The rhetoric of sustainability

Chair:

Thor Olav Iversen

When discussing sustainability, terms such as science advice and the science-policy interface have become all the rage. What is this all about? In this talk, professor Silvio Funtowicz takes a critical look at the sustainability concept, sharing his experiences on how researchers can provide advice to policy-makers in the context of scientific uncertainty and value conflicts.

Silvio Funtowicz
is Professor II at the Centre for Study of the Sciences and the Humanities at the University of Bergen. He is a philosopher and a mathematician, with a particular interest in the sciences and technology. He is among other things known as a creator of the term and research field of post-normal science.

This is a lecture in a series of meetings with relevance to UiB’s engagement with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. It is a collaboration between
Forum for Science and Democracy,
SDG Bergen and Bergen Global.

Photos: Top by Grant Ellis/World Bank, portrait of Funtowicz by Eivind Senneset.