Description:
Sustainability science is an interdisciplinary, problem-driven field that seeks to address fundamental questions on human-environment interactions. This book repositions sustainability science as a "science of design"--that is, a normative science of what ought to be in order to achieve certain goals--rather than a science of what is. It develops a foundation for a sustainability science that is solutions-oriented, aiming to enrich public reasoning and deliberation while also working to generate social and technological innovations for a more sustainable future. It provides an essential understanding of the complex relationship between science, social change and the normative dimensions of sustainability.
Review Quotes:
"A new generation of students and scholars has embraced sustainability as a concept and is eager to explore more thoughtful, more integrative and better scientifically grounded ways to approach it. Thad Miller's new book is just what they are looking for."
Paul B. Thompson, Michigan State University, USA
"Thad Miller's book presents a sophisticated, nuanced and insightful analysis of the emerging field of sustainability science. Particularly welcome is his analysis of the normative, ethical and epistemological underpinnings of different approaches to sustainability. His proposal for an explicitly normative solutions-oriented approach to sustainability is exactly right."
John Robinson, University of British Columbia, Canada
"Thad Miller, in this new conceptualization of how to restructure for sustainability science, outlines the logic and mechanisms by which an action-oriented, outcome-driven science might emerge. His book serves as a guide for what all sophisticated future-oriented knowledge enterprises should have as a part of their teaching, learning and discovery agendas in order to pursue a more sustainable future."
Michael M. Crow, Arizona State University, USA
"This book will be appealing to readers who are interested in learning more about sustainability science as
a field, and for those grappling with the diversity and diffuse nature of what may or may not be considered under its banner it will be useful orientation."
Lorrae van Kerkhoff, Human Ecology