Human-Environmental System

• Human

  • Have the capacity to interact with their environment
  • Humans and the environment have that "mutual" interaction with each other
  • Have the capacity to change or influence the balance of society
• Environment

  • A complex of many variables which surrounds man as well as the living organisms
  • Includes water, air and land and the interrelation ships which exists among and between water, air and land.
• System

  A complex of interacting components together with the relationships among them that permit the identification of a boundary- maintaining entity or process
• Human-Environment Systems


  • Also known as CHANS (coupled human and natural system)
  • Dynamical two-way interactions between human systems (e.g. economic, social) and natural (e.g. hydrologic, atmospheric, biological, geological) systems
  • Social and natural systems are inseparable
  • Tackle broader investigations into the complex nature of reciprocating interactions and feedbacks humans on the environment and the effect of the environment on humans
• Landscape


  • The visible features of an area of land of countryside or land, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal
  • Part of the Earth's surface that can be viewed at one time from one place
  • Continually changing under the influence of many different factors
• Types of Landscape

  • Natural Landscape
  • Cultural Landscape
• Natural Landscape


  Original landscapes that exists before it is acted upon by human culture
• Cultural Landscape

  • Cultural properties [that] represent the combined works of nature and of man
  • Designed and created intentionally by man
  • An organically evolved landscape which may be relict landscape
• Thematic Map


  Focuses on a specific theme or subject area such as physical phenomena like temperature variation, rainfall distribution, and population density in an area
• Mental Map


  • First-person perspective of an area and how they interact with it
  • The image you have of your neighborhood
  • Your mental map of where you live allows you to know how to get to your favorite coffee shop
  • It is what you use to plan activities and routes to travel