Bunch, Martin J
Areas of Academic Interest
- Decision support in GIS;
- web-distributed GIS;
- ecosystem approaches;
- problems of developing area cities (particularly in India);
- adaptive management;
- urban development;
- urban environmental management;
- complex systems;
- systems approaches to problem solving.
My educational background is in the discipline of geography. However, my work is interdisciplinary (existing at the intersection of several of the disciplinary sciences and geographic subdisciplines) and transdisciplinary (as the problems I address require an approach that transcends traditional disciplinary bounds). It seems obvious to me that this type of work is fertile ground for geographers who (supposedly) are practitioners of a science which is both analytic and synthetic, makes use of qualitative as well as quantitative methods, and has a history of exploring the relationship among human beings and their physical environments.
My approach to environmental studies and geography is best illustrated by comments made by Leslie Currie in a 1991 issue of The Canadian Geographer. Currie has commented that,
people who write on the aims of geography but do not combine its analytic and integrative roles simultaneously are surely missing the boat.
Currie was referring to the need for cumulative synthetic theory in geography, and lamenting the tendency of some geographers to identify too strongly with neighbouring systematic fields. In opposition to the divisive influence of traditional disciplinary science on geography, and to emphasise the importance of synthesis, he stated (1991) that;
I really have no time at all for those great minds who emphasise a unity of science corresponding to a unity of reality and the divisiveness of petty disciplines. There are only ‘problems' to be tackled, applied or academic, and we must all contribute what we can. Essentially, this leaves the mature disciplines not only defining the problems but also judging the solutions in terms of their ground rules. One has to staunchly reject the numerous clarion calls to pursue knowledge where'er it may lead, since this means following physicists into their kind of climatology or economists into their sort of spatial economy, wherever their particular train tracks take them. We have to be willing to be naïve where specialist sciences are strong, knowing that we are sophisticated where they are weak.
It is a task of those who undertake environmental studies to bring together the knowledge and tools of physical and social sciences such as geology, chemistry, economics and sociology, to bear on the applied or academic problems on which they ply their trade. But merely applying a variety disciplinary tools and knowledge sets to the problem is insufficient. Knowledge must be integrated in a such a way that our understanding of the issue at hand is enhanced in a way that the cumulative contribution of disciplinary understandings is unable to achieve. The geographer's focus on space and place provides both a theoretical anchor and a set of methods and techniques to do this.
References
Bunch, Martin J. (2001) An Adaptive Ecosystem Approach to Rehabilitation and Management of the Cooum River Environmental System in Chennai, India. Geography Publication Series No.54. Waterloo, Ontario: University of Waterloo.
Curry, Leslie (1991) "Guest Essay: The Need for Cumulative Synthetic Theory" in The Canadian Geographer, 35(1): 2-9.
Kay, James J., Boyle, Michelle, Regier, Henry A. and George Francis (1999) "An Ecosystem Approach for Sustainability: Addressing the Challenge of Complexity" in Futures, 31(7):721-742.
Major research projects
"An Adaptive Ecosystem Approach to Managing Urban Environments for Human Health" [funded via the SSHRC Research Development Initiative program]
This research explores an adaptive ecosystem approach to planning and managing for human health in two urban areas of comparable size with different contexts: the Golden Horseshoe region in southern Ontario, Canada, and Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The study has analyzed and evaluated the experience with ecosystem approaches in the Toronto-Hamilton conurbation. It is now using the Canadian experience to inform an ecosystem approach to human health issues in Chennai (formerly Madras). This exploration is expected to highlight strengths of the approach, barriers to its implementation and critical gaps in knowledge. New experience of the ecosystem approach in Chennai, where environmental health problems are magnitudes worse, will re-inform the approach for application elsewhere. The research will identify theoretical and practical areas for further research and promote collaborative work among Canadian and Indian partners. The explicit comparison between developed and developing countries will contribute theoretical models for ecosystem management focussed on the protection and enhancement of human health.
Select publications
(See http://www.yorku.ca/bunchmj for a more complete list and links to abstracts and full papers.)
Bunch, M.J., K. Morrison, M. Parkes, and H. Venema (2011) "Promoting health and well-being by managing for social-ecological resilience: The potential of integrating ecohealth and water resources management approaches." Ecology and Society.16(1): 6. [online].
Bunch, M.J. and M. MacLennan (2010) "Usability Trumps Features: User needs and the redesign of a web-based GIS to support community environmental monitoring." OSGeo Journal 6:40-52.
