Sustainability final
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Transcript of Sustainability final
Gregory Borne
Interdisciplinarity, Sustainability Science, and Education for Sustainable Development
1. Sustainability science and inter-
disciplinarity
2. Education for sustainable development
2 Part Lecture
1. Discuss the similarities and differences between sustainability science and science for sustainable development?
2.What is the difference between education about sustainable development and education for sustainable development. How does this difference impact on the way education is delivered and received?
Questions
Question 1: Discuss the similarities and differences between sustainability science and science for sustainable development?
Today's talk is just the tip of the iceberg- An introduction to the main themes
Tomorrows seminar opportunity for questions and clarification
Make sure you look at the recommended reading
Today’s talk
1. Sustainable Development- the pro’s and cons
2. Wicked Problems- a new kind of interaction3. Disciplines and inter disciplinarily4. Sustainability Science- An orchestration
of the science
Outline of presentation
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland 1987-Our Common Future )
Development? Needs? Compromise?
1. Sustainable development
Oxymoron- Contradiction in terms Fuzzy concept –means all things to all people no real world relevance, ineffective for policy
development Worse still - A means for continuing
legitimisation of global strategies of development which will continue the hegemony of the northern industrialised countries
Problems with Sustainable Development
Acceptance- of the unsustainable nature current developmental pathways
Focal Point- A concept that disparate organisations and institutions can come together around and try to look for solutions
Orchestration of the sciences – Promotes inter-disciplinarity –New world views that reflect real world problems
Advantages of Sustainable Development
2. Wicked Problems
Why are today's problems different from previous centuries or even decades problem
Climate Change Complex Uncertain Ambiguous Non –linear
Wicked Problems
The very nature of these problems causes challenges traditional disciplines
As Jeffrey Sachs recognises
‘The problems just refuse to arrive in the neat categories of academic departments’
Sachs, J. (2008) Common Wealth, Economics for a Crowded Planet
Interdisciplinarity
3. Disciplines and Inter-disciplinarity
Structuring modes of academic practice
Communities of scholars who: Specialize in some aspects of knowledge; Share interests, concepts, methods and
ways of knowing the world Share a particular way of thinking about the
nature of reality and knowledge
Discipline
Thought domains, consisting of problems, theories and methods of investigation
SurveyInterviewTelescopeHaldron Collodor
Disciplines
Disciplinarity (5 typologies)Mono-disciplinarity Research using one discipline alone
Uni-directional disciplinarity
Research driven largely by one discipline
Multidisciplinarity Involvement of multiple disciplines but with little or no integration of knowledge. Competition
Interdisciplinarity Several disciplines working together to produce knowledge greater than the sum of the whole. Cooperation
Transdisciplinarity Integrated knowledge across several disciplines that leads to new knowledge paradigms within the disciplines themselves as well as research results
Hinders communication Leads to incomplete view of reality Methodology determines problems Methodologies driven the discipline.
(closed cycle)
Summary: Problems with Disciplinarity
Avoids partial framing of a problem
Socially contextualises environmental and technological constraints and opportunities
Provides holistic solutions
Enhances potential for stakeholder interactions and a more ‘sustainable’ knowledge approach (participation, methods, monitoring and analysis of the social side of process)
Summary: Advantages of interdisciplinary research
4. Sustainability Sciencean orchestration of the sciences
The domain of Sustainability Science
Social Systems
Sustainability Goals
Environmental systems
Sustainability Science
Is it a science which seeks to maintain the scale of human society within physically defined carrying capacity of planet?◦Interdisciplinary endeavor: ecology, biology,
physics, chemistry, etc. plus policy sciences
◦Transdisciplinary endeavor: ethics, philosophy, psychology, economics, cultural values, etc.
What is Sustainability Science?
Multiple issues have to be considered
A possible approach is the following matrix
What does it look like?
Science for Sustainable Development: Interdependance of variables relating to sustainable development
Mee
ting
Hum
an N
eeds
for
…
while Preserving Life Support Systems of…
The Question
Sustainability science or science for sustainable development?
What’s missing from the matrix model?
Relationship ContextDifficult to incorporate wicked problems
Post normal science
• Uncertainty, complexity and ignorance
• Values matter• Decisions are
urgent• Stakes are high
Post-Normal Science – Foundation of Sustainability Science
Introduced by Gregory Batesman 1958 – A Science that as yet has no satisfactory name
Sustainable Development has provided the language
Post-normal science is a term that is used by Jerrome Ravetz and others to describe, complex value laden, socially engaged science
Post-normal science to precautionary science
A system is a perceived as a whole whose elements are interconnected
Systems thinking has developed a substantial body of knowledge drawn from a number of areas of study including:
Cybernetics, ecology and complexity theory
Emphasises the positive and the negative interactions within a system.
Sustainability Science and a Systems Approach
The use of pesticides on crops is one example of how a solution to one problem has created greater problems. While trying to combat a pest or disease to improve food production, pesticides in many cases have disrupted ecosystems, some of which indirectly support the crop being grown and have had adverse health effects on people from pesticide residues on food crops
Systems thinking
TRADITIONAL SCIENCE Mechanistic Curiosity-driven Value free Divide and conquer No direct policy user Reduce and eliminate the
rest Expert / corporate
dominated Profit /prestige seeking Linear evolution of
knowledge Product focused (paper,
patent, …)
SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE Evolutionary Problem-driven; problem-
solving Value inclusive Integrate and be open Potential users included Systemic, complex system Extended peer-reviewed Socially relevant Non-linear evolution of
knowledge Place-based analysis Process focused, capacity
building
Traditional Science versus Sustainability Science
Integrate stakeholder into every aspect of the problem◦Framing the problem◦Local knowledge◦Stakeholder values
Also need to work with unbiased ‘stakeholders’, those who care about the problem but are not directly affected by it.
Role of stakeholders
Normative questions◦ valuing, evaluating, measuring
Analytic questions◦ causes, consequences, control
Operational questions◦ models, methods and data
Strategic questions◦ engaging real world problems
Core Questions of Sustainability Science: An emerging consensus
Sustainability science confronts new problems, demands new approaches from academia
Move away from study of disciplines and towards study of problems
Values matter: we need to integrate “non-expert” opinion
Sustainability science needs to be action-oriented
Moving in the right direction, but a long ways to go
Summary
What are the values shaping interactions between human development and the natural environment?
How, and with what consequences for sustainability, do these vary across space, time, and social groups?
How should we evaluate progress toward sustainability in ways that fully account for the dependence of human well-being on the natural environment? (eg. ‘Green GDP’)
What should be the human use of the earth?
Normative questions
Driving forces (long term, large scale)◦ What are the principal shapers of the “longue duree”
relations between humans and the environment?◦ What are the origins of fundamental “transitions” in
those long term trends (beyond the demographic)?◦ How, and with what implications for sustainability, are
spatial relationships of production and consumption changing under the impetus of globalization?
Impacts / consequences◦ How can we build a rigorous understanding of “limits,”
carrying capacities, tipping points in H-E systems?◦ What determines the vulnerability and resilience of
couple H-E systems to multiple stresses?◦ How do humans adapt to environmental change?
Analytic Questions (1)
Borne, G., (2010) A Framework for Global Sustainable Development and effective Governance of Risk, New York, Edwin Mellen Press
Kates, et al. (2001). ‘Sustainability Science’. Science, 292:641-2.
Clark, W., et. Al. (2005) Science for global sustainability towards a new paradigm, Cambridge, Harvard University Press
Jager, J., (2009) The Governance of Science for Sustainability, In Adger & Jordon, Governing Sustainability, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Recommended Reading