On May 9, 2011, Nobel Laureate in Economics Professor Elinor Ostrom of Indiana University paid a visit to Tsinghua University. Prof. Ostrom first delivered a lecture to a Tsinghua-wide audience in the Reception Hall of the Main Building entitled, “Diagnosing Social Ecological Systems” for the Tsinghua Forum [Number 38]. Prof. Ostrom discussed her current research on sustainable development, the commons, and achieving robust ecological systems through research. She emphasized the importance of analyzing problems through diagnosis rather than simply painting the world in a black-and-white picture of “good” or “bad”. Instead, she said, we must dig under the terms and see who has access and what kind.

Prof. Ostrom focused on the Social Ecological Systems (SES) framework for looking at how people interact in a diverse system. Prof. Ostrom told researchers and students: “To do good research one must choose the question carefully”. Thus, not only did Prof. Ostrom give an engaging lecture on the subject material of the SES framework and current research on ecological systems, she also gave important advice to the audience on research methodology while introducing an innovative way of looking at the world. A lively discussion period with the Tsinghua audience followed.

After the lecture Prof. Ostrom attended a professors’ roundtable at SPPM, where she was able to learn about the work and research centers of SPPM, as well as exchange views with SPPM professors on their research interests.