Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Development

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Overview

The Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Development (KSSD) Project seeks to understand and promote the design of effective systems to harness research-based knowledge in support of decisions bearing on the joint goals of human development and environmental stewardship – i.e., on goals of sustainability. "Knowledge systems" are viewed as consisting of a network of linked actors, organizations, and objects that perform a number of knowledge-related functions (including research, innovation, development, demonstration, deployment, and adoption) that link knowledge and know-how with action. Included in this concept are the incentives, financial resources, institutions and human capital that give such systems capacity to do their work, and the intention to focus such work in some arenas rather than others. The "kinds" of knowledge include "formal" knowledge produced by the natural and social sciences, "clinical" knowledge found in engineering and medicine, and "tacit" knowledge of practitioners. There is no presumption that "knowledge systems" are the result of some master design. But we do assume that such systems, however they came into being, can be at least partially understood and manipulated in ways that improve their performance.

Our over-arching and long-term goal is to promote the development of more effective systems for harnessing research-based knowledge for sustainability. In pursuit of this goal, the project addresses three over-arching questions regarding the relation between knowledge and sustainable development:

• What are the characteristics of effective knowledge systems?
• How does the effectiveness of such systems depend on social and environmental contexts?
• How can knowledge systems be made more effective in specific circumstances?

The project has identified three challenges relevant to the question, what makes some knowledge systems more effective than others in harnessing science and technology to the goals of sustainable development? The project is evaluating how generalizable findings about knowledge systems might be. We begin with the premise that usable knowledge is ultimately "contextualized," i.e., adapted to specific circumstances of place. The question remains, however, of what (if any) generalizations about "what works" in the design of effective knowledge systems can be carried over from place to place, or sector to sector, or problem to problem. The three "challenges" facing systems for the mobilization and application of useful knowledge that we are now evaluating through a range of nine comparative case studies are: linking knowledge with action; the multiple epistemologies of knowledge; and governance and financial arrangements. For each challenge we explore the following questions:

1. Linking knowledge with action

1.1 Institutions: How does the system bring into alignment the demand for, and supply of, knowledge to support action?
1.2 Integration of knowledge production: How does the system address the risks of fragmented knowledge production that fails to create key parts of the total knowledge "package" that would be required to support action?
1.3 Learning by doing: How does the system utilize action (application) to enhance knowledge for sustainable development?

2. Integrating multiple epistemologies of knowledges

2.1 Types of knowledge: What different types of knowledge are relevant in the case and why are they relevant to SD? and producers, other)
2.2 Dialogue mechanisms: What mechanisms were present for allowing dialogue about different forms of knowledge?
2.3 Validation of knowledge: How were the different forms of knowledge validated/legitimized?
2.4 Obstacles and opportunities: Key findings regarding articulation of knowledge. What did and didn't work? What were major obstacles?
2.5 Institutional arrangements: What institutional arrangements were effective for articulating different knowledge?
2.6 Impact: How useful was the articulation of knowledge for advancing sustainable development, or, in the opposite case, how damaging was the lack of articulation? Why?

3. Governance and financial arrangements

3.1 Agenda setting: How are agendas set? Whose knowledge is used? Who is represented in decisions?
3.2 Resources: Which areas of inquiry and knowledge applications get resources?
3.3 Accountability: To whom and how are research and action agendas accountable? How are monitoring & evaluation criteria set?
3.4 Disputes: How are knowledge disputes handled? What avenues are open for dissent?
3.5 Coalitions: How do organizations build coalitions or otherwise mobilize on sustainable development knowledge issues?
3.6 Sustainable development: How is sustainable development addressed?

The project results will be synthesized in a special issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences targeted for publication in Spring 2008. A draft table of contents is available as a PDF document.

The project began in Fall 2003 as a collaborative endeavor involving scholars from Harvard University, Chiang Mai University, Stanford University, and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. It is housed at the Kennedy School of Government within Harvard’s Center for International Development with an Executive Committee consisting of William Clark (Director), Nancy Dickson (Executive Director), Gilberto Gallopín, Louis Lebel, and Pamela Matson.

The project’s support is from a core grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Global Programs’ Environment, Science and Development Program.

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