Track 4: Sustainability education
Session 7: Development of doctoral programs on
sustainability science
Track 4: Sustainability education
Session 7: Development of doctoral programs on sustainability science
- Curriculum, Research, and Institutionalization
Date: February 5 (Thu), 2009, 13:00-17:00 Venue: Room 202, Sanjo Conference Hall
1. Background
The goal of sustainable development is to ensure “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” In coping with the challenge of sustainability, it is crucial to make effective use of knowledge and information on diverse aspects of sustainability, ranging from natural environment and artifacts to economy and culture. The emerging field of sustainability science is aimed at understanding the fundamental characteristics of complex and dynamic interactions between natural, human, and social systems, which requires a broad range of academic disciplines including natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, and humanities. Since sustainability science, almost by its nature, involves different academic disciplines, many concepts and methodologies have been proposed to address diverse aspects of sustainability. This state of diversity poses a significant challenge to developing academic programs on sustainability science, particularly at the doctoral level. In establishing sustainability science as an academic field, it will be useful and beneficial that the experiences of initiating or operating academic programs on sustainability science at major universities around the world are exchanged, shared, and discussed among leading experts in this field.
The objective of this session is to provide an international and interdisciplinary forum to exchange, share, and discuss diverse ideas, concepts, and methodologies in developing doctoral programs on sustainability science and to explore opportunities for mutual collaboration in institutionalizing the academic field of sustainability science. The current status with regard to diverse visions, approaches, and methodologies used in curriculum development, research activities and implementation of knowledge in practice in sustainability science programs will be presented to the participants. With differences and similarities identified, a scope for complementarities and collaborative activities will be discussed for establishing and sustaining sustainability science. It would also be of crucial importance to institutionalize the academic field of sustainability science from a long-term perspective.
We are facing similar problems and obstacles in developing academic programs on sustainability science in many universities and research institutes around the world. The challenges that we need to cope with include recognition of sustainability science as an academically established field by colleagues, cooperation and collaboration between researchers in different disciplines and faculties, and development of career paths for students and young researchers. There will be a wide scope for mutual collaboration between universities and research institutes through exchange of students, fellows, and faculty members, coordination of academic programs, collaboration with industry and policy makers, and common activities for outreach to decision makers and stakeholders in society. Through these activities for institutionalization, we expect that an international alliance on sustainability science will make a visible and effective contribution to the international community in decision making for global sustainability. Through this meeting we will identify and prioritize specific follow-up activities and provide a networking opportunity for the future.
2. Aims and prospectus of the session
The goal of this session is basically to provide an international and interdisciplinary forum to exchange, share, and discuss diverse approaches, concepts, and methodologies used at academic programs on sustainability science, particularly at the doctoral level, as well as to explore opportunities for mutual collaboration in establishing and institutionalizing the academic field of sustainability science.
We intend to accomplish two primary tasks in this session:
1.) Exchange, share, and learn from experiences gained through existing and prospective doctoral programs on sustainability science at different universities around the world
Participants will make presentations on experiences of existing and prospective doctoral programs on sustainability science at universities in the world and exchange, share, and learn from diverse concepts, methodologies, and practical tools used in curriculum and research in sustainability science and the problems and obstacles encountered in establishing academic programs on sustainability science. 2.) Identify opportunities and challenges and discuss follow-up activities for future collaboration
With differences and similarities between different programs identified, the participants will discuss a scope for their complementarities and follow-up activities for future collaboration between the participants, for example, through exchange of students, fellows, and faculty members, coordination of academic programs (bilateral/multilateral schemes), joint workshop/summer school, exploration of career paths, and coordinated activities for effective outreach to decision makers and stakeholders in society.
