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Preface
Sustainability science emerged in the early 2000s as a new academic field to address
sustainability issues through problem-driven and inter- and transdisciplinary
approaches. The field sets its primary purposes in understanding the complex interactions between the ecological system and human society, in elucidating norms and
values related to sustainability, and in proposing new technological or social
approaches that move entire societies toward sustainability.
Framing is an essential process in sustainability science. This is because sustainability is fundamentally a normative concept: how people view the world influences
what topics should be considered as problems and how such problems should be
framed in the sustainability manifestation. Framing explains how people perceive
and interpret particular topics or events based on the social norms, values, and
assumptions that they apply in each situation. In reality, multiple framings by different groups of people always exist in a society because of the different understandings of reality; hence, diverse interpretations of situations always exist. Reflecting
such multiplicity in people’s framings, experts who can facilitate collaborations
among different social actors to lead transformations towards sustainable society
are needed.
Scholars in sustainability science also hold different understandings of reality
and different framings for addressing sustainability issues. Furthermore, sustainability science stresses co-creation of knowledge and co-design of actions for sustainability between academic and various social actors; this implies a convergence
of a greater degree of differences in framing. To perform inter- and transdisciplinary
approaches effectively, acknowledging the presence of multiple framings and learning ways to create synergy among people who have different framings are
necessary.
This book attempts to introduce both conceptual and practical framings applied
in their respective fields by inviting authors from two graduate programs that are
offering sustainability science degree courses, namely, Graduate Program in
Sustainability Science-Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI) of The University
of Tokyo and Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS) of Lund
Preface
Sustainability science emerged in the early 2000s as a new academic field to address
sustainability issues through problem-driven and inter- and transdisciplinary
approaches. The field sets its primary purposes in understanding the complex interactions between the ecological system and human society, in elucidating norms and
values related to sustainability, and in proposing new technological or social
approaches that move entire societies toward sustainability.
Framing is an essential process in sustainability science. This is because sustainability is fundamentally a normative concept: how people view the world influences
what topics should be considered as problems and how such problems should be
framed in the sustainability manifestation. Framing explains how people perceive
and interpret particular topics or events based on the social norms, values, and
assumptions that they apply in each situation. In reality, multiple framings by different groups of people always exist in a society because of the different understandings of reality; hence, diverse interpretations of situations always exist. Reflecting
such multiplicity in people’s framings, experts who can facilitate collaborations
among different social actors to lead transformations towards sustainable society
are needed.
Scholars in sustainability science also hold different understandings of reality
and different framings for addressing sustainability issues. Furthermore, sustainability science stresses co-creation of knowledge and co-design of actions for sustainability between academic and various social actors; this implies a convergence
of a greater degree of differences in framing. To perform inter- and transdisciplinary
approaches effectively, acknowledging the presence of multiple framings and learning ways to create synergy among people who have different framings are
necessary.
This book attempts to introduce both conceptual and practical framings applied
in their respective fields by inviting authors from two graduate programs that are
offering sustainability science degree courses, namely, Graduate Program in
Sustainability Science-Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI) of The University
of Tokyo and Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS) of Lund