaly Figueroa, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest ServiceFollow

This paper presents initial efforts to establish the San Juan Urban Long-Term Research Area Exploratory (ULTRA-Ex), a long-term program aimed at developing transdisciplinary social-ecological system (SES) research to address vulnerability and sustainability for the municipality of San Juan. Transdisciplinary approaches involve the collaborations between researchers, stakeholders, and citizens to produce socially-relevant knowledge and support decision-making. We characterize the transdisciplinary arrangement emerging in San Juan ULTRA-Ex as a knowledge-action network composed of multiple formal and informal actors (e.g., scientists, policymakers, civic organizations and other stakeholders) where knowledge, ideas, and strategies for sustainability are being produced, evaluated, and validated. We describe in this paper the on-the-ground social practices and dynamics that emerged from developing a knowledge-action network in our local context. Specifically, we present six social practices that were crucial to the development of our knowledge-action network: 1) understanding local framings; 2) analyzing existing knowledge-action systems in the city; 3) framing the social-ecological research agenda; 4) collaborative knowledge production and integration; 5) boundary objects and practices; and 6) synthesis, application, and adaptation. We discuss key challenges and ways to move forward in building knowledge-action networks for sustainability. Our hope is that the insights learned from this process will stimulate broader discussions on how to develop knowledge for urban sustainability, especially in tropical cities where these issues are under-explored.

Download

Share

COinS