3. Program
Chair: Dr. YARIME Masaru, University of Tokyo 13:00-13:10
Introduction 13:10-13:40
“Sustainability Science at Harvard: A conceptual framework and program of research, curriculum development, and fellows training”
Dr. Nancy DICKSON, Sustainability Science Program, Center for International Development, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, United States
13:40-14:10
“Sustainability science – Eclectic add-on vs. Genuine academic field”
Professor Arnim WIEK, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, United States 14:10-14:40
“PhD in Sustainability science – A dialectic approach”
Professor Lennart OLSSON, Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS), Lund University, Sweden
14:40-14:50 Break
14:50-15:20
“Sustainability, science and education: The need for new paradigms”
Professor Pim MARTENS, International Centre for Integrated Assessment and Sustainable Development (ICIS), University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
15:20-15:50
“Exploring sustainability science: A Southern African perspective”
Dr. Michael BURNS, Natural Resources and the Environment, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa
15:50-16:20
“Future challenges in sustainability science”
Professor YARIME Masaru, GPSS, University of Tokyo, Japan 16:20-17:00
Open Discussions
4. Contact: - Session Chair:
Masaru Yarime Associate Professor
Graduate Program on Sustainability Science (GPSS) Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo [email protected]
- Session Coordinating Assistant
Masahiro Sugiyama Project Researcher
Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science (IR3S), the University of Tokyo [email protected]
YARIME Masaru is Associate Professor of GPSS of the University of Tokyo and has been actively involved in its educational and research activities. His research interests include corporate strategy, public policy, and institutional design for sustainability innovation and structural analysis of knowledge creation, diffusion, and utilization. He received B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tokyo and the California Institute of Technology, respectively and Ph.D. in Economics and Policy Studies of Technical Change from the University of Maastricht, The Netherlands. Previously he worked as Senior Research Fellow at the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP) of the Ministry of Education, Culture Sports, Science and Technology.
Masahiro Sugiyama Degrees:
2007, Master’s of Science in Technology and Policy, MIT 2007, Ph.D in Climate Physics and Chemistry, MIT Job:
2007 – present, Project Researcher, IR3S, The University of Tokyo Research interest:
Sustainability science at Harvard: A conceptual framework and program of research,
curriculum development, and fellows training
Nancy Dickson
Sustainability Science Program, Harvard University, United States
The Sustainability Science Program at Harvard, building on a foundation of work from around the world (US NAS (1999), World Academies of Science, Tokyo (2000); Friiberg, Sweden (2000)), is pursuing a diverse set of activities relevant to society’s efforts to support a transition toward sustainability. We have developed elements of a shared conceptual framework for sustainability science, sketched a core research agenda and set of associated methods, and are producing a steadily growing flow of results. I begin by describing four broad characteristics of our vision of sustainability science that, taken together, we find helpful to distinguish how to address the question of how to improve human well-being in ways that account for the ultimate dependence of that well-being on the natural environment: a problem-driven focus on human-environment systems; an integrative approach to understanding complex human-environment interactions; attention to the cross-scale dimensions of those interactions; and boundary-spanning work at the interface of research and practice. I then describe how the Program is supporting major initiatives in policy-relevant research, as well as competitive awards for individual faculty research, curriculum development, and an international fellows’ competition. Next I connect the Program to the broader international network of scholars and practitioners that constitute the field, including the Forum on Science and Innovation for Sustainable Development
（http://sustainabilityscience.org/） that is working to share organizational models and experiences of university-based programs and the US Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (http://www.pnas.org/site/misc/sustainability.shtml) that is publishing original research in the
sustainability science section. I conclude with lessons learned for designing university-based knowledge systems for sustainability.
Nancy Dickson is a Senior Researcher at the Harvard Kennedy School where she co-directs the Sustainability Science Program. Her work bridges between doing research and connecting that research back to practice. It focuses on sustainability science and on knowledge-action systems for decision support - understanding how the choice of institutions and procedures for linking practitioners and experts influences knowledge production and its use. Her publications include Global Environmental Assessments (MIT, 2006) and Sustainability science (PNAS, 2003).
Sustainability science – Eclectic add-on vs. genuine academic field
Arnim WiekSchool of Sustainability , Arizona State University, United States
Similar to other academic institutions worldwide, Arizona State University’s sustainability science program is challenged by the tension between add-on vs. stand-alone academic field. On the one pole of this tension, there is the widely employed concept of sustainability science as add-on field to geography, environmental sciences, ecology and other disciplines. This eclectic approach conceptualizes sustainability science as assembly of ecological/environmental economics, resources management, life-cycle assessment, climate change modelling, and other paradigms – all concepts that have been developed in other academic fields. On the other pole, there is a great interest in developing a genuine program in sustainability science as a stand-alone academic discipline that is committed to cope with the long-term, cross-sectoral, cross-scale contested problems our societies face by embracing and integrating systemic complexity, anticipation, normativity, diversity, and ‘linking knowledge to action’. These new features do not only substantially shift the research agenda but also what and how we (should) teach in sustainability science. The presentation outlines this tension in Arizona State University’s sustainability science program and suggests paths forward to implement the vision of sustainability science as a genuine academic field in research and education.
