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