Industrial Transformation: Exploring System Change in Production and Consumption

Abstract

There are three critical issues when discussing research regarding global environmental change and industrial transformation. The first is the issue of human choice to be based on a scientific assessment of biophysical processes that operate on a time scale of 50 to 500 years or more. This implies an unprecedented reliance on science and our capabilities to predict the impact of human activity on life support systems. The notion of human choice also implies that it is important to engage social sciences and focus more than before on the questions regarding the interaction between natural and social systems.