Arnim Wiek is Assistant Professor at the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. He has conducted sustainability research on urban development, land use conflicts, and resource management. His methodological research has focused on system analysis, scenario construction, and assessment, as well as on multi-methodological approaches for collaborations between scientists and societal stakeholders. His current interest addresses the question how sustainability science can be developed as a genuine problem- and solution-oriented field to make a substantial contribution to sustainability challenges. He holds a PhD in environmental sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich.
PhD in Sustainability science – A dialectic approach
Lennart OlssonLund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS), Sweden
Meeting global sustainability issues such as climate change, water scarcity, biodiversity loss and land use change, is an urgent challenge for society. Yet, the divide between natural and social sciences represents an obstacle to new creative solutions to such problems. First, while pursuing critical and problem-solving research strategies as a dialectic process, the sustainability science programme (SSP) aims at creating new and unique synergies across natural and social sciences in order to develop new integrated theories and methods for addressing complex sustainability issues. Organised in a three-dimensional matrix structure composed of: four sustainability challenges, three generic core themes, and two cross cutting research approaches, the SSP will develop a generic approach to the study of and solutions to sustainability problems. Secondly, making the faculty independent centre of LUCSUS a focal meeting point in research, the SSP participants, from seven disciplines in four faculties, will strengthen their co-operation in research and master education. Thirdly, the SSP will further develop and expand global networks of outstanding partners on sustainability research in order to provide a range of stimulating and challenging career opportunities for both young and senior researchers. Finally, the SSP will participate actively in national and international assessment processes on sustainability and become a strong collaborator in international research enterprises.
Prof. Lennart Olsson
Professor of Physical Geography, founding Director of LUCSUS. His research focus is human-nature interaction in the context of land degradation, climate change and food security; research tools include GIS, remote sensing, spatial modelling and systems analysis. He has held research positions in Australia, USA and Hong Kong. International assignments include membership of several international editorial boards, UN assignments, Lead author in IPCC and GEO assessment reports.
Sustainability, science and education: The need for new paradigms
Pim MartensInternational Centre for Integrated assessment & Sustainable development (ICIS), Maastricht University, The Netherlands
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 needed 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).
The basic qualities that future sustainability scientists will need are: analytical insight, problem-solving qualities and good skills in both verbal and written presentation. No less important is knowledge of the diversity of instruments provided by the various disciplines involved, ranging from mathematics to history, from health sciences to economics. The range of skills needed is so wide that it can only be acquired through interdisciplinary study.
Today’s students will be the business leaders, scientific researchers, politicians, artists and citizens of tomorrow. The extent to which they will be prepared to take decisions in favour of a sustainable future depends on the awareness, the knowledge, expertise and values they have acquired during their studies and in the subsequent years. For this reason, the concepts and themes of sustainability should be integrated into all levels of educational programming. Curricula must be revised so that sustainable development forms a guiding principle throughout the entire period of their studies – and afterwards too. New teaching methods must accompany this ‘learning for sustainable development’.
Pim Martens is Director of the International Centre for Integrated assessment and Sustainable development (ICIS), Maastricht University. He holds the chair 'Sustainable Development' at Maastricht University, is a research professor of Globalisation, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich, and a honorary professor at the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences at Aberystwyth University, Wales. Prof. Martens is project-leader and principal investigator of several projects related to sustainable development, globalisation, environmental change and society, funded by, amongst others, the Dutch National Research Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme and the European Community. Pim Martens is co-editor-in-chief of the International Journal Ecohealth. Dr. Martens is a Fulbright New Century Scholar within the programme 'Health in a Borderless World' and winner of the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel- Forschungspreis. Furthermore, has been a visiting scholar at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK), Harvard University (USA), Heidelberg University, (Germany), ETH Zurich (Switzerland), and Aberystwyth University (Wales).
