Post-Normal Science

O presente estudo objetiva investigar a inter-relação entre os direitos econômicos, sociais e culturais a partir da visão integral dos direitos humanos; compreender as principais características dos direitos culturais e a sua relevância para a construção de uma sociedade livre, justa e solidária; e analisar as práticas democráticas voltadas para assegurar o pleno exercício dos direitos culturais, em especial, pelos colegiados culturais. A pesquisa desenvolvida é bibliográfica e documental, além de descritiva e exploratória. A pesquisa bibliográfica destina-se ao levantamento de dados e informações sobre os direitos econômicos, sociais e culturais e a relação deles com a democracia. A pesquisa documental destina-se ao levantamento de dados e a análise de documentos jurídicos que versem sobre os direitos em estudo no plano internacional, nacional e local, bem como sobre a composição dos colegiados culturais. Como resultado da pesquisa espera-se afirmar ou infirmar a hipótese de que no campo de criação e efetivação dos direitos culturais o comando constitucional que assegura a colaboração da

The action research methodology and several of its methods have previously been highlighted and described by the authors as a fitting and rigorous framework approach for complex waste management systems. This was in response to criticism of the ex ante selection of traditional empiric systems analysis tools to provide decision support and ‘sustainable improvement’ in such complex systems which often involve strong human and political factors. Several of the action research methods described have recently been utilized in a case study around mineral (aggregate) construction and demolition waste in the Stockholm region. These methods were integrated through a series of workshops and work areas undergone together with project members from several private and public sectors. Leaving the problem fuzzy (loosely defined) in the beginning; utilizing convergent interviewing, rich pictures and focus groups allowed the researchers and partner stakeholders to identify not one but several proble...

In a previous issue of Integrated Assessment, Walker et al.(2003) proposed an uncertainty analysis framework (hereafter called the W&H framework), the aim of which was to provide a conceptual basis for the systematic treatment of uncertainty in model-based decision support activities, such as policy analysis, integrated assessment, and risk assessment. The six authors came from different disciplinary backgrounds, all of which used different partial typologies of uncer-

This report contains the Detailed Guidance of the RIVM/MNP Guidance for Uncertainty Assessment and Communication. The Guidance has been developed under the direction of Peter Janssen (RIVM/MNP) and Jeroen van der Sluijs (Utrecht University) as part of the strategic research project 'Uncertainty Analysis' (S/550002) at RIVM.

RESEX de Tauá-Mirim, a partir da situação do Cajueiro. Os quatro eixos são constituídos de seis capítulos, no qual faço, separadamente, uma apresentação e discussão dos dados com a ajuda do aporte teórico, o que me permitiu realizar a ligações entre fluxos de investimentos no Complexo Portuário com a expansão das atividades no setor minero-metalúrgico e do agronegócio. No primeiro eixo temático, de forma breve, analiso o cenário da discussão acerca do conceito de território, pois é, nessa ferramenta teórica que encontramos a base para entender as mobilizações e as ações coletivas empreendidas pelas comunidades afetadas por grandes empreendimentos ligados à expansão da logística portuária. No meu ponto de vista uma das componentes dos conflitos ambientais é a violação dos territórios das populações historicamente estabelecidas nas faixas fundiárias, não só faixa de terras, mas também grandes extensões de mar que compõe o espaço de obtenção de recursos pesqueiros de milhares de pessoas. Enfim, o processo de privatização dos recursos naturais a favor de uma parcela mínima de homens de negócios interessados em lucrar à custa da expropriação de terceiros. O segundo eixo, promove a exposição de motivos dos planejadores para implantar um novo porto com capacidade de realizar a movimentação mista no Terminal Portuário. A demanda pelo modal de cabotagem está ancorada à dinâmica da expansão do capital que enxergou nas condições geográficas da Baía de São Marcos a possibilidade de gerar lucros e expandir sua rede de negócios com empresas locais e com possíveis parceiros que estão sob a área de influência do Complexo Portuário de São Luís. No eixo seguinte, me detenho na reflexão sobre o processo de reestruturação produtiva iniciada no Brasil, no final dos anos de 1980, que intensificou os vínculos do Estado brasileiro com os interesses do capital internacional, que no momento avançava com mais impulso sobre os espaços de exploração mineral. Nesse contexto, o Programa Grande Carajás (PGC) constituiu um passo significativo para dar largada inicial para a exploração da chamada Amazônia Oriental. Note-se que, a própria instalação da Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), hoje Vale, atendeu aos interesses de uma logística versátil, inteligente e decisiva para o Mercado Internacional, uma vez que, a maior parte da produção tem como destino a exportação. Nesse particular, ao estado do Maranhão, a quem coube o papel de "corredor de exportação" no atual processo de "divisão internacional do trabalho de expropriação dos recursos territoriais", restam somente os problemas oriundos da exploração voraz dos

