Bernd Siebenhüner

The changing role of nation states in international environmental assessments—the case of the IPCC

Abstract In 1988, the incoming head of one of the most prominent scientific assessment bodies, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), explained: “Right now, many countries, especially developing countries, simply do not trust assessments in which their scientists and policymakers have not participated.” Since then, the international community gathered significant experience in designing and organising international assessments that allow for broad participation by representatives of national governments and influence domestic and international policy making. By analysing the case study of the IPCC, the paper focuses on the role of individual nation states played in international assessments and how this role changed over time and why. It is shown that there is a tendency of increasing internationalisation in the field of climate research and climate policy that limits the specific influence of individual nation states. The study of the internal processes of the IPCC reveals a growth of internal dynamics that built up boundaries for the behaviour of individual actors (such as government representatives and scientists). However, over the years the actors involved also learned how to use the IPCC mechanisms more effectively.

Social learning and sustainability science: which role can stakeholder participation play?

Claims for the involvement of societal stakeholders in processes of knowledge generation abound in discussions about sustainability science and new modes of scientific research. Their participation is seen as a means for empowerment and education as well as for increasing the legitimacy of scientific research. In addition, proponents of sustainability science regard stakeholder participation as a way to integrate municipalities, interest groups, industry, and environmentalist groups into both the generation of knowledge and its practical implementation. Meanwhile, there are numerous examples of participatory approaches in scientific knowledge generation that allow for a first review of the experiences gathered so far. The paper gives an account of a number of these experiences and analyses these procedures in the light of criteria derived from the discussions around sustainability science. It is the objective of the paper to deduce lessons for future approaches to participation in sustainability science.

How do scientific assessments learn?: Part 1. Conceptual framework and case study of the IPCC

Abstract Scientific assessments play a crucial role in advising and shaping political decisions particularly in the environmental domain. Therefore, this and the accompanying paper (Part 2) present two case studies of international environmental assessments with a perspective on internal learning processes. When carried out over a longer period of time, scientific assessments provide an opportunity for learning from past experience and from other assessment experiences which gives them the opportunity to become more powerful institutions in the process of solving environmental problems and in advising political decision-making. The paper will investigate how the assessments at hand organised their learning processes and which factors might have been influential in these processes. To answer these questions, a conceptual framework will be developed drawing particularly on literature on organisational learning. This concept will be applied to two case studies on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and (Part 2) on the scientific assessments under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP). Both cases are iterative processes with significant changes of the assessment institutions over time, but they differ in their basic structures and in their effectiveness with regard to political outcomes which allows for their comparison in order to draw general conclusions.

How do scientific assessments learn?: Part 2. Case study of the LRTAP assessments and comparative conclusions

Abstract Building on the introduction of the conceptual framework and the case study of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Part 1, this paper presents a case study of the scientific assessments within the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air-Pollution (LRTAP). This case study will be analysed under the umbrella of same conceptual framework as the previous case study in order to allow for comparative conclusions. In a comparative view, significant differences in structures, public attention, and the structure of the problems under consideration could account for differences in the learning performance in the two cases. The paper finally provides some suggestions for the design of assessments as endeavours of collective learning.

Knowledge and Social Learning for Sustainable Development

Building on the on-going discussion about topical knowledge, social learning and sustainable development, this article discusses the problem horizon of non-sustainable development in order to highlight the necessity of social learning processes and to discuss the relevant conceptual approaches to social learning. It is argued that in order to meet the challenges of global environmental changes, social learning based on scientific and practical knowledge is essential. The article ends with a review of methods and procedures of initiating social learning in social practice.

Coping with Creeping Catastrophes: National Political Systems and the Challenge of Slow-Moving Policy Problems

Catastrophes are usually associated with phenomena like tsunamis, earthquakes or asteroid impacts – disasters that happen rapidly with immediately visible impacts. A different logic is involved when problems and challenges evolve incrementally, in slow-motion, and when they only become visible over long periods (Pierson 2004). Jared Diamond recently referred to such changes as “creeping normalcy” (Diamond 2005). Changes are perceived as normality if they happen in unnoticed increments. This concept was used to explain the varying adaptation capacities of human societies to long-term environmental changes.

