Prof. dr. Esther Turnhout: Transformative change and the imperative to transform environmental science

Within climate and biodiversity science, we see increasing calls for transformative change. These calls are based on the recognition that fundamental shifts in economic and political systems are needed to secure a socially and ecologically just and sustainable future. These calls for transformative change coming from science are accompanied by repeated calls for the transformation of science. These calls are based on the recognition that fundamental shifts in how science is done are needed to strengthen its contribution to society. In this lecture, I will discuss the progress made as well as continued stagnation and inertia in response to these two calls. Specifically, I will argue that dominant norms and conceptualizations of what science is and how it should relate to policy and society, have locked environmental science into a situation in which it continues to serve vested interests and reproduce the status quo and that, consequently, environmental science has become an obstacle for the transformative changes it continues to call for. I will also outline what is needed to transform environmental science so that it can support transformative change. 
 
Prof. dr. Esther Turnhout is chair of Science, Technology and Society at the Section of Knowledge, Transformation & Society (KiTeS), University of Twente, The Netherlands. She is an interdisciplinary social scientist with expertise in science and technology studies, environmental studies and political science. Her research and teaching concern topics such as the politics of biodiversity knowledge, science-policy interfaces, and inclusion, justice and pluralism in knowledge making practices. She is also the first author of the book Environmental Expertise: Connecting Science, Policy and Society’ with Cambridge University Press and plays several active roles in the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).