Australia New Zealand Society for Ecological Economics

What is Ecological Economics?

The knowledge base for the creation of an ecologically sustainable economy.

An increasing awareness that global life-support systems are endangered is forcing us to realise that decisions made on the basis of short-term criteria can produce disastrous long-term results on a global scale. There is also a growing acknowledgement that conventional economic and ecological models and concepts fall short in their ability to address global ecological problems in a truly systemic way.

Ecological Economics is a transdisciplinary field of study that addresses the relationship between economic and ecological systems in the broadest possible sense.

Ecological Economics goes beyond conventional conceptions of scientific disciplines and attempts to integrate and synthesise many different disciplinary perspectives in order to achieve an ecologically and economically sustainable world.

Innovative research aimed at articulating the mechanisms by which human populations can strike a dynamic balance between economic development and the ecological constraints they face constitute the foundation on which the future will be built. Critically important research is needed to facilitate the transition to sustainable global production systems. To be effective, this research must be integrated into environmental and economic policy at the local, regional, and international level.