Esta dissertacao esta inserida na tematica dos conflitos socioambientais e tem como objeto a experiencia de mobilizacao politica do povoado Cajueiro localizado na Zona Rural II do municipio de Sao Luis do Maranhao, nas circunvizinhancas do Complexo Portuario de Sao Luis. Analisa o movimento de resistencia do referido povoado ameacado pela instalacao do Terminal Portuario de Sao Luis, da empresa WPR Gestao de Portos e Terminais LTDA. Nesse contexto, o estudo tenta reconstruir o processo de resistencia que gerou uma serie de acoes coletivas a partir de aliancas realizadas com povoados vizinhos, instituicoes ligadas a Universidade Federal do Maranhao, Igreja Catolica, atores politicos locais, movimentos sociais e entidades. A analise se volta para a questao da arena, mediado por relacoes de poder sobre o espaco em disputa, tendo como enfoque, a proposta de instalacao da Reserva Extrativista de Taua-Mirim. Considera, ainda, na analise os repertorios de acao coletivas, acumulados pelos a...

This work, from a critical point of view, identified with political ecology, aims to contribute to
the theme of environmental conflicts considering the necessity to understand the actions of certain
particular agents that interfere in the socioeconomic
and politicalenvironment
fields. As the object of this
study, were selected the Valley of the Rio Doce Company (CVRD), currently Valley SA, for its action in over
30 countries which has caused many environmental impacts. Thus, we analyzed the document entitled
"Sustainable Development Policy", decomposing the elements that constitute it and seeking, when it is
possible, to reprove the present affirmations in the document with concrete cases.

The environmental licensing of economic activities is part of the National Environmental Policy (PNMA in Portuguese) as an instrument for the realization of an ecologically balanced environment. This article proposes an analysis of environmental licensing and the rules for defining the risk classification of potentially harmful activities, through the perspective of deregulation and flexibilization of environmental legislation, with special emphasis on the examination of the Bill of Rights of Economic Freedom, a national law published in 2019. The study methodology includes the intentional literature review and the use of data on economic activity groups excluded from environmental licensing and on current parameters for defining the degree of risk of economic activities. The conclusion points to the existence of a national agenda of public policies aimed at reducing the scope of environmental control.

The European Commission’s Mission to “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030” (Mission Ocean & Waters) is, at the most superficial level, an overarching policy framework with the primary aim of improving the health of European ocean, sea, and freshwater ecosystems. However, its use of the Mission framing and emphasis on fostering social, political, and economic transformations through its activities makes it a much more holistic and ambitious undertaking. This article explores challenges and opportunities that arise with the emphasis placed on increasing citizen participation in Mission Ocean & Waters, in the context of “Post-Normal Science” (Funtowicz and Ravetz, Krimsky and Golding (eds), Social Theories of Risk, Greenwood Press, Westport, 1992). We begin with a description of Mission Ocean & Waters, discussing its citizen engagement ambitions through the lens of Post-Normal Science, before describing the research methods used by the Horizon Europe project Preparing the Research and Innovation Core for Mission Oceans, Seas, & Waters (PREP4BLUE). We then present our results, highlighting four citizen engagement-based challenges that the Mission faces, and how PREP4BLUE has engaged with them. Finally, we discuss the future activities or structural changes that will be required if the Mission’s citizen engagement targets are to be achieved and for citizens to become core actors in protecting European aquatic ecosystems and developing a sustainable blue economy. These insights should prove useful to those developing and delivering Mission projects and those researching citizen participation in ocean and freshwater related challenges.

