Reinette (Oonsie) Biggs is associated with the Centre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa, and the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.

Alta de Vos is associated with the Department of Environmental Science, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa.

Rika Preiser is associated with the Centre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Hayley Clements is associated with the Centre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Kristine Maciejewski is associated with the Centre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Maja Schlüter is associated with the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.

PART 1 1 What are Social-Ecological Systems and Social-Ecological Systems Research? Reinette Biggs, Hayley Clements, Alta de Vos, Carl Folke, Amanda Manyani, Kristine Maciejewski, Berta Martín-López, Rika Preiser, Odirilwe Selomane and Maja Schlüter 2 Complexity-based Social-Ecological Systems Research: Philosophical Foundations and Practical Implications Rika Preiser, Maja Schlüter, Reinette Biggs, María Mancilla-García, Jamila Haider, Tilman Hertz and Louis Klein 3 The Practice and Design of Social-Ecological Systems Research Alta de Vos, Kristine Maciejewski, Örjan Bodin, Albert Norström, Maja Schlüter and Maria Tengö 4 How to Use this Handbook Reinette Biggs, Hayley Clements, Alta de Vos, Kristine Maciejewski, Rika Preiser and Maja Schlüter PART 2 METHODS FOR DATA GENERATION AND SYSTEMS SCOPING 5 Systems Scoping Nadia Sitas, Paul Ryan and Lisen Schultz 6 Ecological Field Data Collection Hayley Clements, Karen Esler, Dominic A.W. Henry, Penelope Mograbi, Albert Norström and Chevonne Reynolds 7 Interviews and Surveys Sheona Shackleton, Joana Carlos Bezerra, Jessica Cockburn, Maureen G. Reed and Razak Abu 8 Participatory Data Collection Alta de Vos, Rika Preiser and Vanessa A. Masterson METHODS FOR KNOWLEDGE CO-PRODUCTION AND EFFECTING SYSTEM CHANGE 9 Facilitated Dialogues Scott Drimie, Colleen Magner, Laura Pereira, Lakshmi Charli-Joseph, Michele-Lee Moore, Per Olsson, Jesús Mario Siqueiros-Garcia and Olive Zgambo 10 Futures Analysis Tanja Hichert, Reinette Biggs and Alta de Vos 11 Scenario Development Tanja Hichert, Reinette Biggs, Alta de Vos and Garry Peterson 12 Serious Games Olivier Barreteau, Géraldine Abrami, Bruno Bonté, François Bousquet and Raphaël Mathevet 13 Participatory Modelling Géraldine Abrami, William's Daré, Raphaëlle Ducrot, Nicolas Salliou and Pierre Bommel 14 Resilience Assessment Allyson Quinlan, My Sellberg and Arthur Perrotton 15 Action Research Jean Boulton and Rika Preiser METHODS FOR ANALYSING SYSTEMS - System components and linkages 16 Expert Modelling Stuart Kininmonth, Steven Gray and Kasper Kok 17 Data Mining and Pattern Recognition Juan C. Rocha and Stefan Daume 18 Statistical Analysis Ingo Fetzer, Luigi Piemontese, Juan C. Rocha and Berta Martín-López 19 Qualitative Content Analysis Rika Preiser, María Mancilla-García, Lloyd Hill and Louis Klein 20 Comparative Case Study Analysis Claudia Pahl-Wostl, Xavier Basurto and Sergio Villamayor-Tomas 21 Controlled Behavioural Experiments Therese Lindahl, Marco A. Janssen and Caroline Schill 22 Institutional Analysis Graham Epstein, Sergio Villamayor-Tomas and Michael Schoon 23 Network Analysis Kristine Maciejewski and Jacopo Baggio 24 Spatial Mapping and Analysis Graeme S. Cumming and Ralf Seppelt METHODS FOR ANALYSING SYSTEMS - System dynamics 25 Historical Assessment Sarah E. Gergel and Ruth H. Thurstan 26 Dynamical Systems Modelling Steven J. Lade, John M. Anderies, Paul Currie and Juan C. Rocha 27 State-and-transition Modelling Brandon Bestelmeyer, Maria Fernández-Giménez, Bulgamaa Densambuu and Retta Bruegger 28 Agent-based Modelling Maja Schlüter, Emilie Lindkvist, Nanda Wijermans and Gary Polhill METHODS FOR ANALYSING SYSTEMS - Directly informing decision-making 29 Decision Analysis based on Optimisation Anne-Sophie Crépin and Stephen Polasky 30 Flow and Impact Analysis Lisa Deutsch and Max Troell 31 Ecosystem Services Modelling Maike Hamann, Justin A. Johnson, Tomas Chaigneau, Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer, Lisa Mandle and Jesse T. Rieb 32 Livelihood and Vulnerability Analysis Charlie Shackleton, Kate Schreckenberg, Sheona Shackleton and Marty Luckert PART 3 33 Synthesis and Emerging Frontiers in Social-Ecological Systems Research Methods Maja Schlüter, Reinette Biggs, Hayley Clements, Alta de Vos, Kristine Maciejewski and Rika Preiser