Title: Challenges in the use of science for sustainable development

Authors: Silvio Funtowicz, Jerome Ravetz, Martin O'Connor

Addresses: European Commission Joint Research Centre, Institute for Systems, Information and Safety (ISIS), Ispra, Italy. ' Research Methods Consultancy, London, UK. ' C3ED, Universite de Versailles - Saint Quentin en Yvelines, 47 boulevard Vauban, 78280 Guyancourt, France

Abstract: This paper summarises some of the challenges to science that are posed by the search for sustainability. These challenges are not only technical ones, such as more affordable or reliable equipment for health care, water quality control and refrigeration. There are also fundamental empirical and methodological challenges, such as complexity, irreversibility and uncertainty over the long term, that must be faced for achieving better understanding of our environment and the planet|s life-support systems. Finally, there are moral and procedural challenges for defining the roles of science-based knowledge and innovations for poverty reduction, for governance of technological and environmental risks, for sustainable ecosystems management, and for effective communication of scientific information to achieve these goals.

Keywords: partnership; post-normal science; quality assurance; uncertainty; sustainable development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSD.1998.004206

International Journal of Sustainable Development, 1998 Vol.1 No.1, pp.99 - 107

Published online: 10 May 2004 *

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