The Postnormal Times Reader is an essential anthology that seeks to dissect the complexities of our contemporary era. Its editor and contributors use the term "postnormal" to describe the current period, which is characterised by uncertainty, rapid change, and the unpredictable consequences of technological, environmental, economic, and social shifts. Curated by visionary thinker Ziauddin Sardar, it is a pivotal collection that explores the intricacies of this time of unparalleled upheaval and change. The publication outlines the evolution of postnormal times as explained in Sardar's writings, and compiles significant essays and studies on the subject. Sardar's objectives are made clear in the foreword, which offers a summary of the concept and illustrates how it can frame our comprehension of recent occurrences. This collection of essays and scholarly articles brings together an array of voices and perspectives, each of which delves into the intricacies of our rapidly changing world. It addresses the multifaceted crises and opportunities of the 21 st century, from climate change and technological upheaval to socio-political unrest and pandemic-induced disruption.

Models live in a state of exception. Their versatility, the variety of their methods, the impossibility of their falsification and their epistemic authority allow mathematical models to escape, better than other cases of quantification, the lenses of sociology and other humanistic disciplines. This endows models with a pretence of neutrality that perpetuates the asymmetry between developers and users. Models are thus both underexplored and overinterpreted. While retaining a firm grip on policy, they reinforce the entrenched culture of transforming political issues into technical ones, possibly decreasing citizens’ agency and thus favouring anti-democratic policies. To combat this state of exception, one should question the reproducibility of models, foster complexity of interpretation rather than complexity of construction, and encourage forms of activism aimed at achieving a reciprocal domestication between models and society. To breach the solitude of modellers, more actors should engage in practices such as assumption hunting, modelling of the modelling process, and sensitivity analysis and auditing.

Environmental NGOs play a vital role in public climate communication through their awareness-raising activities and educational campaigns. This commentary points to a potentially problematic implication of their role as climate science advocates which includes the general tendency to attribute environmental changes and extreme weather events to climate change. These climate-centric framings, however, may not resonate with the lived experiences and belief systems of local communities, not even in geographically vulnerable areas. I draw on local case studies to show that communities often express a sense of "shared responsibility" between global carbon dioxide emissions and ecologically deleterious local practices such as shrimp farming (in Bangladesh) and cutting trees (in the Philippines). As a consequence, the studies show mismatches between activists' attributions of local circumstances and events, and local communities' ways of knowing their local circumstances.

