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Making sustainability science a cumulative effort

Nature Sustainability volume 3, pages 2–4 (2020)Cite this article

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In light of pressing societal and environmental problems, sustainability science must advance faster than before. In order to contribute to a cumulative body of knowledge, such research needs shared infrastructure, database development and changes in research culture.

Sustainability scholars study human–environment systems and in doing so they face several challenges. The systems they study are complex and characterized by unpredictable linkages across processes and agents not yet fully understood1. Research to understand the impacts of the large-scale roll-out of sustainable development strategies needs to incorporate the insights from sustainability science to comprehensively inform decision-makers about issues such as the sustainability of planned biofuel production or the efficacy of emissions trading or carbon taxation schemes. For such effort we need an interdisciplinary scientific approach, for which a new research culture and infrastructure to facilitate method and data integration are needed. Because of their relevance to society, both sustainability science and research for sustainable development are exposed to intense public scrutiny and critique which entails additional transparency and communication challenges. Despite examples of successful collaborations, when scholars engage with non-academic partners, they face difficulties as government agencies, consultancies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) do not naturally see open dissemination of the scientific knowledge created as their main priority. For example, socio–metabolic data such as inventories of industrial processes or product material compositions are often confidential or simply not available, which forces researchers to make compromises on the transparency of their research or simply precludes research efforts from the start.

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  1. Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    Stefan Pauliuk

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  1. Stefan Pauliuk
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Correspondence to Stefan Pauliuk.

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Pauliuk, S. Making sustainability science a cumulative effort. Nat Sustain 3, 2–4 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0443-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0443-7

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