Science with Society in the Anthropocene

Seidl, Roman; Brand, Fridolin S.; Stauffacher, Michael; Krütli, Pius; Le, Quang Bao; Spörri, Andy; Grégoire, Marilaure; Moser, Corinne; Berger-González, Mónica; Scholz, Roland

doi:10.1007/s13280-012-0363-5

Cited by 104 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 37 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…It refers to a 'post-normal' science epistemology (Turnpenny 2012), and privileges transdisciplinary and action research methodologies (Angelstam et al 2013;Seidl et al 2013), while also calling for a more active social role for science in the process of social change by directly bringing about change in society, such as in scientist-activist-practitioner networks (Evans 2011).…”

Section: Concepts Of Transformation and Research Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Societal transformation in response to global environmental change: A review of emerging concepts

Feola

2014

Ambio

487

352

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The study of societal transformation in response to environmental change has become established, yet little consensus exists regarding the conceptual basis of transformation. This paper aims to provide structure to the dialog on transformation, and to reflect on the challenges of social research in this area. Concepts of transformation are identified through a literature review, and examined using four analytical criteria. It is found that the term 'transformation' is frequently used merely as a metaphor. When transformation is not used as a metaphor, eight concepts are most frequently employed. They differ with respect to (i) system conceptualization, (ii) notions of social consciousness (deliberate/emergent), and (iii) outcome (prescriptive/descriptive). Problem-based research tends to adopt concepts of deliberate transformation with prescriptive outcome, while concepts of emergent transformation with no prescriptive outcome tend to inform descriptive-analytical research. Dialog around the complementarities of different concepts and their empirical testing are priorities for future research.

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Section: Concepts Of Transformation and Research Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Societal transformation in response to global environmental change: A review of emerging concepts

Feola

2014

Ambio

487

352

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“…In other words, as Wiek and Walter (2009) pointed out, a structured process perspective is vital but may differ from study to study. The dimensions highlighted in the previous sections are considered within a general template for Td processes put forth by researchers in Switzerland Scholz 2011;Seidl et al 2013a). This approach is explicit about the participants' functions during a participatory process and generic regarding its openness to several types of cases and across different human-environment system problems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I do not recommend using a particular guideline, but in my view, authors using an integrated modeling approach with an emphasis on scientific results should answer the question, How explicit should we consider the participatory aspect in our modeling paper?, given that the scientific process and its results are complex in themselves. One option is to write a couple of papers, Seidl et al 2013a) one focusing on the scientific results (model development and application, results, and new insights) and another describing the participatory process (stakeholders' roles and functions and their influence on the model's results or validity). For instance, Videira et al (2009Videira et al ( , 2010 published two papers on the same project, each with a different focus and in different journals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, knowledge integration is one of several topics addressed by Td, as well as consideration of value conflicts and divergent interests among stakeholders and the general public (Voinov et al 2014). Thus, Td is fundamentally about mutual learning between science and society and embodies the mission of science with rather than just for society (Seidl et al 2013a). This paper approaches participatory processes and modeling from the perspective of transdisciplinary research and asks what functions such processes may have in modeling studies.…”

Section: Stakeholders and Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

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A functional-dynamic reflection on participatory processes in modeling projects

Seidl

2015

Ambio

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The participation of nonscientists in modeling projects/studies is increasingly employed to fulfill different functions. However, it is not well investigated if and how explicitly these functions and the dynamics of a participatory process are reflected by modeling projects in particular. In this review study, I explore participatory modeling projects from a functional-dynamic process perspective. The main differences among projects relate to the functions of participation-most often, more than one per project can be identified, along with the degree of explicit reflection (i.e., awareness and anticipation) on the dynamic process perspective. Moreover, two main approaches are revealed: participatory modeling covering diverse approaches and companion modeling. It becomes apparent that the degree of reflection on the participatory process itself is not always explicit and perfectly visible in the descriptions of the modeling projects. Thus, the use of common protocols or templates is discussed to facilitate project planning, as well as the publication of project results. A generic template may help, not in providing details of a project or model development, but in explicitly reflecting on the participatory process. It can serve to systematize the particular project's approach to stakeholder collaboration, and thus quality management.

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“…In reality, it does ( self-control feedback. Similarly, in the analysis ofthe model results, stakeholders are engaged to ensure that their expectations are met and the results can be used in a transdisciplinary framework (Seidl et al 2013). This helps to bridge different disciplines and appropriately account for human values in modelling (Valkering et al 2009).…”

Section: Modelling Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Values in socio-environmental modelling: Persuasion for action or excuse for inaction

Voinov

Seppelt

Reis

et al. 2014

Environmental Modelling & Software

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Science in general and modelling in particular provide in-depth understanding of environmental processes and clearly demonstrate the present unsustainable use of resources on a global scale. The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), for instance, shows that climate is changing and with a 95% certainty it is the humans have caused the change. The future climatic conditions are shown to be largely adversely affecting human wellbeing on this planet. Yet we see in numerous examples that societies are very slow in reacting to this rapid depletion of natural resources. What still seems lacking is the translation of scientific reports and the results of analysis and modelling into corrective actions. We argue that one of the reasons for this is the traditional workflow of environmental modelling, which starts with the purpose, the goal formulation, and ends with problem solutions or decision support tools. Instead, modelling, and applied science in general, has to enhance its scope beyond the problem solving stage, to do more on the problem definition and solution implementation phases. Modelling can be also used for identification of societal values and for setting purposes by appropriate communication of the modelling process and results. We believe this new approach for modelling can impact and bring the social values to the forefront of socio-environmental debate and hence turn scientific results into actions sooner rather than later. Instead of being separated from the modelling process, the translation of results should be an intrinsic part of it. We discuss several challenges for recent socio-environmental modelling and conclude with ten propositions that modellers and scientists in general can follow to improve their communication with the society and produce results that can be understood and used to improve awareness and education and spur action. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

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Science with Society in the Anthropocene

Cited by 104 publications

References 37 publications

Societal transformation in response to global environmental change: A review of emerging concepts

Societal transformation in response to global environmental change: A review of emerging concepts

A functional-dynamic reflection on participatory processes in modeling projects

Values in socio-environmental modelling: Persuasion for action or excuse for inaction

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