MUST PhD workshop Knowledge production for sustainable development

Date: 12 and 13 April 2012 Place: ICIS, Kapoenstraat 2, Maastricht Sustainability issues raise questions about the interrelationships between science, policy and society. The popular idea is that science produces knowledge that, when handed over to policy and society, will automatically will do its beneficial work - as data, methods or truths. This instrumental view is misleading for several reasons. First, knowledge production cannot be simply seen as the production of truth. Our knowledge is always mediated by our values, perspectives, theories and measurement tools. In particular in the case of sustainable development, it must deal with uncertainty (about impacts and causes), complexity (in terms of mutual dependences of actors and topics) and ambiguity. Second, what counts as useful and adequate knowledge is not easily determined, with people holding different views about this. Expectations about science have changed. During the last century, the relevance of science has changed, from a provider of enlightenment, to a societal problem solver or an economic motor. Third, the boundaries of science and politics are not fixed but constantly negotiated. This leads to efforts to draw and protect boundaries, as well as attempts to profit from blurred boundaries, such as with experiments of co-production of knowledge. Finally, given these intricacies, scientists can have different roles vis--vis policy and society. In this workshop we will review and discuss these four basic aspects of knowledge production for sustainable development. Topics and speakers: April 12, 2012: Dynamics of knowledge production 09.15 10.45 10.45 11.00 11.00 12.30 12.30 13.30 13.30 15.00 15.00 15.30 15.30 16.30 18:00 The challenges of sustainability science, Jill Jger Coffee break Changing science systems, Laurens Hessels Lunch Roles of scientists for policy, Roger Pielke Jr Tea break Working at the science-policy interface, Ren Kemp Dinner

April 13, 2012 Politics of knowledge production 09.15 10.45 10.45 11.00 11.00 - 12.30 12.30 13.30 13.30 15.00 15.00 15.30 15.30 16.30 Policy problems and boundary work, Rob Hoppe Coffee break Discourses and storylines about SD, Jean Hug Lunch Controversies as conflicting frames, Eefje Cuppen Tea break Politics of narratives, Harro van Lente

The workshop is part of the ICIS MUST PhD programme. ICIS is the International Centre for Integrated Assessment and Sustainable Development, based at Maastricht University. ICIS researchers in the natural and social sciences work together in pursuit of solutions to real world problems. Such integrative studies involve analysis of the causes, effects and the mutual interlinkages between economic, environmental, institutional and socio-cultural processes associated with a specific environment or complex issue (e.g. tourism, health, water, housing, mobility). Researchers operate in the field of sustainability science, a multidisciplinary discipline which deals with limits and boundaries of knowledge in a productive way, to offer insights and solutions to problems of sustainable development. For this, researchers actively engage with stakeholders as knowledge holders. http://www.icis.unimaas.info/ Costs SENSE members: Non-member:

195,250,-

Please note that travel and accommodation costs are not included in the registration fee and have to be provided by the participants themselves or their hosting academic institutions. Workshop organizers: Sjouke Beemsterboer, MA (principal contact) sjouke.beemsterboer@maastrichtuniversity.nl Tel + 31 43 3884708 / +31 43 3882662 Prof Harro van Lente h.vanlente@uu.nl Tel +31 43 3884686 Prof Ren Kemp r.kemp@maastrichtuniversity.nl Tel +31 43 3884685 Registration: To register for the MUST PhD workshop, please send a letter of motivation and a CV, including a postal address for invoice to: sjouke.beemsterboer@maastrichtuniversity.nl The registration deadline is Friday March 30th 2012. You will receive confirmation about your acceptance via e-mail.