Synthesis Report - European Science Foundation

3. RESCUE recommendationsThe RESCUE initiative makes six recommendationsto science policy makers, funders and educators.These will help move towards an open knowledgesystem.Recommendation 1:Build an institutional frameworkfor an open knowledge systemTarget audience: Science policy makers,science fundersAn open knowledge society to tackle the environmentaland societal challenges of global changerequires an implementation-oriented researchagenda and a corresponding institutional framework.Participatory approaches and stakeholderengagement must bring more societal actors into theresearch and the evaluation processes and must begiven credit in both funding schemes and academiccareers. New criteria for evaluating ‘excellence’ inparticipatory, implementation-oriented processesare required. Long-term support and reward mechanismsare needed for integrative global changeresearch that responds to societal demands.Recommendation 2:Re-organise research so disciplinesshare knowledge and practices, and,from the onset, work together witheach other and with stakeholdersTarget audience: Science policy makers,science funders, research communityGiven the need to understand and include theunderlying human drivers of global change, thereis an urgent requirement for increasing the levelof targeted support for those social sciences andhumanities that can contribute to this effort.Research to support transitions to sustainabilitymust be interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary,beginning with a collective framing process thatincludes scientists from natural and social sciencesand the humanities as well as actors from civic society,the private and public sectors. The RadicallyInter- and Transdisciplinary Environment (RITE)model for global change research needs furtherdevelopment and then widespread implementation.Recommendation 3:Initiate long-term integrateddemonstration projectsTarget audience: Science funders, researchcommunity, practitioners, science policy makersA network of long-term integrated studies is requiredin order to encourage experimentation with differentapproaches for analysing and building the capacityof regions to deal with environmental changeand achieve sustainability. These studies must alsoaddress the human drivers and implications ofenvironmental change in broad empirical contexts.The studies must pay attention to the challenges ofincluding stakeholders in the entire research process.Learning to find a common language and joint problemframing must be evaluated and disseminatedwidely. The monitoring of these demonstration projectsshould enhance learning about how researchcan contribute effectively to sustainability transitions.Recommendation 4:Develop sustainability educationand learning in an innovative, openknowledge systemTarget audience: Science and education policymakers, educatorsLearning is the central element of an open knowledgesociety and essential for adapting to thecomplex and changing human condition in theAnthropocene. Processes are required that engageeducators from pre-school through universities andfar beyond, including a wide range of other professionalareas, in a dialogue about the educationand capacity building frameworks and institutionsneeded for an open knowledge and learning society.The new types of research needed to supportsustainability transitions and processes of engagementrequire new skills and capacities that must beprovided by the education system.Recommendation 5:Respond to the challenges andopportunities created by the internetfor an open knowledge system readyfor transitions towards sustainabilityTarget audience: Science policy makers,research communityThe internet provides a means of access to knowledge,a repository of knowledge, a research tool andan agora that facilitates the production, diffusionand use of knowledge in responding to societalproblems related to global environmental change.7Responses to Environmental and Societal Challenges for our Unstable Earth (RESCUE)