Transdisciplinarity for social learning?
The contribution of the German socio-ecological
research initiative to sustainability governance.
Authors: Dr. Fred Luks and Bernd Siebenhuner
Published in Ecological Economics (Jan, 2007)
Presented by: Matai Blacklock
Education
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Hamburg University of Economics and Policy
University of Hawaii at Manoa
 U.S. Based Research posts
 Professorship
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DR. Frank Luks
at the Hamburger Fern-Hochschule
University of Hanburg
 Often lectured in Germany and the U.S.
 Numerous publications
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Focus of Career
sustainable development | ecological economics
growth and the environment
the history of economic ideas
corporate social responsibility
sustainability communications
Currently
 Leader of an interdisciplinary research project at the
Austrian Institute for Sustainable Development in Vienna
Education
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PH.D. from Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (2000)
Master’s degrees in Economics (1994) Free University Berlin
Master’s in Political Science (1995) Free University Berlin
Research at the
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Global Environmental Assessment Project at John F. Kennedy
School of Government, Harvard University
Currently
DR. Bernd Seibenhuner
 Deputy Project leader of the Global Governance Project at
the Potsdam-Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) at
the Global Change and Social Systems Department
 Vice-president for Graduate Education and Quality
Management at the Carl von Ossietzky University in
Oldenburg
Research Methods
 The authors rely heavily upon knowledge from other
academics in the field.
 The authors also draw upon their own personal
experiences
 Participant observation :
 occurred while they were actively involved in the SocioEcological Research Program in Germany.
Main Topics
 The role of science for social learning
( in the context of sustainable development )
 5 specific challenges associated with modern scientific
activities
 The German Socio-Ecological Research Initiative
 The relation between socio-ecological research,
ecological economics and sustainable development.
Key Terms & Theories
• Ecological Economics:
• the science and management of sustainable development
• Adequate governance can promote sustainable development
• connection between the economy, society
and the natural environment.
 Must consider many societal actors
Key Terms & Theories
• Novel Perspectives on Science
• New View: the political systems depend on collaboration with
other societal systems.
• Supports sustainable development
• Old View: science is seen as an advisor of policy makers and both
spheres need to be rigorously separated
Novel Perspectives on Science
 Complexities and uncertainties require this new perspective
 New multidimensional problems:
 poverty eradication, safeguarding ecosystem and sustainable
economic development…
 Can cope with changing governance systems
 Promotes social learning
Key Terms & Theories
 Social Learning:
 A change in the norms of a society
 Not based on individual learning
 A process based on acquiring new knowledge
 Requires an innovative scientific approach
 Results in practical solutions to sustainability
challenges
Changing Roles in Science
 Mode 2 Science
 The Co-production of Knowledge
 Sustainability Science
 Post-normal Science
Mode-2 Science
 Coined by Michael Gibbons
 Novel way of approaching science
 Challenges contain many uncertainties and
complexities
 Sharing must occur across traditional scientific
boundaries
 Allows for the generation of Insightful knowledge
Co-Production of Knowledge
 Involves multiple societal actors collaborating
 Very effective at improving the policy making process
 Science and politics are intermingled
 Four key areas of co-production
Four Key Areas of Co-Production
 Engineer’s identities are formed during knowledge production.
 Scientist interaction with society develops beneficial institutions.
 Science and society mutually assign meaning to topics
 Historical, political and cultural influences are formed by
scientific concepts and theories
Sustainability Science
 Knowledge about sustainable development is crucial
 Can create sustainability related policies and incentives
 Leads to the improvement of ecosystems
 Goal oriented sustainable development topics
 Reinforce the need for interaction between science and society
 Provokes the need for normative scientific research
 Normative:
 evokes key social norms which aim to promote specific goals
Post-Normal Science
 Aims to increase the problem solving ability of science
 “soft” scientific inputs vs. “hard’ value decisions
 Think climate change issues
 New methodologies
 must aim to avert dangerous outcomes of sustainability problems
 New forms of communication with non-scientific actors
The German
Socio-Ecological Research Program
 Created in 1999 by the German Federal Ministry for
Education and Research.
 Part of the national sustainability strategy of Germany.
 Incorporates the changing roles of science into
research design.
 Based upon Transdisciplinarity:
 The inclusion of non-scientific actors into the processes of knowledge
generation.
The German
Socio-Ecological Research Program
Projects clustered by topics
 Networks of supply and disposal systems
 Sustainable food and agriculture systems
 Urban and regional development
 Others
 The evaluation of transdisciplinary research
The relationship between the S.E.R.P and
5 main challenges related to Sustainability
Five Main Challenges:
 Transdisciplinarity
 Policy integration
 Normativity
 Learning approaches to governance
 International dimension
Transdisciplinarity
 Described as inclusion of non-scientific actors into the processes
of knowledge generation.
 Demonstrated by the Socio-Ecological Research Program
 Room for improvement
Active Policy Integration
 Goal:
 For collaborative scientific and societal actors to influence the
policy making process.
 The S.E.R.P fell victim to this challenge
 Collaborative actor groups were from too limited of a region
 S.E.R.P could be improved if a broader range of societal actors
were chosen.
Normativity
 Goal:
 Develop widespread social norms based on scientific
knowledge that foster sustainable development
 The S.E.R.P goal was to develop normative knowledge
 Researchers attempted to, however it is quite hard
 Good communication skills are needed
Learning
 The S.E.R.P originated as a learning endeavor
 Proponents of S.E.R.P acknowledge its need to adapt
 Institutions established to help
 Strategic Advisory Board | External Review Committee
 Most successful aspect of the S.E.R.P program
International Approach
 International research projects result in more significant
findings.
 Due to the scope of the knowledge generated
 The S.E.R.P was not able to use an international approach
 Seen as a major flaw in the program by the authors
 Room for improvement and input from other nations
 Difficult to achieve due to Federal German funding source
Conclusion
 Conventional science methods need to be abandoned
and novel ones adapted
 The S.E.R.P had its pros and cons
 Socio-ecological research shares the same intrinsic
values as ecological economics
Questions?
Bibliography

Luks, F., & Siebenhüner, B. (2007). Transdisciplinarity for social learning? The contribution of
the German socio-ecological research initiative to sustainability governance. Ecological
Economics, 63(2–3), 418–426. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2006.11.007