Principles of Human-Environment Systems (HES) Research

This paper presents the basic principles, applications, and a methodological discussion of the approach of Human-Environment Systems (HES). In general, HES includes all environmental and technological systems that are relevant for or affected by humans. The basic principles of the HES approach are: (1) human and environmental systems are constructed as complementary systems, (2) a hierarchy of human systems with related environmental systems are considered, (3) environmental systems are modeled in their immediate and delayed dynamic reactions to human action, (4) the behavior of the human system is modeled from a decision theoretic perspective differentiating between goal formation, strategy formation, strategy selection and action, (5) a conceptualization of different types of environmental awareness in each of these three steps can be developed, and finally (6) a distinction is made, with corresponding modeling reflecting this distinction, between primary and secondary feedback loops with respect to human action. We illustrate the principles with an example from bio-waste management. It is shown how the humanenvironment interaction can be analyzed.