Sustainability Transformation, Governance, Ethics, Law

Abstract

Sustainability, meaning the demand for long-term and globally practicable lifestyles and economies, is increasingly being understood as the key challenge of our time. But just as today science is often simply equated with natural science, many people think only of the natural sciences when it comes to sustainability science. Undoubtedly, natural scientific and technical knowledge of problem relationships in dealing with nature, resources and climate is important. However, technical change does not happen on its own. In addition, the ecological challenges are simply too great not to aim for a behavioural change as well as technology. This is the starting point of this series of publications. Some questions are about, for example, the conditions for individual and social change, the means or governance instruments, and normative (ethical and legal) issues about the ultimate goals to be pursued. Transdisciplinary approaches should play a special role, i.e. approaches that do not operate based on disciplinary boundaries but based on questions of content without excessive subordination to established disciplinary dogmas. It is important to the editors that the present series stands for pluralism and expressly gives room to uncomfortable, unexpected and heterodox views and methods. In times in which sustainability research in particular is increasingly influenced by the interests of clients, this openness seems necessary in the interest of truly acquiring knowledge.