Sustainability Science: Toward a Synthesis
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Sustainability Science: Toward a Synthesis The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Clark, William C., and Alicia G. Harley. 2020. "Sustainability Science: Toward a Synthesis." Accepted Preprint. Annual Review of Environment and Resources. Vol. 45 (Open Access). [Update of July 23, 2020] Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:42660129 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Open Access Policy Articles, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#OAP ARER 45 (2020) Sustainability Science: Toward a Synthesis Clark & Harley Sustainability Science: Toward a Synthesis By William C. Clark and Alicia G. Harley1 Harvard University Keywords: nature–society interactions, complexity, innovation, power, inclusive wealth, adaptation, transformation, governance, equity, co-production Abstract: This review synthesizes diverse approaches that researchers have brought to bear on the challenge of sustainable development. We construct an integrated framework highlighting the union set of elements and relationships that those approaches have shown to be useful in explaining nature–society interactions in multiple contexts. Compelling evidence has accumulated that those interactions should be viewed as a globally interconnected, complex adaptive system in which heterogeneity, nonlinearity, and innovation play formative roles. The long-term evolution of that system cannot be predicted but can be understood and partially guided through dynamic interventions. Research has identified six capacities necessary to support such interventions in guiding development pathways toward sustainability. These are capacities to: i) measure sustainable development; ii) promote equity; iii) adapt to shocks and surprises; iv) transform the system into more sustainable development pathways; v) link knowledge with action; vi) devise governance arrangements that allow people to work together in exercising the other capacities. 1 Both authors contributed equally to this work. Cite as: Clark, William C., and Alicia G. Harley. 2020. Sustainability Science: Toward a Synthesis. Accepted Preprint. Annual Review of Environment and Resources. Vol. 45.Version3 [Updated July 23, 2020]. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:42660129 Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Volume 45 is October 19, 2020. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates. Comments may be directed to: William C. Clark Harvey Brooks Professor of International Science, Public Policy and Human Development Director, Sustainability Science Program, Harvard Kennedy School [email protected] ORCID ID 0000-0001-8994-5251; and Alicia G. Harley Post-doctoral Fellow, Sustainability Science Program, Harvard Kennedy School Lecturer in Environmental Science and Public Policy, Harvard College [email protected] ORCID ID 0000-0002-3532-7754 1 ARER 45 (2020) Sustainability Science: Toward a Synthesis Clark & Harley Contents 1 Scope of the Review ............................................................................................................................. 3 1.1 Sustainable Development .............................................................................................................. 3 1.2 Sustainability Science ................................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Organization of the Review .......................................................................................................... 5 2 An Integrative Framework for Sustainability Science .......................................................................... 6 2.1 Findings: Key elements and relationships of the Anthropocene as a Complex Adaptive System 8 2.2 Integration: A Framework for Research in Sustainability Science ............................................. 13 3 Capacity to Measure Sustainable Development .................................................................................. 15 3.1 Findings: Well-being, resources, capital assets, and inclusive wealth ........................................ 15 3.2 Building Capacity: Resources, capacities, connections, and equity ........................................... 18 4 Capacity to Promote Equity ................................................................................................................ 18 4.1 Findings: (In)equity, (in)equality, and power ............................................................................. 19 4.2 Building Capacity: Empowerment of current and future generations ......................................... 21 5 Capacity to Promote Adaptation ......................................................................................................... 23 5.1 Findings: Risk, vulnerability, and resilience ............................................................................... 24 5.2 Building Capacity: Resources, complexity, and power .............................................................. 25 6 Capacity to Promote Transformations ................................................................................................ 28 6.1 Findings: Innovation, assessment, and incumbency ................................................................... 28 6.2 Building Capacity: Anticipation, imagination, and integration .................................................. 30 7 Capacity to Link Knowledge with Action .......................................................................................... 32 7.1 Findings: Expertise, co-production, and trust ............................................................................. 32 7.2 Building Capacity: Social learning, boundary work, and decision support ................................ 34 8 Capacity for Governance .................................................................................................................... 36 8.1 Findings: Rescaling, expanding the tool kit, fit .......................................................................... 37 8.2 Building Capacity: Nurturing resources, promoting equity, confronting uncertainty ................ 38 9 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................................... 43 10 Summary Points .................................................................................................................................. 46 11 Future Issues ....................................................................................................................................... 46 12 Appendix: Understanding Power in Sustainability Science ............................................................... 48 13 Disclosure Statement .......................................................................................................................... 49 14 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................... 49 15 Literature Cited ................................................................................................................................... 49 16 Supplemental Materials: Research Programs That Have Shaped Sustainability Science ................... 76 17 Terms and Definitions ......................................................................................................................... 90 2 ARER 45 (2020) Sustainability Science: Toward a Synthesis Clark & Harley 1 SCOPE OF THE REVIEW We present here a strategic perspective on the central findings and current challenges of sustainability science. Research on sustainable development has grown explosively since the mid-1980s, with the field of sustainability science emerging as a global collaboration network in the early years of this century (Bettencourt and Kaur 2011). Other reviews, many of which we cite here, have assessed in detail the research on particular parts of the field. Our goal is to complement those focused assessments with a synthesis that highlights the principle insights that have emerged from sustainability science and their practical implications for the pursuit of the goals of sustainable development. We aim to provide a manageable overview of the field for scholars seeking to locate their work within the broad enterprise of sustainability science or to catch up on important findings in parts that are not their own, or to forge new collaborations across distant parts of this rapidly expanding and evolving enterprise. 1.1 Sustainable Development Sustainability science, like agricultural science or health science, is an applied science defined by the practical problems it addresses—specifically, the problem of sustainable development (Kates 2011). That problem was defined a generation ago by the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) in a prescient statement that merits careful rereading today: Environment is where we all live; and development is what we all do in attempting to improve our lot within that abode. The two are inseparable…. Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable: to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability