Forging stronger links between science, education, and policy is often cited as the holy grail of
sustainable development. If only policymakers would respond to the knowledge being
generated by ecological science, we would have sustainable development policies, and if only
the education system could imbue students with good science, our future policymakers would
have the skills to understand and act on scientific findings. Empirical observations of how
policies are actually decided, however, calls into question the practicability of applying either
science or education to policy. What science ? social science ?- tells us, with a very high
degree of certainty, is that policy makers respond most directly to political interests, and those
interests are rarely aligned with science or education.
The way to address this dilemma is not to focus on the links between science and policy,
because they are too far removed from each other. A better alternative is to address the arena
of policy-making directly and seek to influence the policy discourse, primarily at national and
local levels and secondarily at international levels. How can the policy discourse be influenced?
Through ideas, values, and ethics. We need to bring in new ideas about the environment and
society?s responsibility to Nature and to future generations.
The critical challenge then becomes one of finding, or building, support for environmental values
and ethics conducive to sustainable development policies. This is where governance come into
play. The principle of stakeholder involvement in governance can become the central pillar of
progress towards environmentally sustainable policies, but the right stakeholders need to be
involved. This brings us back to values and ethics. When a particular piece of the environment,
such as a river basin or watershed, is conceptualized as an aggregate of exploitable resources
(trees, water, soil) then the natural stakeholders become those with a vested interest in, or
knowledge of, those resources. However, when a watershed is conceptualized as a sacred
trust to be cared for on behalf of future generations of both people and animals, the logical
stakeholders to govern the watershed would include priests, poets, artists, shamans, youth, and
environmental representatives, as well as the foresters, water engineers, and soil experts.
When the diversity of stakeholders mirrors the diverse ecological, social, and cultural functions
of the watershed (or any other place), the governance decisions (policies) will reflect the
interests of sustainability, and the political representatives of that place will support sustainable
policies because there will be a political incentive to do so.
The way to strengthen the role of science is to recognize that science alone has no answers ,
only information. Making sense of scientific information depends on the application of values,
and that process demands a full range of stakeholders, Brining in diverse stakeholders
representing environmental, social, and cultural interests (and not merely the economic
interests) provides the basis for negotiating policies that will support the principles of
sustainability. Science gains an entry by offering valuable information that helps the
stakeholders reach a common understanding. Science has to be invited in through real
demand; it is not effective when supply-driven.
To summarize, the key to linking science (and education) with policy is to establish the
conditions where diverse stakeholders need science to find sustainable solutions.
Case Study:
I can offer a case study which demonstrates the need for addressing values and governance
arrangements, but does not yet have a successful conclusion. The case is the management of
the Santa Fe River watershed in New Mexico, USA. Details of the case can be found on the
website of the Water-Culture Institute: http://www.waterculture.org/Santa_Fe_River_Ethics.html.