Structures are important to define the way you do science, and the kind of science you can do.
Sustainability science : a new way to do science, with disciplinary changes and trans disciplinary cross fertilization, as we have seen in previous posts. But a new way to do science, write the authors of the report The Future is Now means also a new organization to do this science: new journals, new ways to interact with policy making and governance, new networks.
The sustainability science community is growing, and it is increasingly engaged in United Nations programmes of global governance. International conferences, global and regional networks, pioneering institutions and new initiatives around sustainability issues are gaining attention, and there are significant new scientific journals such as Sustainability Science and Nature Sustainability. There is also an increasing number of international initiatives, such as Future Earth, which recognizes the value of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary sustainability research, as well as funding initiatives such as Lira 2030 (International Science Council); Transformations to Sustainability; Horizon 2020 (European Union) and the Belmont Forum. Further, there is a growing number of universities, research centres, pioneering institutions and transdisciplinary labs dedicated to sustainability science. Finally, various related regional initiatives are on the rise, for example, the African Transdisciplinary Network and the Institute for African Renaissance Studies.
