Articles | Volume 7, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-21-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-21-2016
Research article
 | 
18 Jan 2016
Research article |  | 18 Jan 2016

Topology of sustainable management of dynamical systems with desirable states: from defining planetary boundaries to safe operating spaces in the Earth system

J. Heitzig, T. Kittel, J. F. Donges, and N. Molkenthin

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Cited articles

Anderies, J. M., Carpenter, S. R., Steffen, W., and Rockström, J.: The topology of non-linear global carbon dynamics: from tipping points to planetary boundaries, Environ. Res. Lett., 8, 044048, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/4/044048, 2013.
Aubin, J.-P.: Viability Kernels and Capture Basins of Sets Under Differential Inclusions, SIAM J. Control Optim., 40, 853–881, https://doi.org/10.1137/S036301290036968X, 2001.
Aubin, J.-P.: Viability theory, Birkhäuser, Boston, 2009.
Aubin, J.-P. and Saint-Pierre, P.: An Introduction to Viability Theory and Management of Renewable Resources, in: Advanced Methods for Decision Making and Risk Management in Sustainability Science, chap. 2, edited by: Kropp, J. and Scheffran, J., Nova Science Publishers, New York, 43–80, 2007.
Aubin, J.-P., Bayen, A., and Saint-Pierre, P.: Viability Theory. New Directions, Springer Science & Business Media, Heidelberg, 2011.
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Short summary
The debate about a safe and just operating space for humanity and the possible pathways towards and within it requires an analysis of the inherent dynamics of the Earth system and of the options for influencing its evolution. We present and illustrate with examples a conceptual framework for performing such an analysis not in a quantitative, optimizing mode, but in a qualitative way that emphasizes the main decision dilemmas that one may face in the sustainable management of the Earth system.
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