Prospective Stakeholder Engagement: Toward Finding

a Voice for the Future in Sustainability Science

(or, Is there a Sustainability Theory?)Mark W. Anderson

School of Economics

School of Forest Resource SeminarSeptember 9, 2011

Acknowledgements to…

• Mario Teisl & Caroline Noblet Collaborators on this and so much more…

• SSI, Maine EPSCoR, NSF for material support

• Tim Waring for asking the right question

Sustainability:

All things to all people?

Null Set?Operational?

1. Sustainability ? rests on the principle that the needs of the present must be met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Wyman’s core belief is that Economic Profitability, Environmental Health and Social & Economic Equity are mutually compatible and imperative. Success at this, we believe, will be a process of continuous improvement in our stewardship of natural and human resources.

Are These Sustainability?

2. Sustainability ?At Walmart, we know that being an efficient and profitable business and being a good steward of the environment are goals that can work together…Our efforts have been recognized through numerous awards, which would not be possible without the support of our customers, associates and communities around the world.

3. Sustainability ? Launched in 1999, the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes are the first global indexes tracking the financial performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide. Based on the cooperation of Dow Jones Indexes and SAM they provide asset managers with reliable and objective benchmarks to manage sustainability portfolios.

SSI working definition of sustainability science from PNAS:

An emerging field of research dealing with the interactions between natural and social systems, and with how those interactions affect the challenge of sustainability: meeting the needs of present and future generations while substantially reducing poverty and conserving the planet's life support systems.

http://www.pnas.org/site/misc/sustainability.shtml

Hence, My Cynicism1. Sustainability has moved little beyond

Brundtland definition • “Development that meets the needs of the

present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

2. There is no meaningful operational definition

3. If it is good and I like it (and it somehow relates to community, economics, & environment), it must be sustainability

Into the Void:Toward an Operational Theory

of Sustainability• Based on Rawls’ A Theory of

Justice (1971)• Extended by…

–Page (1977) Conservation and Economic Efficiency -- “permanent livability”

–Norton (1989) in Ecological Economics

The Argument: A Meander #1

S.D. asI-G. Equity

Sustainability asan Inter-temporal Equity

Problem• Satisfy the needs of today• Without diminishing ability of

future to satisfy its needs• Needs = Wants? Wellbeing? Net

Benefits?• Assumes the future’s wants and

needs knowable• One agreement: sustainability is an

intergenerational issue

Norton & Toman (1997)

• “If sustainability means anything…it represents a concern for the future, especially including horizons beyond the length of a human generation” (p. 560).

or Pearce (2002)

• “…the definition (of sustainable development) involves the notion of an economic system in which well-being per capita increases over time on a sustained basis” (p. 62).

or UNESCO• Declaration on the Responsibilities of

the Present Generations Towards Future Generations (1997)

• “Each generation inheriting the Earth temporarily should take care to use natural resources reasonably and ensure that life is not prejudiced by harmful modifications to the ecosystems and that scientific and technological progress in all fields does not harm life on Earth.” (Article 4)

• …among many others

But we have an epistemology problem…

•“…the tastes, the preferences, of future generations are something we don’t know about” (Solow, 2000, p. 181).•“…the essential problem of sustainability arises from the absence of knowledge about what those in the future would wish for us to do” (Bromley, 1998, p. 234)

•Can we “know” future wants & needs?

The Argument: A Meander #1

S.D. asI-G. Equity#2 Future

as Stakeholders

What is this really?• …a stakeholder engagement

problem.• Importance of stakeholder

engagement in Sustainability Science (van Kerkoff and Lebel, 2006)

• Largest group of stakeholders for sustainability science?– Future generations

• Can we engage them prospectively?

The Argument: A Meander #1

S.D. asI-G. Equity#2 Future

as Stakeholders

#3Rawls

Rawlsian Approach • An application of social contract theory,

used to develop “justice as fairness” concept

• Used Original Position to define justice• Imagine:

– No one knows class, status, gender, race, nationality, capabilities, generation •“veil of ignorance”

– All know how the world works, “…the general facts about human society” (Rawls, 1971)

• Could we use to define sustainability?

What would rules of sustainability be?

