Synthesis Report - European Science Foundation

6.Conclusionl l lThe challenges of an unstable Earth are complex andneed urgent attention, if humanity is to avoid abruptand disruptive changes to the life support systemupon which it depends. The RESCUE initiative haslooked at many aspects of the challenges and showsthat the necessary response is not simply to producemore and more knowledge about the nature of theproblems. In many cases there is enough knowledgeon which to base decisions.The proposal for an open knowledge system inwhich all societal actors, including the researchcommunity, engage in dialogues about the natureof the problems and their vision for the future, inwhich they test possible pathways to achieve thatvision and learn from experience, requires newstructures and processes in the knowledge system.Many of the elements of this vision can be found inniches, so the challenge here is to create the conditionsunder which good practice can spread. Thechallenge is also to build the capacity to do this.Developing a vision is a normative exercise – theparticipants in the RESCUE initiative have describeda world that would respond more effectively to thechallenges of an unstable Earth. The next steps inthe process are necessarily political. They woulddiffer from steps often proposed in this kind of exercise,since they should call for processes of changethat cannot be programmed in explicit steps withdefined outcomes.Overall, the RESCUE Vision will requirededicated and long-term funding for implementation-oriented,participatory research on thehuman-environment system. Other societal actorsmust be included into the process of funding decisionsfor this work. Robust evaluation criteria forscience in an open knowledge system must bedeveloped and implemented. A dedicated communicationstrategy is needed in order to securelarge-scale public support for new approaches toproblem-solving. In this way it will be possible topromote and support a diversity of mechanisms forengagement in knowledge production, learning andevaluation and link these to place-based needs andglobal sustainability concerns.Expanding the community of scholars and practitionersinvolved in this dialogue about how to dealwith the challenges of global change is an importantnext step. The participants in the RESCUE initiativerepresent only a very small proportion of the peoplewho should be involved.© iStockphoto41Responses to Environmental and Societal Challenges for our Unstable Earth (RESCUE)