SES Framework: Initial Changes and Continuing Challenges

This paper updates a general framework for the study of social-ecological systems that was initially proposed in “A Diagnostic Approach for Going Beyond Panaceas” (Ostrom 2007). This SES framework has inspired much of the specific research reported on elsewhere in this special issue. The initial changes introduced in this paper have emerged from continuing interactions among a growing network of collaborators. Several more substantial directions for modification are briefly discussed, some of which are exemplified in the other contributions to this special issue.