This paper investigates practice, frameworks and philosophy in the field of ecological management, a novel integrative approach to closing the gap between ecological and economic theoretical models and ecological and economic behavior. First, I will present the current status in this emerging field and discuss management in relation to various sub-disciplines, including agroecology, circular economy, industrial ecology, and urban sustainability. This provides a basis to analyze the theoretical frameworks found in profitable, ecologically-based businesses and identify key general features that characterize this approach, notably the relationships between: an enterprise’s diversity and its economic resiliency; zero waste policies and societal and environmental impacts; and affordances of the local environment and business’ long-term economic viability. Finally, the philosophical issues looming behind are discussed, notably problems regarding interdisciplinarity and the relation of ethical frameworks with management. Through use of the model-centered philosophy of science to disentangle some of these conceptual problems, I argue that ecological management has a unique place in sustainable development as an independent exploratory tool for constructing and testing economic and ethical models in the Anthropocene.

中文翻译：

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生态管理的概念化：实践、框架和哲学

本文研究了生态管理领域的实践、框架和哲学，这是一种弥合生态和经济理论模型与生态和经济行为之间差距的新型综合方法。首先，我将介绍这个新兴领域的现状，并讨论与各种子学科相关的管理，包括农业生态学、循环经济、产业生态学和城市可持续性。这为分析在盈利的、基于生态的企业中发现的理论框架提供了基础，并确定了这种方法的关键一般特征，特别是以下之间的关系：企业的多样性及其经济弹性；零废物政策以及社会和环境影响；以及当地环境和企业长期经济生存能力的可承受性。最后，讨论了背后隐约可见的哲学问题，特别是有关跨学科和伦理框架与管理关系的问题。通过使用以模型为中心的科学哲学来解开其中一些概念问题，我认为生态管理在可持续发展中具有独特的地位，作为构建和测试人类世经济和伦理模型的独立探索工具。