• Energy Research
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Olive cultivation is an activity that has been present in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula since ancient times. The way in which agricultural activities take place in the olive farms is a reflects the relationship between society and nature. However, these relationships are complex and there is no single form of connection between society and nature, but rather a dependence on both the natural and socio-economic context in which they develop. The society-nature relationship is influenced, on the one hand, by the social and economic framework in which it operates and, on the other hand, by physical and biological processes that determine how the transformations of natural resources are carried out. Understanding these interactions has required the development of a conceptual framework based on the ontological foundation of critical realism. This has allowed the integration, from the point of view of the complexity and transdisciplinarity, of different theoretical approaches that are related to the ecological economics. The aim of this investigation was the analysis of interactions between energy, material and economic processes in the agricultural system of the olive grove that, on the one hand, are conditioned by the natural characteristics of the territory and, on the other hand, driven by the social institutions involved in its development. The hypothesis assumes that currently an incipient change of energy consumption pattern exits, and consists in reducing the intensity of energy and material consumption in the society-nature relationship. The design of a consistent methodological approach that combines methodologies in a pluralistic framework through a relational link has allowed the integration of positivist and hermeneutic analysis tools for the representation of reality in its various dimensions. The results have confirmed the existence of an emerging trend, although minor and limited to certain processes of modernization, by which increased consumption of fossil energy is stopped and replaced by the use of renewable energy, while increases in production are achieved.