This paper present an international collaborative effort, the SETER project "Socio-Ecological Theories and Empirical research", hosted by the Center for International Co-operation in Agronomic Research for Development (CIRAD) and funded by the Agropolis Foundation. This project brought together researchers in the fields of common pool resource research, hazards and vulnerability, political ecology, and resilience to address multiple ongoing empirical research problems through a comparative lens. The objective of this project is to assess the relevance and the complementarities of these theoretical frameworks by applying and testing them in the case of four empirical research case studies (Wetlands of the Rhone river delta, Locust control in Sahelian region, Multiple uses of Sahelian ecosystems, Management of Bemisia-phytovirus risk) The lessons from this project will also provide the basis for new conceptualisations of socio-ecological systems dynamics and management.