DSOC Seminar: Transformative governance for regenerating the earth’s life support system: What role can science play?

Evidence on the acceleration of species loss, declining water quality, and land degradation in many world areas, suggests that reducing human environmental impacts is no longer sufficient to safeguard life on earth as we know it; more fundamental transformations of human systems and individual intentions and actions are required. In this seminar, I will introduce two conceptions of systemic transformations. The focus will be on the role of scientific inquiry in such transformations. Specifically, we will discuss which implications the conception of environmental regeneration as emergent phenomena in complex social-ecological-technological systems has for the organisation of scientific inquiry. This conception highlights why relevant scientific inquiry should take account of complexity, contingency, contradictions, uncertainty, and open futures, and why it should be conducted in participatory processes that connect across different levels in multi-level governance systems.