An Introduction to the Socio-ecological Entanglement in Tropical Societies (SETS) Project

The ultimate goal of the Socio-ecological Entanglement in Tropical Societies project (SETS) is to promote the cross-cultural, transdisciplinary examination of the tropical experience, past and present, as a means to explore resilience and vulnerability to changing socio-ecological circumstances. This session presents the results of the initial phase of the research program, which focused on the comparative assessment of data quality and quantity across five principal foci (water management, agriculture, settlement, epicentral capitals, and integrative mechanisms), spanning eight geo-political "divisions" (Belize, South India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Java, and both north and south Vietnam). Our detailed literature reviews and comprehensive site visitations – which have so far concentrated on the Classical, or "Charter States" of the various sub-regions of interest – have also allowed us to generate some preliminary insights into the adaptive capacity of tropical, agrarian-based, dispersed urbanism, with particular reference to key land-use, climatic, economic, and geo-political transitions.