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Theme Earth Jurisprudence by Brendan 2016 Virtual Dialogue on Harmony with Nature – Theme Earth Jurisprudence By Brendan Mackey – Holistic Science 1. What would the practice of Holistic Science look like from an Earth Jurisprudence perspective? How is that different from the way it is generally practiced now? And, what are the benefits of practicing Holistic Science from an Earth Jurisprudence perspective? Environmental science has now expanded to encompass Earth system science. Yet, limitations of scientific experimental methodologies while long recognized have yet to be fully addressed. Post-normal science as proposed by Funtowicz and Ravetz1 recognizes classes of problems that are not necessarily amendable to strict application of normal science, as the level of uncertainty may be high, subjective values are central to the problem and in dispute, the social stakes are high, impacts potentially irreversible, there is more than one plausible answer or multiple possible resolutions, and they can involve complex webs of cause/effect with feedbacks and unpredictable emergent properties. Recognition of post-normal science problems has led to approaches that aim to integrate the various and complementary ways by which people acquire and apply knowledge.2 2. What promising approaches do you recommend for achieving implementation of an Earth-centered worldview for Holistic Science? (Note: depending on the discipline, approaches could also be theoretical, although practical approaches should be prioritized). ‘Future Earth’ is a major international research platform providing the knowledge and support to accelerate transformations to a sustainable world. Launched in 2015, Future Earth is a 10-year initiative to advance Global Sustainability Science, build capacity in this rapidly expanding area of research and provide an international research agenda to guide natural and social scientists working around the world. It is also a platform for international engagement generated in partnership with society and users of science. Future Earth is built decades of international research on global environmental change carried out through DIVERSITAS, the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP).3 Future Earth also builds upon the modern origins of Earth System Science which can be traced back to the seminal work of James Hutton and his treatise on a Theory of Earth4 published in 1788 and Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky’s The Biosphere5 published in 1924. An integrated systems perspective on Earth in toto was further advanced by Donella Meadows and colleagues in their 1972 Limits to Growth6 and around the same time by James E. Lovelock’s Gaia Theory that Earth functions like a self-regulating organism7. It follows that we have a long standing understanding in at least some branches of science that humans are part of an integrated Earth system which can be drawn upon to help inform development of holistic science. 1 3. What key problems or obstacles do you see as impeding the implementation of an Earth-centered worldview in Holistic Science? The current organisation structures and incentives provided by modern universities and research institutions present major barriers to advancing a more holistic science. Research resources, rewards and accolades are easier to obtain through narrowly focused, disciplinary-based studies. Examples of multi-disciplinary research centres abound to the credit of many universities, but all struggle to obtain the external funding needed to maintain long term, holistic research agendas. What funding there is tends to be linked to addressing practical problems which while welcomed and needed means that theoretical research into our understanding of Earth as a socio-ecological system is lagging. 4. What are the top recommendations for priority, near-term action to move Holistic Science toward an Earth Jurisprudence approach? What are the specific, longer-term priorities for action? Recognition of holistic science as a priority research field by public and philanthropic research funding bodies will help mobilise the necessary resources. Advancing holistic science will require a genuine “coming together” of the science and humanity academies. I say “genuine” because this will need to involve more than just science incorporating some facets of social science. Rather, a deep synthesis of epistemologies is required. ___________________________________ 1 S.O. Funtowicz and Jerome R. Ravetz, Science for the Post –Normal Age, Futures 25, no.7(September 1993): 739-55. 2 B. Mackey & D. Claudie, Points of Contact: Integrating Tradition Conservation. Environmental Ehtics 37, 341-357(2015). 3 For more information see http://www.futureearth.org/who-we-are 4 Available at https://archive.org/details/theoryearthwith01huttgoog 5 Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky, The Biosphere, first published in Russian in 1926. English translations: Oracle, AZ, Synergetic Press, 1986, ISBN 0-907791-11-5, 86 pp. 6 Donella H. Meadows, Gary Meadows, Jorgen Randers & William W. Behrens III. The Limits to Growth. New York: Universe Books (1972). ISBN 0-87633-165-0 7 J.E. Lovelock & L. Margulis, Atmospheric homeostasis by and for the biosphere: The Gaia Hypotheis”. Tellus 26:2 (1974); doi:10.1111/j.2153-3490.1974.tb01946.x 2 .
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