Parkes, M. W., Morrison, K. E., Bunch, M. J., Hollström, L. K., Neudoerffer, R. C., Venema, H. D. and D. Waltner-Toews. 2010. "Towards integrated governance for water, health and social-ecological systems: The watershed governance prism." Global Environmental Change 20 (4):693-704.
MacRae, R., Gallant, E., Patel, S., Michalak, M., Bunch, M., & Schaffner, S. (2010, Fall). "Could Toronto provide 10% of its fresh vegetable requirements from within its own boundaries? Matching consumption requirements with growing spaces." Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. Advance online publication.
Handy, Femida and Martin J. Bunch (eds.) (2009) Sense and Sustainability: Interdisciplinary Research in Environmental Studies. York University Books: Toronto, Canada.
Handy, Femida and Martin J. Bunch (2009) “Change Your World(view): A Setting for Interdisciplinary Research and Action” in F. Handy and M.J. Bunch (eds.) Sense and Sustainability: Interdisciplinary Research in Environmental Studies. York University Books: Toronto, Canada. Pp 1-4.
Parkes, M.W., Morrison, K.E., Bunch, M.J., and Venema, H.D. (2008) Ecohealth and Watersheds: Ecosystem Approaches to Re-integrate Water Resources Management with Health and Well-being. Network for Ecosystem Sustainability and Health (Publication Series No. 2) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Winnipeg, MB.
Bunch, Martin J. (2008) “Human Activity and the Ecosystem Approach: The Contribution of Soft Systems Methodology to Management and Rehabilitation of the Cooum River in Chennai, India.” In D. Waltner-Toews, J.J. Kay, and N.M. Lister, (eds.) The Ecosystem Approach: Complexity, Uncertainty, and Managing for Sustainability. New York: Columbia University Press.
Gudatis, Lia and Martin J. Bunch (2008) [Multi]culture and the City: The Representation of Culture in Toronto’s Cultural Facilities Database. Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 17(1): 1-27.
Maclachlan, J., M. Jerrett, T. Abernathy, M. Sears, M.J. Bunch (2007) "Mapping Health on the Internet: Developing an Interactive Web Site with Input from Prospective Users" in Health & Place, 13(1):72-86.
Bunch, Martin J., V. Madha Suresh, Beth Finnis, Dana Wilson, T. Vasantha Kumaran, Raj Murthy, Michael J. Jerrett and John Eyles (2006) “Environment and Health in Chennai, India: An ecosystem approach to managing the urban environment for human health” in the Indian Geographical Journal, 81(1): 5-22.
Bunch, Martin J., Beth Franklin, David Morley, T. Vasantha Kumaran and V. Madha Suresh (2005) “Research in turbulent environments: Slums in Chennai, India and the impact of the December 2004 tsunami on an EcoHealth project” in EcoHealth 2(2):150-154.
Bunch, Martin J. and Douglas J. Dudycha (2004) "Linking Conceptual and Simulation Models of the Cooum River: Collaborative Development of a GIS-based DSS for Environmental Management" in Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 28(3):247-264.
Waltner-Toews, David, Martin J. Bunch, Cynthia Neudoerffer, Margot Parkes, and Henry David Venema (2004) “Championing Ecosystem Sustainability and Health: Profile and Tribute to the Life and Work of James Kay (1954-2004)” in EcoHealth, 1(4):334-339
Bunch, Martin J. and Christine Jewell (2004) “Phases and Issues in the Transition to ETDs” in Edward A. Fox, Shahrooz Feizabadi, Joseph M. Moxley and Christian R. Weisser, eds., The ETDs Sourcebook: Electronic Theses and Dissertations: A Sourcebook for Educators, Students, and Librarians. New York: Marcel Deckker Inc.. Pp. 233-246.
Bunch, Martin J. (2003) "Soft Systems Methodology and the Ecosystem Approach: A System Study of the Cooum River and Environs in Chennai, India" in Environmental Management, 31(2):182-197.
Bunch, Martin J. (2001) An Adaptive Ecosystem Approach to Rehabilitation and Management of the Cooum River Environmental System in Chennai, India. Geography Publication Series, No 54. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 461 p. ISBN: 0-921083-62-9
Bunch, Martin J. (2001) “GIS for Marginalization or Empowerment in Environmental Management: A South Indian Example” in The Indian Geographical Journal, 77(2):1-17.
Bunch, Martin J. (1997) "Environmental Management of the Cooum River, Chennai: The Potential Role for Geographic Information Systems and Simulation Modelling" in Information Studies, 3(3):87-108.
Bunch, Martin J. (1996) "The Physical Ecology of Slums in Madras: A GIS Analysis of the 1986 Survey of Slums" in The Indian Geographical Journal, 71(1):12-32.