Community Essay: Sustainability: science or fiction?

Abstract

It is clear that in making the concept of sustainable development concrete, one has to take into account a number of practical elements and obstacles. There is little doubt that integrated approaches are required to support sustainable development. Therefore, a new research paradigm is needed that is better able to reflect the complexity and the multidimensional character of sustainable development. The new paradigm, referred to as sustainability science, must be able to encompass different magnitudes of scales (of time, space, and function), multiple balances (dynamics), multiple actors (interests) and multiple failures (systemic faults). I also think that sustainability science has to play a major role in the integration of different styles of knowledge creation in order to bridge the gulf between science, practice, and politics—which is central to successfully moving the new paradigm forward.

Keywords

• Sustainable development
• politics
• science policy
• resource exploitation
• environmental protection
• resource utilization
• developing countries
• quality of life
• international relations
• local politics
• socioeconomic aspects
• conflict of interests