Science and Technology for Sustainability

1
Science and Technology forSustainability

• Perspectives from an international dialog on how
  to enhance the contribution of knowledge to
  sustainable development
• William C. Clark, Harvard University
• William_Clark_at_harvard.edu
• January 15, 2003

2
Three Questions

• How is globalization altering the role of science
  and technology in world affairs?
• How does academia need to change in responding to
  the resulting challenges?
• How can research systems be designed to support
  the needed work?

3
Changing Global Challenges

• Freedom from want, freedom from fear, and the
  freedom of future generations to sustain their
  lives on this planet are the 3 grand global
  challenges for the 21st Century
• UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, in his
  Millennium Report to the General Assembly

4
Changing Role for ST

• If in the 20th C. ST moved to the center of the
  stage, in the 21st C they will command it.
  Quality of life will depend on the generation of
  new wealth, on sustaining the health of our
  planet, and on opportunities for individual
  development. The contributions of science and
  engineering make possible advances in all these
  areas.
• - National Science Board (1998)

5
Changing Social Contract

• Urgent and unprecedented environmental and
  social changes challenge scientists to define a
  new social contract - a commitment on the part of
  all scientists to devote their energies and
  talents to the most pressing problems of the day,
  in proportion to their importance, in exchange
  for public funding.
• ICSU President Jane Lubchenco, in Science

6
Three Questions

• How is global change altering the role of science
  and technology in world affairs?
• How does academia need to change in responding to
  the resulting challenges?
• How can research systems be designed support the
  needed work?

7
A rapidly expanding discourse on science and
sustainability

• ST initiatives from South (from mid-90s)
• TWNSO, COMSATS, South Center,
• Earth System Analysis Integrating Science for
  Sustainability (Schellnhuber Wenzel, 1998)
• EU 5th Framework Programme (1998)
• Special Issue on Sustainability Science (1999)
  International Journal of Sustainable Development
• Our common journey a transition toward
  sustainability (National Research Council 1999)

8
continuing into the new Millennium

• World Academies of Science Conference
• TWAS, Africa, Brazil, UK, USA, others
• Global Science Assessments
• IPCC, Millennium Ecosystem, ...
• ICSU/Earth System Science Partnership initiatives
• Food Security, Carbon Management, Water, Regions
• ST for Sustainability workshops
• Friibergh, Abuja, Bonn, Chiang-Mai, Ottawa,
  Santiago, Trieste, Cambridge, Mexico City,
  Johannesburg

9
Reveal profound differences in problems and
perspectives
10
But also broad agreement that for ST to support
sustainability it must be

• More than just extending existing research
  agendas (eg. Earth System Science) to explore
  their implications for sustainability
• More than just extending existing action agendas
  (eg. climate change) to include goals of
  sustainability
• More than just a footnote to the World Summit on
  Sustainable Development

11
Anchor our work in goals of improving the human
condition...

• Feed, nurture, house, educate and employ the
  worlds slowing but still growing human
  population, while
• Conserving earths basic life support systems and
  biodiversity and
• Reducing hunger and poverty.

12
Expand our vision of what academic work should be
for

• Contributing directly to problem-solving
• Not just problem identification, understanding
• Empowering people to make own choices
• Not simply serving large states, firms
• Facilitating social learning by
• monitoring and reporting how we are doing
• evaluating what approaches are working better

13
Reprioritize what we study

• Socio-ecological system dynamics
• Not dynamic nature with social boundary
  conditions, or visa versa
• Place-based interactions
• With due attention to integrating multiple
  stresses, and embedding in the global, local
• Complexity
• uncertainty, time lags, conflict, cross-scale
  links
• With specific foci determined through negotiation
  with decision makers and stake-holders at local
  and regional, not just global and national scales.

14
Expand where we look for relevant knowledge

• Universal knowledge remains important
• conventional science, disciplinary
  interdisciplinary
• But place-based knowledge needs to be integrated
• Endogenously generated, weakly transferable
• Resident in people, landscapes, technology,
  practice
• Learning from all the worlds regions
• There is a wealth of relevant knowledge
  everywhere
• Ask What does each region have to teach the
  rest?

15
Reconsider how we certify knowledge for use in
the world

• For science used to shape society,
  falsification criteria of academic science are
  not enough
• People are more likely to let new knowledge
  change their behaviors to the extent that they
  perceive it (and the process that created it) to
  be
• Credible (Is it reasonable?) and
• Salient (Is it relevant to my problems?) and
• Legitimate (Is it fair with regard to selection
  of questions, evidence, and participation?).

