A Model of Human-
Environment Interactions

Historically, environmental and natural resource

 management was viewed as separable from so-
 cial and economic concerns. The model pro-
posed by the charette sets as its goal the complete inte-
gration of ecological and societal components so that eco-
system management can be fully effective and success-
ful. This is founded on the premise that humans are an
integral part of ecosystems, that people both shape and
are shaped by natural systems, and that society is nur-
tured by the maintenance of sustainable ecosystems.

The charette examined human-environment interactions,
including economic, legal, social, and demographic
issues, and characterized the connections between hu-
mans and natural systems as interdependent. Societal
systems affect the environment through land use, pollu-
tion, competition for resources, and other ecosystem uses,
and the environment provides a diversity of essential
support to societal systems and the quality of human life.
The charette also considered issues of governance, re-
source management, and societal and cultural values.
The importance of a sustainable ecosystem to society's
basic needs, to the quality of human life, and to the in-
tangible but powerful human sense of environmental
ethics was seen as a driving force in society's efforts to
sustain the Everglades and other irreplaceable natural
systems.