“Limits” at the human–nature interface: a meta-ethnographic review

Sustainability issues are increasingly viewed through the lens of environmental and sociopolitical limits. However, so far there is no conceptual cartography of limit-related statements in the scientific literature dealing with nature–society relations. Using an inductive review method conducted within an interdisciplinary research team, we define ten synthetic constructs about limits at the nature–society interface. They reveal the vibrancy of this literature, which is extremely rich in terms of disciplinary backgrounds, conceptions of nature, themes of concern, and ways forward. We map out this diversity along two structuring axes—view of the science–policy interface and epistemological stance—and provide two distinct insights based on it. The first one argues for the progress in mutual knowledge and self-reflection among scholars investigating these multiple limits. The second suggests that a “limit field” is emerging, where systems thinking, transdisciplinarity, soft quantification, and integrative general-scope knowledge arise as legitimizing criteria.