ABSTRACT
This chapter provides definitions of key terminologies and to explain certain theories, methods and modelling approaches that will be used in this dissertation. It discusses complex adaptive system (CAS) and typical properties of such systems and explains coupled systems that are categorized as CAS. The chapter focuses on coupled systems designed to study human-environment interactions, human-technology interactions and human-water interactions. It describes two main disciplines that study human-water interactions—hydrosocial and socio-hydrology. The main focus of hydrosocial is the underlying role of social power and its effect on system-level political and material inequity. The hydrosocial cycle is defined as “a socio-natural process by which water and society make and remake each other over space and time”. Contrary to the methodologies applied in hydrosocial studies, socio-hydrologic studies are quantitative ones that are used to test hypotheses, to model the coupled system and provide insight into the possible future trajectories of system states.
