Visualizing the Development and Trend of Sustainability Science and Social-ecological System Research

Over the years, sustainability science (SS) and social-ecological systems (SES)
research have emerged as important domains under the umbrella of sustainability research, each advancing interdisciplinary collaboration and sharing a similar purpose of fostering sustainability. However, the illegibility of their relationship and contribution to each field remain unclear. Few papers visualize the pathways and apply data-driven methods in the fields of SS and SES research. We aim to demystify this relationship by identifying research pathways and archetypes of the development of both SS and SES research, and hence illuminating patterns, trends, and connections that suggest promising directions for further research. To achieve this goal, we applied a mixed-method approach that combines citation network analysis with archetype analysis, to study SS and SES research. The roles of both research pathways were elucidated to identify and characterize existing synergies. Our findings highlight the significant role of SESs to SS as a bridging research model and underscore previously unrecognized potentials within the sustainability research domain. As a conclusion, this study not only clarifies the relationship between SS and SESs but also visualizes the pathways of each domain with a data-driven approach.