Uses Explanation Prediction To help make decisions about the likely outcome of a course of action (e.g. using concepts of adaptive cycles to help understand when to target interventions to transform the trajectory of a social-ecological system). Explanation To help suggest why something occurs (e.g. understanding regime shifts or crossing thresholds). Identify key questions For research and/or practice. Facilitate design To help form a plan or scheme to reduce vulnerability of a system to externally induced change. Communicate To convey knowledge and ideas between researchers and/or practitioners. Motivate/Engage To increase broad interest in social and ecological issues. Guide practice To help develop new policies. Conceptual change To help facilitate the way people view social-ecological systems (e.g. through the lens of resilience that sees social-ecological systems as dynamically complex and where, in addition to efficiency, innovation and flexibility are important). Development of higher order thinking Subject of focus for teaching that facilitates development of more sophisticated cognition.