A pluralistic and integrated approach to action-oriented knowledge for sustainability

Sustainability science needs to better mobilize a range of knowledge to support transformative change. This Perspective contends that such transformative, action-oriented knowledge emerges from integrating multiple kinds of knowledge and ways of knowing. Sustainability science needs more systematic approaches for mobilizing knowledge in support of interventions that may bring about transformative change. In this Perspective, we contend that action-oriented knowledge for sustainability emerges when working in integrated ways with the many kinds of knowledge involved in the shared design, enactment and realization of change. The pluralistic and integrated approach we present rejects technocratic solutions to complex sustainability challenges and foregrounds individual and social learning. We argue that research institutions devoted to sustainability should focus more on creating the conditions for experimenting with multiple kinds of knowledge and ways of knowing to foster sustainability-oriented learning