Advancing research, training and outreach in rapidly expanding programs of use-inspired, multidisciplinary science and practice.

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A Framework for Research in Sustainability Science summarizing a checklist of elements (variables) and relationships (processes) that experience suggests are worth considering in efforts to understand and guide interactions between nature and society.   (From Clark, W. C., & Harley, A. G. (2020). Sustainability Science: Toward a Synthesis. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 45(1), 331–386. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-012420-043621).

Promoting and synthesizing relevant research 


Overview

The Sustainability Science Program and its participants have played active roles  in developing and promoting global research in sustainability science. This work includes collaborations with national and international science organizations and contributions to key journals that publish interdisciplinary studies on the relationship between nature and society.

Key findings

  • Sustainability science is a problem-driven field like health or agricultural science, that aims to advance the goals of sustainable development. 
  • To address the problem of sustainable development, research must focus on two-way interactions between nature and society and how they play out across large areas over long periods of time.
  • The interactions between nature and society are now viewed as part of a global system that is interconnected and complex. Diversity, unpredictability, and innovation play important roles in this system. 
  • We cannot predict the long-term evolution of this system, but we can understand it and help guide it to some extent.
  • Research in the field is dispersed.  There are no dominant schools or programs that produce most of the important work, and no short list of journals that lead in publishing the most significant research. 


Featured projects and publications  

The Sustainability Science Program has also played editorial roles shaping and guiding key field journals including:


Training the next generation of scholars and practitioners


Overview

The Sustainability Science Program was launched in the early 2000s, when few organizations were training researchers to address the needs of the growing field of sustainability science. One goal of the program was to train practitioners to make better use of emerging scientific research in the field. Efforts included hosting an international fellows program at Harvard and creating a range of training materials that address the evolving needs of sustainability science. 
 

Key Findings

  • Researchers interested in contributing to the pursuit of sustainability work in relatively narrow disciplines. Fellowship opportunities are important to help them broaden their perspectives, skill sets, and networks in the field of sustainability. 
  • Few organizations have access to the full suite of scientific knowledge or practical experience that can help in the pursuit of sustainability. Training programs benefit from collaboration with many different organizations. 
  • To understand the complex problems that help to address issues with sustainable development, we must have training materials that challenge students to look at the issues wholistically. 


Programs and Teaching Materials