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A Different Future

The first observation is the continued increase in human dominance of global systems. From increasing carbon in the atmosphere, transference of terrestrial productivity to humans, or sequential collapses in marine ecosystems, humans continue to be the global driver of change (Fig. 1). The global linkages among ecological, economic, and social sectors are more apparent. The recent fiscal and economic crises suggest the downside of global connectivity and overconnectedness at the scale of the planet.


INTRODUCTION
As we close the 13th issue of Ecology and Society and approach a new year, we'll step out on a limb and speculate about our collective future. But first we present the observations about our current global situation that form the basis of such speculation.
The first observation is the continued increase in human dominance of global systems. From increasing carbon in the atmosphere, transference of terrestrial productivity to humans, or sequential collapses in marine ecosystems, humans continue to be the global driver of change (Fig. 1). The global linkages among ecological, economic, and social sectors are more apparent. The recent fiscal and economic crises suggest the downside of global connectivity and overconnectedness at the scale of the planet.
The second observation is that surprises are increasing. One only need to open a newspaper, log on to a news Web site, or turn on the television to get an indication of the never-ending string of surprises that appear to confront humanity. Some surprises such as jokes or winning a jackpot are welcomed. Others, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, or oil that costs U.S. $500 a barrel, are shocks that must be managed. Surprises occur when our expectations about the world differ from reality. Surprises are a consequence of living in an increasingly complex world, full of uncertainties and the expanding scale of human impacts.
The third observation is that the consequences of action are more serious. We live in a time when the consequences of our actions are great. Human wealth and infrastructures have never before been as widespread on the planet. In spite of that, judging from their policies and decision making, large segments of society continue to operate as if development is disconnected from the lifesupporting environment and processes of the biosphere. Nevertheless, losses from natural disasters are climbing exponentially, leading insurance companies to become primary funders of climate change research. Loss of the natural capital, ecological goods, and the services that form the basis for economic activity are all indicators of the increasingly serious consequences of pathologic activities.
One inference from these observations is that our future will not be like our recent past. Indeed, many scientists are now indicating that the information from our recent history that we use to plan for the future, such as the probability of floods or droughts, will have limited applicability in predicting the future. If that is true, we need to develop new ways of thinking about our relationship with our environment and start to prepare and act for adaptations and transformations. In short, we need to conceptualize a different future.
That different future will challenge our ability to adapt to changes in climates and ecosystems. That different future will be a combination of the known and the unknown. The outcomes of our adaptive capacity will in large part be determined by our creativity. As such, new and novel approaches will be required to deal with the types and magnitudes of issues that we face.
We believe that Ecology and Society is contributing to a different future for our planet. The ideas that are proposed, tested, and presented in this journal are becoming the foundations for change. The journal presents articles on local, regional, and global experiments in sustainability. This hard-won knowledge is critically important to our capacity to plan, adapt, and possibly even transform our integrated social-ecological systems. This issue continues in the same vein, presenting a diverse set of lessons as described in the following sections. However, we would first like to take time to recognize the annual Science and Practice Award. The winner of that award is described in the next paragraph.
Ecology and Society 13(2): 57 http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss2/art57/ Fig. 1. A biosphere shaped by humans. Human actions continue to alter environments up to the scale of the planet, yet societal development, human well-being, and collective welfare depend on the capacity of these environments to be sustained. Bottom right photo used with permission from Nils Kautsky.

THE SCIENCE AND PRACTICE AWARD FOR 2008
Each year, Marco Janssen directs a small committee to present an award for the article in Ecology and Society that best integrates ecology and society as well as theory and practice. The Science and Practice of Ecology and Society Award for 2008 was awarded to "Omora Ethnobotanical Park and the UNESCO Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve" by Eugene Hargrove, Mary Arroyo, Peter Raven, and Harold Mooney. Hargrove and colleagues (2008) present the story of "a dynamic hive of investigators, artists, writers, students, volunteers, and friends, all exploring ways to better integrate academia and society" in support of research and social-ecological stewardship at the southern tip of South America. A consortium of formal and informal institutions from North and South America all concentrate on research that strengthens local social institutions as well as biodiversity conservation at the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve at Cape Horn.  The synthesis articles touch on topics related to vulnerability to global change; Ericksen (2008) studies the food system, and Schwinning and colleagues (2008) look at the Colorado plateau. Perspectives on interdisciplinary and integrative research are presented by Setty et al. (2008), Miller et al. (2008) , and Evely et al. (2008. Cox (2008) examines scale-related issues in common pool resource theory.
In summary, we want to take the opportunity with the closing of our 13th issue of Ecology and Society to thank the people and groups responsible for producing the journal. We thank the Resilience Alliance for its commitment to and support of a high-quality, open-access journal. We thank the subscribers for their interest and use of the material published here. We again express our deepest gratitude and appreciation to the subject editors and reviewers who carry a lion's share of the work. Finally, the staff, Michelle Lee and Adele Mullie, who have managed the day-to-day operations, and the copy editors who improve all of our writing but are rarely acknowledged. Finally, we are grateful to our contributors for their hard work, from which the seeds of a different future grow.