Exploring sustainability science: A Southern African perspective
Michael BurnsCouncil for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa
Following a series of international consensus-seeking meetings focused on the relationship between science and sustainable development, it was in South Africa, at the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, that the concept of sustainability science was formally launched. Its core ideas have taken root within many research institutions worldwide, also in South Africa particularly since 2005 when the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) recognized the critical role of use-inspired research in responding to Africa’s urgent challenges of sustainable development – in particular, the alleviation of poverty. The CSIR has sought to establish research relationships between institutions that offer the diversity of disciplinary competencies necessary to address the country’s sustainable development challenges – none of which have their solution within single institutions or disciplinary domains.
This paper describes the importance of (exciting) projects in mobilizing inter- and trans-disciplinary research with the potential for achieving impact on sustainable development. It also describes the need for formalization regarding structures through which institutional and disciplinary divides can be bridged, and how the country’s first PhD programme in transdisciplinary studies has emerged from such an institution-bridging structure. Concepts and methodologies that have been explored through sustainability science research in South Africa, and which are expected to be developed further through the transdisciplinary PhD programme, are described.
Mike Burns is employed by South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), where he holds a Research Fellow position in the Natural Resources and the Environment Unit and from which he leads the organization’s sustainability science programme. In response to global interest in Africa’s oil and gas reserves, Mike has spent much of his time managing environmental impact assessments of oil and gas projects in the off- and on-shore environment of Central and West Africa. In the course of his work in countries like Angola, Gabon, Cameroon and Mauritania he has developed a deep understanding of the social and ecological systems affected by the oil and gas sector and the sustainability implications thereof. A realization that many decisions, which have consequences for sustainable development, originate from diverse epistemologies (of which science is only one) triggered Mike’s interest in environmental ethics. This was the subject of his doctoral research, which investigated the co-evolutionary relationship between environmental assessment (grounded in scientific rationalism) and environmental ethics
(relatively unconstrained by the objectivity of science). His background in ecology, ethics and development projects places Mike in a good position to manage CSIR’s sustainability science programme, which focuses on three areas: the translation of key sustainability science concepts into useful analytical frameworks; competency-building in complexity theory, transdisciplinarity and communication between multiple knowledge systems; and, resilience analysis across the social-ecological system continuum. During 2007/08 Mike was a Harvard University Fellow in sustainability science. During his fellowship at Harvard he edited a book, published in 2008, titled “Exploring sustainability science: A southern African perspective”.
Future challenges in sustainability science
Masaru YarimeGraduate Program in Sustainability Science (GPSS), University of Tokyo, Japan
In this presentation future challenges facing sustainability science are discussed, including establishment of sustainability science as an academic field (concepts, methodologies, tools), its institutionalization (organizations, journals, educational system), and networking and collaboration with diverse stakeholders in society (government, industry, general public). In the development of chemical engineering as an academic discipline, it was of critical importance that diverse chemical processes were conceptualized into “unit operations,” such as drying, distillation, separation, extraction, evaporation, absorption, etc. Based on this intellectual foundation, an independent academic department was established, and a standard textbook was published. Conceptualization of unit operations effectively functioned as a “focusing device” in elaborating the purposes of research in chemical engineering. Concepts, tools, and methodologies were applied to actual problems in industry, and the knowledge and experiences obtained were fed back to education and research at university, leading to the development and institutionalization of chemical engineering. In developing academic programs on sustainability science, we need to ask whether such conceptualization will be possible. If so, what kinds of conceptualization could be made, as a new field of science (like bio-informatics) or meta-science (science of connecting or integrating sciences)? Also it would be important to consider how to create and maintain effective feedback loops with diverse stakeholders in society. In addition to classification, codification, and systematization of knowledge contents in diverse disciplines, including natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities, the structure of knowledge production, transmission, and utilization will require careful analysis, through identification of relevant actors, patterns of collaboration, and types of knowledge made, diffused, and used.
YARIME Masaru is Associate Professor of GPSS of the University of Tokyo and has been actively involved in its educational and research activities. His research interests include corporate strategy, public policy, and institutional design for sustainability innovation and structural analysis of knowledge creation, diffusion, and utilization. He received B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tokyo and the California Institute of Technology, respectively and Ph.D. in Economics and Policy Studies of Technical Change from the University of Maastricht, The Netherlands. Previously he worked as Senior Research Fellow at the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP) of the Ministry of Education, Culture Sports, Science and Technology.