16
Reject the distinction between basic and applied
research

• Recognize the need to address sustainability
  concerns in problem-solving mode, applying whats
  already know, tacit skills in science-based
  action programs, while
• Addressing cutting-edge questions regarding
  interactive socio-ecological systems and their
  evolving dynamics that arise from such
  problem-driven work.

17
Examples of knowledge-based action programs
needed to address the most pressing problems

• Integrate global scientific knowledge about
  climate change to support local decision making
  (eg. CIG)
• Design useful standards for eco-labeling (eg
  timber)
• Rehabilitate degraded socio-ecological systems
• Devise global carbon-sequestration programs that
  sustain local livelihoods and ecosystems
• Invent ways of guiding the doubling of the
  worlds urban population along sustainable paths.

18
Examples of needs for new concepts, models,
measures

• Understanding origins of vulnerability,
  resilience, adaptiveness in linked
  socio-ecological systems
• Analyzing regional development as a complex,
  self-organizing, adaptive system (eg Puget Sound)
  
• Evaluating sustainability of coupled production/
  consumption systems (eg aquaculture)
• Devise measures, monitoring systems to provide
  feedback on sustainability of key action programs
  (eg scientific foundations for Sustainable
  Seattle).

19
Need for academic reforms

• To engage society in the definition of research
  priorities
• To teach integrated research approaches to such
  socially defined problems
• To remove barriers and provide positive
  incentives for problem-driven work
• To honor problem-driven teaching and research in
  promotion decisions.

20
Three Questions

• How is global change altering the role of science
  and technology in world affairs?
• How does academia need to change in responding to
  the resulting challenges?
• How can research systems be designed to support
  the needed work?

21
Present systems of priority-setting, funding and
publication encourage (good) research

• anchored in single (or neighboring) disciplines
• either problem-driven or fundamental, not both
• focused at global or local, not regional scales
• not directly connected to assessment, operations
  or decision-support
• And therefore necessary but insufficient to
  advance goals of a sustainability transition.

22
Needed is additional capacity to

• Target ST on most pressing problems as
  prioritized by stakeholders in development
• avoiding pitfall of scientists guessing user
  needs
• Integrate appropriate mixes of disciplines,
  expertise and public/private sector in support of
  such problem-driven RD
• avoiding pitfalls of disciplinary hammers,
  of undervaluing informal, practical expertise

23
Needed is additional capacity to...

• Link expertise and application across scales,
  from global to local
• avoiding bias for universal over place-specific
  knowledge
• Integrate research planning, observations,
  assessment operational decision support
• avoiding pitfall of island empires.

24
Examples of research systems that have been
(relatively) effective in meeting such goals

• Development Int. agricultural research syst.
• Envir ENSO research/applications programs
• Health WHO malaria campaigns
• Commons Stratospheric ozone protection

25
Components of effective RD systems for
sustainability

• Sustained strength in the core disciplines
• Focused research programs on fundamental
  questions of sustainability science
• -eg. vulnerability of nature/society systems
• Focused problem-solving programs where we know
  enough to begin
• -eg. carbon management, appropriate energy
• Regional capacity for integration

26
Needed Regional CentersIntegrating ST for
Sustainability

• Providing useful integration of sectoral
  expertise, disciplinary science, technical
  know-how, and informal knowledge in response to
  priorities of development stakeholders is a
  complex process
• often left to local decision makers and managers
  who make do but with limited skill.
• Needed are Regional Centers to help with such
  integration, by building experienced teams in
  trusted institutions, networked to global system.

27
Schematic Research, Assessment and Decision
Support System for a Sustainability Transition
Global research loci
FOOD
WATER
ENERGY
Regional (integrative) Centers
FOOD
ENERGY
WATER
ENERGY
WATER
FOOD
Local (place-based) decision makers
INDIVIDUAL
FIRM
OFFICIAL
INDIVIDUAL
FIRM
OFFICIAL
28
Why Regional Centers?

• Appropriate scale for assembling capacity to
  integrate across disciplinary sectoral in
  response to specific decision needs
• Can be driven by strategic view of place-based
  development problems, structured to avoid capture
  by the research community, narrow solution
  agendas or external donor priorities.

29
What kind of Regional Centers?

• Many centers dealing with science, technology and
  development exist and do valuable work
• Most lack the regionally focused,
  problem-solving, integrative mission needed for
  advancing sustainable development.
• Where might we look for examples, leadership?
• Internationally START SE Asia, IAI
• US egs. National Labs, State Universities
• an innovative Institute for Sustainable
  Development of the Pacific Northwest at
  University of Washington?

30
For further information

• This presentation has drawn upon work of the
  international Initiative on Science and
  Technology for Sustainability. Further
  information, key publications, links to other
  programs and people are available on the
  Initiatives web site at
• http//sustainabilityscience.org