Organisationales Lernen zur Realisierung nachhaltiger Innovationen

Unternehmen spielen bei Innovationen fur nachhaltige Entwicklung in vielfaltiger Weise eine zentrale Rolle. Sie agieren zunehmend global und stellen durch Fusionen und Aufkaufe von anderen Unternehmen immer grosere Machtzentren dar, welche nicht nur uber ihre Produktionstatigkeit, sondern auch uber ihren Einfluss auf Lebensstile und Konsummuster die Nutzung von Ressourcen und die Freisetzung von Stoffen und Energien und damit den Grad der Naturinanspruchnahme pragen (vgl. Fichter, Clausen 1998, Schneidewind 1998). Damit kommt Unternehmen und einer Vielzahl der von ihnen generierten Innovationen eine Mitverantwortung fur die Verursachung einer Vielzahl okologischer und sozialer Probleme zu, die im Rahmen des Konzeptes der Nachhaltigkeit fokus-siert werden.

Social Learning at the Science-Policy Interface - A Comparison of the IPCC and the Scientific Assessments under the LRTAP Convention

Social learning in environmental contexts requires a strong knowledge base to allow societies to properly tackle environmental problems. Science can be seen as one of the crucial producers of this kind of knowledge and, therefore, the interface between science and political decision making is a crucial bottleneck for the exchange of scientific knowledge and informational needs on the side of political actors. It is not only the need to feed scientific knowledge into societal decision-making processes but also the feedback from the political realm to the scientific community that has to be designed accordingly.

Debating concepts of human actors in ecological economics--a comment on Faber/Petersen/Schiller

In their paper on ‘Homo oeconomicus and homo politicus in ecological economics ’ in this volume, Faber, Petersen, and Schiller thoughtfully discuss recent approaches to conceptualize human actors in ecological economics that diverge from the all-embracing notion of homo economicus. Thereby, they contribute to an essential ongoing debate in this journal (see Bergh et al., 2000; Janssen and Jager, 2000). However, not all of their accusations concerning my contribution to this debate are valid. In Siebenhüner (2000), I introduced the notion of homo sustinens as an alternative concept of human behavior in relation to sustainable development. It has been criticized by Faber et al. as lacking a proper explanation for the influence of biological dispositions on actual behavior. On the other hand, the concept has been attacked as being deterministic in the sense that it purports to comprehensively explain human behavior from the outside, i.e. by an external observer. Both interpretations are erroneous in that there can hardly be a deterministic explanation of human behavior exclusively based on biological dispositions. This would completely neglect human mental capacities and the role of socialization. Therefore, in Siebenhüner (2001) I explicitly argue that there can only be a reconstruction of patterns of behavior that relate to human genetic heritage, but it cannot be a fully deterministic and objective explanation. Actual behavior might mirror these patterns sometimes more or less depending on the actual involvement of conscious reasoning in the generation of behavior. The one extreme of predominantly conscious cognitive decision making definitely cannot be observed from outside but has to be dealt with in a method attempting to understand and reconstruct subjective factors that lead to these outcomes. However, it has to be acknowledged—and this is largely overseen by Faber et al.—that there are fundamental limits to investigating these subjective factors. When they try to find empirical evidence for their concept of homo politicus through interview-based research alone, less conscious and more emotional factors can hardly be captured. Only if they conceptualize homo politicus as a completely cognitive approach this research method will be sufficient. By contrast, to grasp emotional and subconscious intentions and motivations would necessitate forms of long-term communication as it is common in psychoanalytical traditions. Nevertheless, Faber et al. raise a legitimate question when they call for evidence or plausible arguments for the importance of biological dispositions in human behavior. In this context, evolu* Present address: Weserstr. 214, 12047 Berlin, Germany. Tel.: +49-30-691-6933. E-mail address: siebenhuner@hotmail.com (B. Siebenhüner).

Nutzerintegration zwischen Neuausrichtung und Greenwashing

Die Anforderungen einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung werden zunehmend im Rahmen von offenen Innovationsprozessen aufgegriffen. Die Nutzerintegration in solche Innovationsprozesse ist eine Moglichkeit, Produkte und Dienstleistungen nachhaltiger zu gestalten und zu vermarkten. Wie konnen Methoden der Nutzerintegration das Nachhaltigkeitsmanagement starken?