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which in turn included the facilitation of interdiscipli-
nary science, but also initiated another potential envi-
ronmental problem (gas exploitation). Perhaps the
only way forward in such a situation is for some of the
profi ts to be devoted to ecological restoration, in addi-
tion to nature protection and research in the region.
We expect to see numerous cases like this in the future,
all over the world. For that reason, we argue, once
again, that restoration ecology will play an increas-
ingly important role in moving societies towards a
more 'sustainable and desirable future'. But that
requires mutually respectful communication among
all scientists and other stakeholders and indeed a new,
transdisciplinary language appropriate to the huge,
and partly unprecedented, needs and challenges we
face today. Such a language is indispensible to the
coherent development of the new transdisciplinary
fi eld called ' sustainability science ' (Aronson 2011 ). As
noted back in the 1770s by Antoine Lavoisier, break-
throughs in science must overcome blockages of com-
munication: 'We cannot improve the language of any
science without at the same time improving the science
itself; neither can we . . . improve a science without
improving the language or nomenclature which
belongs to it' (translation cited in Goldenfeld & Woese
2007). In the next section, we explore this challenge a
bit further.
Landscape
ecology
ConservaƟon
ecology
RestoraƟon
ecology
Science of
sustainability
Environmental
ethics
Ecological
economics
Environmental
law
Figure 22.4 Six - petal fl ower for the science of (and search
for) sustainability. The upper three petals are about science
and engineering, while the lower petals are about where we
as a society want to be, and the social means to get there.
Ethics, economics and laws ideally combine to inform and
refi ne the policies and jurisprudence governing our
collective behaviour. Science and engineering will be
required in areas of management, conservation, sustainable
use of resources and restoration of degraded ecosystems.
(From Aronson 2011. Reproduced with permission of
Springer Verlag.)
22.3 SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE
Aronson et al . (2010) have argued that the road to
sustainability must cross three divides, namely, the
ideological divide between deep ecologists and funda-
mentalist neoclassical economists, the economic divide
between the rich and the poor and the information
divide between ' the environment ' and ' the market ' .
For this to happen, clearly we need new language, as
noted here, with clear enunciation of concepts, defi ni-
tions and methods. But sustainability science will not
be possible just by improving the language of any one
science, as per Lavoisier's comment noted in section
22.2.2, but rather on the forging of a new, transdisci-
plinary language, and way of thinking. In other words,
we need new paradigms to understand the fundamen-
tal character of interactions between nature and
society, and thereby help advance the new science of
sustainability.
But what is the science of sustainability really about?
At the simplest level, sustainability science comprises
the fi elds of scientifi c endeavor that contribute to the
goals set for sustainability by the Brundtland Commis-
sion of the UN in 1987: 'Sustainable development is
development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future genera-
tions to meet their own needs' (WCED 1987). However,
additional characteristics may be highlighted for our
purposes here: (1) it is problem-driven, and transdisci-
plinary (as illustrated in Figure 22.4), and (2) the sci-
entifi c process in the interplay between science and
society is highly dynamic, as depicted in Figure 22.5.
Of course, the scientifi c disciplines to be included in
any project of ecological restoration will differ accord-
ing to the problems to be analysed and solved. But in
all cases it is important to recognize the importance of
transdisciplinarity, given the seriousness of the chal-
lenges at hand and the fact that we lack models to
follow. As we noted in the preface, humanity needs not
only new paradigms but also a new modus operandi if
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