再论可持续性科学: 新形势与新机遇

近10年来,可持续性科学蓬勃发展,已成为21世纪全球普遍关注的一个重要的新科学领域.然而,在大力提倡可持续发展和生态文明建设的中国,可持续性科学尚未引起科学家和实践者的足够重视.为促进可持续性科学在中国的发展,2014年邬建国等曾撰文介绍什么是可持续性科学.本文进一步探讨了这一问题,并补充阐述了可持续性科学与可持续发展研究的关系、可持续性科学的科学范式及其8个基本论题.基于对可持续性科学发展动态的分析,作者认为,一方面,可持续性科学已进入系统推进的成熟发展期;另一方面,虽然我国可持续发展研究、实践与教育的热情高涨,但在可持续性科学领域起步较晚,落后于主要发达国家和南非.为此,本文在文献综述的基础上,提出促进中国发展可持续性科学的“三位一体”策略:一是“请进来”以服务中国实践;二是“走出去”以贡献中国智慧;三是“中西医结合”以引领学科发展.

Sustainability science revisited: Recent advances and new opportunities

During the past decade, sustainability science has rapidly developed into a globally well-recognized and important new science of the 21st century. However, sustainability science has not received much attention from scientists and practitioners in China where sustainable development and ecological civilization have been prominent themes. To promote the development of sustainability science in China, Wu, et al. (2014) published the first in-depth review on the subject in Chinese, entitled “What is sustainability science?” Here, we revisit the question, and discuss the relationship between sustainability science and sustainable development research, the scientific paradigm and the core research questions of sustainability science. Our review of the recent advances in this field reveals contrasting trends for the world versus China. On the one hand, the world is witnessing sustainability science maturing with global momentum to systematically advance sustainability research and education. On the other hand, China greatly lags behind developed countries and South Africa, albeit the great deal of new passion and desire for sustainable development. To promote the science and practice of sustainability in China, we propose a trinity strategy: 1) “bringing in” from the global community to guide Chinese practices in sustainable development; 2) “reaching out” to the global community to share Chinese wisdom of sustainable development; and 3) “integrating traditional Chinese philosophy with western science” to lead the development of sustainability science.