Transforming knowledge systems for life on Earth
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Willing is not enough; we must do.”
Depending on where you look on the internet, the above quote is either attributed to 18th Century polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe or 20th Century martial artist, actor and philosopher Bruce Lee. While hugely distant in space and time, both of these men are regarded as cultural icons, immortalised by attributed snippets of wisdom like this one.
The capacity of the internet to provide us with centuries of wisdom at the tips of our fingers is unprecedented and the knowledge that we unearth can seem almost limitless. But, as illustrated above, it also has the innate ability to confuse, making it hard to answer seemingly simple questions like: ‘Who said what?’, ‘When did they say it?’ and ‘Why?’ This is before we even start to question the veracity of the sources and the fact that we might only be seeing a small part of the picture, reflect on whether we agree or disagree with what is stated, or consider whether we have the capacity to do anything with this newly acquired knowledge.
This blog piece is not really about genre-defining German literature or visionary ass-kicking. Sorry! Fans of these things might find some diversion here and here respectively. It is about research on understanding, questioning and improving our ‘knowledge systems’, reflecting on why - what we know, how we know it and how we act on this knowledge - is critical for transitions towards sustainability.
The opening quote might strike a chord with those working on environmental challenges. We already have a lot of technical knowledge to hand on the issues we face, but this has only gotten us so far. To make progress in the face of climate, biodiversity and pollution crises, surely, we need ‘doing’ and we need it now! But are we really clear on what we collectively ‘know’ and what we collectively want to ‘do’ on the basis of this knowledge? Do we have appropriate systems and institutions in place to enable this action?
These are some of the underlying questions of a recent paper that I was part of, and which was briefly discussed in a previous blog post for Nature Words. The paper, ‘Transforming knowledge systems for life on Earth’, was published in Autumn 2020, the result of the work of 183 authors, participants at the Transformations 2017 conference. A recent blog post by the lead authors Niko Schäpke and Ioan Fazey clearly summarises the core elements of the paper and this piece seeks to draw out some of the key messages of most interest to Young Ecosystem Services Specialists readers.
In their blog post, Schäpke and Fazey reflect that: “Current knowledge systems are not well aligned to the new world in which we find ourselves and are not sufficiently oriented towards working with issues like climate change which pose existential threats to people and many other species on our planet.” Building on this, the paper tried to capture the collective thought leadership of the Transformations research community at the conference through engagement with a “novel futures-oriented and participatory approach” called ‘3 horizons’. This approach can be applied to many issues, but global knowledge systems for sustainability transformations was the topic in question here.
The opening image of this blog illustrates how the ‘3 horizons’ approach conceptualises possible transitions in a system over time in response to concerted action. Participants in the approach ultimately work together to summarise current challenges, speculate on preferable futures and work out ways in which to connect the two. The comments in coloured bubbles on the image summarise the perspectives of the conference participants. Looking across the three domains (‘current’, ‘transition zone and ‘future’) some key, shared insights can be pulled out:
Challenges of the current system
Our current knowledge systems are perceived as being too limited in many different ways: closed-off and elitist, fragmented and often too narrow in focus. This can reinforce or replicate problematic dynamics of power and influence, excluding some voices and amplifying others. The disconnect between knowledge and action and between humans and nature are seen as critical gaps in the way we currently relate to the earth system and our capacity to enact positive change within it.
Features of an envisioned system
The envisioned future turns many of these ‘challenges’ directly on their heads. It would be open and inclusive, increasing trust and collaboration and bringing many different ways of knowing and being to the table. It would also have a closer and more reflexive relationship with real-world action. With particular reference to those working in the sciences, Schäpke and Fazey reflect that: “overall, future knowledge systems need to support a science for all that goes beyond producing knowledge about our world to also generating wisdom about how to act within it.”
Domains of action
A wide range of interventions are seen as capable of changing our knowledge systems towards more sustainable outcomes. These include:
- knowledge collection, generation, storage and sharing through ‘broad societal engagement’ and the creation of a ‘global knowledge commons’;
- educational approaches with a focus on ‘creativity and agency’, including ‘holistic’, intercultural education, ‘complex systems literacy’ and ways of learning from action;
- changing or creating institutions and processes to connect ‘champions’ for ‘transformative knowledge production’ and create safe spaces for collaboration; and
- modal shifts in funding and other incentives to align with community priorities, creating ‘socio-economic conditions to empower participation’ and supporting the creation of ‘new social contract for co-production of knowledge’
At this point we might return to Goethe and Lee and their shared calls for ‘action’ on the basis of what we ‘know’ and ‘want’. The work described in this blog highlights a pressing need for us to overhaul our knowledge systems in order to understand exactly what it is that we know and want as individuals, communities and societies in order to take action collectively and in a coordinated way.
For young professionals working across environment and ecosystems research we need to be somehow mindful of this, while not seeing it as an insurmountable or paralysing challenge. We can ensure that we are open to questioning the knowledge systems that we work within and that we take time to engage with ideas, tools, approaches, people and communities to collectively explore possible paths to future worlds, however challenging the journey may be. This experience has brought home to me that, at the very least, we can ensure that our own work and approach stays true to a future we wish to see.
REFERENCES
Fazey, I. et al. (2020). Transforming knowledge systems for life on Earth: Visions of future systems and how to get there. Energy Research & Social Science, 70, 101724. (open access): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101724
Niko Schäpke Transforming knowledge systems for life on Earth: From producing knowledge about our world to generating wisdom about how to act within it. Action Research Plus. https://actionresearchplus.com/transforming-knowledge-systems-for-life-on-earth-from-producing-knowledge-about-our-world-to-generating-wisdom-about-how-to-act-within-it/
Niko Schäpke and Ioan Fazey Visions of knowledge systems for life on Earth and how to get there. Integration and Implementation Insights. February 23rd 2021. https://i2insights.org/2021/02/23/knowledge-systems-transformation/
