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2006
Report
Titel
Four major task domains of science for sustainability
Abstract
We propose a research agenda integrating environment-related science, technology, and innovation (STI) using a problem-solving approach to sustainable development. We argue that STI for sustainability encompasses four major task domains: (1) ecological modernization and transformation, (2) ecosystem management, (3) environmental risk assessment, and (4) adaptation to environmental change, each posing great social challenges. For each domain, nature-society interaction increasingly relies on knowledge acquisition. The proposed agenda focuses on the investigation of R&D capacity and linking knowledge and action within and among societal spheres (i.e., science, politics, business, law, mass media, and education). While today the disciplinary niches of environment-related STI research are still fragmented, with this broader framework, STI research could develop into a major social science field of human-environment relations.
Verlag
Fraunhofer ISI
Verlagsort
Karlsruhe
Tags
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human dimensions of global environmental change
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environmental sociology
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science for sustainability
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STI research
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innovation research
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social study of science
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sociology of knowledge
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nature-society interaction
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Noosphere
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ecological modernization
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ecosystem management
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environmental risk assessment
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adaptation to environmental change