• Perhaps easier to say what not• Not Benefit/Cost analysis

–Whose benefits?–Discounting

• The real problem: how to imagine sustainability from under the “veil of ignorance”–How to put ourselves in that space?

• A baby step towards answering this…

The Argument: A Meander #1

S.D. asI-G. Equity#2 Future

as Stakeholders#3Rawls#4

Past asFuture

Towards a Rawlsian Approach

• Retrospective stakeholder engagement

• Think of yourself as a stakeholder in past decisions

• Exercise in retrospective regrets and gratitude

• Thinking back to learn how to think forward (Heilbroner, 1960)

Modeled After Retrospective Technology

Assessment (TA)

• 1970’s NSF Research Applied to National Needs (RANN) program (Tarr, 1976)

• Part of larger Futures Research movement

• Using tools of T.A. to “backcast” as a means of learning how to better “forecast”

The Argument: A Meander #1

S.D. asI-G. Equity#2 Future

as Stakeholders#3Rawls

#4Past asFuture

#5 Practice forProspectiveEngagement

INFORMED CONSENT FORMYou are invited to participate in a research project being conducted by

Mark Anderson, Mario Teisl, and Caroline Noblet, faculty members in the School of Economics at the University of Maine. The purpose of the research is to better understand how past decisions made in our society affected your perceptions of sustainability. You must be at least 18 years of age to participateWhat Will You Be Asked to Do?

If you decide to participate, you will be asked to answer four questions with a brief narrative response. It will take approximately ten minutes to participate. Risks - Except for your time and inconvenience, there are no risks to you from participating in this study. Benefits - While this study will have no direct benefit to you, this research will help us learn more about the way in which people think about intergenerational effectsCompensation: There is no compensation for your participation. Confidentiality:

This study is anonymous. Please do not write your name on the questionnaire. There will be no records linking you to the data. Forms completed will be kept in a locked cabinet in the School of Economics for five years and then destroyed.Voluntary

Participation is voluntary. If you choose to take part in this study, you may stop at any time. You may skip any questions you do not wish to answer.Contact Information

If you have any questions about this study, please contact Mark Anderson at (207) 581-3198 or marka@maine.edu If you have any questions about your rights as a research participant, please contact Gayle Jones, Assistant to the University of Maine’s Protection of Human Subjects Review Board, at 581-1498 (or e-mail

gayle.jones@umit.maine.edu). Copy available if you wish.

Retrospective Stakeholder Engagement – 5 minute

exercise• Think about the decisions

(policies, technological developments, social innovations, etc.) for as far back you would like. With sustainability in mind…

1. Write a sentence about one that you regret, … and why.

2. Write a sentence about one for which you are grateful … and why.

Bridge to Rawls—Learning to Think like the Future –

Learning System for Prospective Stakeholder

Engagement

Learning how to give voice to future stakeholders

Retrospective Sustainability Assessment to practice Prospective Stakeholder Engagement

Partial Reference List• Bromley, Daniel W. (1998). Searching for sustainability: The poverty

of spontaneous order. Ecological Economics, 24, 231-240• Heilbroner, Robert. (1960). The Future as History. New York:

Harper.• Hubacek, Klaus and Volker Mauerhofer. (2008). Future generations:

Economic, legal and institutional aspects. Futures, 40, 413-423.• Norton, Bryan. (1989). Intergenerational Equity and Environmental

Decisions: A Model Using Rawls’ Veil of Ignorance. Ecological Economics, 1, 137-159.

• Norton, Bryan & Michael Toman. (1997). Sustainability: Ecological and Economic Perspectives. Land Economics, 73, 553-568.

• Page, Talbot. (1977). Conservation and Economic Efficiency. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

• Pearce, David. (2002). An Intellectual History of Environmental Economics. Annual Review of Energy and the Environment, 27, 57-81.

• Rawls, John. (1971). A Theory of Justice. Cambridge: Belknap Press.• Solow, Robert M. (2000). Sustainability: An Economist’s Perspective.

In. R.N. Stavins (Ed.), Economics of the Environment. New York: WW Norton.

• Tarr, J.A. (1976). Retrospective Technology Assessment. Technology and Culture, 18(4), 655-658.

• van Kerkof, L. and L. Lebel. (2006). Linking knowledge to action for sustainable development. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 31, 445-477.

http://www.umaine.edu/