Michael J. Bernstein

Mitigating urban sprawl effects: a collaborative tree and shade intervention in Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Communities in Phoenix are confronted with numerous challenges that adversely affect human health and safety, with disproportionate impacts on low-income communities. While some challenges are being addressed at the city level, new alliances at the neighbourhood level are initiating community development programmes and projects. This article reports on an intervention study carried out in collaboration with community representatives, city staff, and non-profit organisations to mitigate adverse effects of urban sprawl in the Sky Harbour Neighbourhood in Phoenix. Participatory research was conducted to design and test a tree and shade intervention. Challenges associated with navigating community desires and broader principles of sustainable development are discussed. The study offers a replicable and adaptable intervention research design aimed at empowering communities to meet urban challenges.

Towards an alignment of activities, aspirations and stakeholders for responsible innovation

ABSTRACTGovernance of technological innovation remains challenged by the dilemma of control. Two divergent responses seek to meet this challenge. The first regulates negative impacts once evidence is gathered. The second precludes dissemination of technologies until enough is known about outcomes. Recognizing limitations of each response, scholars are increasingly exploring responsible innovation (RI), a concept that revolves around dimensions of anticipation, reflexivity, inclusion, and responsiveness. At present, current conceptualizations of RI do not address questions of “to what end?” or “how to innovate responsibly?” This paper informs RI with sustainability principles and proposes an alignment of activities, aspirations, and stakeholders with previously defined dimensions for RI. A case study on nanotechnology innovation illustrates the applicability of this framework for assessing innovation governance. The proffered idea of alignment, buttressed by insights from sustainability and adaptive manage...

Broken promises and breaking ground for responsible innovation – intervention research to transform business-as-usual in nanotechnology innovation

ABSTRACT Despite repeated calls for novel forms of innovation and governance, including responsible innovation, anticipatory governance, and sustainability-oriented governance, nanotechnology continues to be mainly innovated following conventional schemes – with persistent shortcomings and negative impacts. Shifting these schemes towards sustainable and responsible innovation and fully utilising the benefits of sustainable nanotechnologies will necessitate difficult changes across all stages of and actors in the innovation process. We outline an agenda for intervention research in support of such changes. The article synthesises insights from four years of research on nanotechnology innovation, anticipatory governance, and sustainability in urban environments, with a focus on Phoenix, Arizona.

An operationalized post-normal science framework for assisting in the development of complex science policy solutions: the case of nanotechnology governance

Scientists, engineers, and policy analysts commonly suggest governance regimes for technology to maximize societal benefits and minimize negative societal and environmental impacts of innovation processes. Yet innovation is a complex socio-technical process that does not respond predictably to modification. Our human propensity to exclude complexity when attempting to manage systems often results in insufficient, one-dimensional solutions. The tendency to exclude complexity (1) reinforces itself by diminishing experience and capacity in the design of simple solutions to complex problems, and (2) leads to solutions that do not address the identified problem. To address the question of how to avoid a complexity-exclusion trap, this article operationalizes a post-normal science framework to assist in the enhancement or design of science policy proposals. A literature review of technological fixes, policy panaceas, and knowledge-to-action gaps is conducted to survey examples of post-normal science frameworks. Next, an operational framework is used to assess the case of a proposed international nanotechnology advisory board. The framework reveals that the board addresses a slice of the broader, more complex problem of nanotechnology governance. We argue that while the formation of an international advisory board is not problematic in-and-of-itself, it is symptomatic of and plays into a complexity-exclusion trap. We offer researchers, policy analysts, and decision-makers three recommendations that incorporate a more appropriate level of complexity into governance proposals.

Preparing engineers for the challenges of community engagement

ABSTRACT Despite calls to address global challenges through community engagement, engineers are not formally prepared to engage with communities. Little research has been done on means to address this ‘engagement gap’ in engineering education. We examine the efficacy of an intensive, two-day Community Engagement Workshop for engineers, designed to help engineers better look beyond technology, listen to and learn from people, and empower communities. We assessed the efficacy of the workshop in a non-experimental pre–post design using a questionnaire and a concept map. Questionnaire results indicate participants came away better able to ask questions more broadly inclusive of non-technological dimensions of engineering projects. Concept map results indicate participants have a greater understanding of ways social factors shape complex material systems after completing the programme. Based on the workshop’s strengths and weaknesses, we discuss the potential of expanding and supplementing the programme to help engineers account for social aspects central to engineered systems.

Consumption and Sustainability

Moving consumption toward sustainable patterns has been a key goal of sustainability science since the 1990s. However, a large knowledge gap remains between identified consumption problems that restrict social and ecological development and progress toward solutions. Unfortunately, “sustainable consumption” is generally discussed in a rational context and does not address how culture, pleasure, identity, and communication drive consumption. This exclusively rational framing limits innovation in problem-solving research methodologies based on the other drivers of consumption. Marketing, however, excels at capitalizing on all the drivers of consumption. Consumers are the targets of countless behavior change strategies, and this article offers perspective on how the nonrational drivers of consumption can be leveraged to instead pursue sustainable consumption. Bridging the behavior change knowledge gap can be relevant for many sustainability impasses, as many of them stem from human behavior, and boundary work drawing on behavioral science can effectively navigate norms and expectations at the interface of science and society. The better researchers understand the behaviors of relevant actors, the better their behavior change strategies will support sustainability transitions.