4
actions from the perspectives of both top-down approaches and bottom-up
approaches. The authors believe that sustainability experts must be trained with
knowledge and skills to utilize this framework in sustainability research and action
projects.
Keywords Framing · Sustainability science · Holistic treatment · Resilience ·
Trans-boundary thinking
1.1 Emergence of Sustainability Science
The idea of sustainable development—fulfilling and enhancing human well-being
while sustaining the life-support system of the earth—was introduced globally by
the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, Our
Common Future, in 1987 (WCED 1987). The United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development in 1992, also known as the Rio Summit, reached
agreement on the commitment of academia to actively engage in addressing development and environmental problems (UNESCO 2000; Lubchenco 1998). Supported
by these international conventions, the idea of sustainable development was recognized as the main direction of development for the twenty-first century.
What is required to create a transition of human society towards sustainable
development is a fundamental understanding of the relationships between humans
and nature, and of the methods to transform such knowledge into actions (Phillips
2010). In response to the sustainable development discourse, sustainability science
has emerged as a new academic field that sets its primary aim as advancing the
understanding of the complex interactions between social systems and natural systems (Clark 2007; Kates 2001; Martens 2006; Ostrom et al. 2007; Swart et al. 2004).
Sustainability science aims at understanding “how social change shapes the environment and how environmental change shapes society” (Clark and Dickson 2003).
Komiyama and Takeuchi (2006) introduced a similar perspective by explaining sustainability science as a field of comprehensive studies on the multi-scale and complex interactions among three sub-systems: global, social, and human systems
(Komiyama and Takeuchi 2006).
Reflecting the focus on the interactions between social systems and natural systems, sustainability science addresses challenges that include complex structures
within themselves. Being complex, in this context, refers to the presence of dynamic
system-subsystem relationships in a human-nature system. These interactions exist
across multiple spaces, times, and scales from local to global; and each subsystem
has its own particular qualities and properties (Rosen 2005; Satanarachchi and Mino
2014). Systems dynamics perspectives play an important role in sustainability science illustrating such complex interactions in system-subsystem relationships
(Fiksel 2003; Kinzig et al. 2006; Morse 2010; Vries 2013). Complex challenges in
sustainability science are exemplified by climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, rapid urbanization, poverty and hunger, epidemics, and natural disaster
S. Kudo and T. Mino
actions from the perspectives of both top-down approaches and bottom-up
approaches. The authors believe that sustainability experts must be trained with
knowledge and skills to utilize this framework in sustainability research and action
projects.
Keywords Framing · Sustainability science · Holistic treatment · Resilience ·
Trans-boundary thinking
1.1 Emergence of Sustainability Science
The idea of sustainable development—fulfilling and enhancing human well-being
while sustaining the life-support system of the earth—was introduced globally by
the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, Our
Common Future, in 1987 (WCED 1987). The United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development in 1992, also known as the Rio Summit, reached
agreement on the commitment of academia to actively engage in addressing development and environmental problems (UNESCO 2000; Lubchenco 1998). Supported
by these international conventions, the idea of sustainable development was recognized as the main direction of development for the twenty-first century.
What is required to create a transition of human society towards sustainable
development is a fundamental understanding of the relationships between humans
and nature, and of the methods to transform such knowledge into actions (Phillips
2010). In response to the sustainable development discourse, sustainability science
has emerged as a new academic field that sets its primary aim as advancing the
understanding of the complex interactions between social systems and natural systems (Clark 2007; Kates 2001; Martens 2006; Ostrom et al. 2007; Swart et al. 2004).
Sustainability science aims at understanding “how social change shapes the environment and how environmental change shapes society” (Clark and Dickson 2003).
Komiyama and Takeuchi (2006) introduced a similar perspective by explaining sustainability science as a field of comprehensive studies on the multi-scale and complex interactions among three sub-systems: global, social, and human systems
(Komiyama and Takeuchi 2006).
Reflecting the focus on the interactions between social systems and natural systems, sustainability science addresses challenges that include complex structures
within themselves. Being complex, in this context, refers to the presence of dynamic
system-subsystem relationships in a human-nature system. These interactions exist
across multiple spaces, times, and scales from local to global; and each subsystem
has its own particular qualities and properties (Rosen 2005; Satanarachchi and Mino
2014). Systems dynamics perspectives play an important role in sustainability science illustrating such complex interactions in system-subsystem relationships
(Fiksel 2003; Kinzig et al. 2006; Morse 2010; Vries 2013). Complex challenges in
sustainability science are exemplified by climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, rapid urbanization, poverty and hunger, epidemics, and natural disaster
S. Kudo and T. Mino