This paper presents a paradigmatic analysis of the literature in Work and Organizational Psychology produced in Brazil, based on Burrell and Morgan's model (1979). Five research themes were selected: learning, citizenship, justice, commitment, and socialization. In total, we analysed the paradigmatic orientations of 276 papers published in high-rank peer review Brazilian journals between 2004 and 2014. The functionalist or the interpretive paradigms predominate, but there are also inter-paradigmatic papers, which indicate the epistemological plurality in this field. More established themes show more paradigmatic diversity in comparison to recent themes. Burrell and Morgan's model was applicable to paradigmatic analysis of empirical studies in WOP; nevertheless, findings corroborate criticism of the assumption of exclusivity between paradigms. Future studies could explore trends in paradigmatic orientations in other themes and investigate the implications of this multi-paradigmatic perspective on knowledge production in WOP. Pesquisa empírica em POT no Brasil: Uma análise paradigmática Resumo Este artigo apresenta uma análise paradigmática da literatura em Psicologia Organizacional e do Trabalho produzida no Brasil, baseada no modelo de Burrell e Morgan (1979). Cinco temas de pesquisa foram selecionados: aprendizagem, cidadania, justiça, comprometimento e socialização organizacional. Ao todo, foram investigadas as orientações paradigmáticas de 276 artigos publicados em periódicos brasileiros qualificados, entre 2004 e 2014. Observou-se a predominância do paradigma funcionalista ou do interpretativo, e a ocorrência de artigos interparadigmáticos, evidenciando pluralidade epistemológica no campo. Temas mais estabelecidos mostram mais diversidade paradigmática em comparação a temas recentes. O modelo de Burrell e Morgan mostrou-se aplicável a análises paradigmáticas de estudos empíricos em POT. Contudo, os resultados corroboram críticas ao pressuposto da exclusividade entre paradigmas. Estudos futuros poderiam explorar tendências nas orientações paradigmáticas em outros temas e investigar as implicações dessa perspectiva multiparadigmática na produção de conhecimento em POT. La investigación empírica en POT en Brasil: Un análisis paradigmático Resumen En este artículo se presenta un análisis paradigmático de la literatura en Psicología Organizacional y del Trabajo, producida en Brasil, basada en el modelo de Burrell y Morgan (1979). Se han seleccionado seis temas de investigación, a saber: aprendizaje, ciudadanía, justicia, comprometimiento y socialización. En total, se han investigado las orientaciones paradigmáticas de 276 artículos publicados en revistas brasileñas cualificadas entre 2004 y 2014. Los resultados han demostrado el predominio del paradigma funcionalista o interpretativo, y la ocurrencia de artículos interparadigmáticos, indicando la pluralidad epistemológica en el campo. Temas más establecidos en el área demuestran más diversidad paradigmática en comparación con temas recientes. El modelo de Burrell y Morgan demostró ser aplicable a los análisis paradigmáticos de los estudios empíricos de POT. Sin embargo, los resultados corroboran las críticas a la premisa de la exclusividad entre paradigmas. Estudios futuros podrían explorar tendencias en las orientaciones paradigmáticas en otros temas y, además, investigar las implicaciones de esa perspectiva multiparadigmática en la producción del conocimiento en POT.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an enormous stream of information. Parascientific digital communication has pursued different avenues, from mainstream media news to social networking, at times combined. Likewise, citizens have developed new discourse practices, with readers as active participants who claim authority. Based on a corpus of 500 reader comments from The Guardian, we analyse how readers build their authorial voice on COVID-19 news as well as their agentive power and its implications. Methodologically, we draw upon stance markers, depersonalisation strategies, and heteroglossic markers, from the perspective of discursive interpersonality. Our findings unearth that stance markers are central for readers to build authority and produce content. Depersonalised and heteroglossic markers are also resorted, reinforcing readers’ authority with external information that mirrors expert scientific communication. Conclusions suggest a strong citizen agentive power that can either support news articles, spreading parascientific information, or challenge them, therefore, contributing to produce pseudoscientific messages.

O trabalho sintetiza aspectos de dois confl itos socioambientais emblemáticos no Maranhão e seus respectivos processos de resistência e confronto político: os casos do povo indígena Ka´apor e das famílias da Comunidade Cajueiro. Ambos os povos são abalados por projetos desenvolvimentistas e por uma tecnologia de poderes violentos. O objetivo do trabalho é levantar e analisar alguns dispositivos de poder empregados nesses casos, a fim de compreender como estesrepercutem na desconsideração dos direitos e na expropriação dos territórios. A hipótese é de que estamos vivenciando um sistema de exploração colonial e colonialista e o exercício de um necropoder contra povos indígenas e tradicionais. O exercício de poderes por agentes em rede e em diversas instâncias caracteriza um governo privado indireto de práticas administrativas coloniais nos territórios. Isso retroalimenta formas de normatização e de governabilidade marcadas pela fluidez e entrelaçamento, de um lado, da violência e do D...

This article discusses the relationship between the origins of the concept of post-normal science, its potential as a heuristic and the phenomenon of complex science entailed policy problems in late industrial societies (wicked problems of the West). Drawing on arguments presented in the early works of Funtowicz and Ravetz, it is proposed that there is a fundamentally empirical character to the post-normal science call for democratizing expertise, which serves as an antidote to late industrial poisoning of the fairy tale ideal (Snow White) of a clean divide between science and politics. Post-normal science extended-peer-review methodology is interpreted as a

Conflitos ambientais na Zona Rural II de São Luís (Maranhão, Brasil): investigação da atuação de empreendimentos a partir de uma análise de relatórios de sustentabilidade (2006-2015) Conflictos ambientales en la Zona Rural II de São Luís (Maranhão, Brasil): investigación de la actuación de las empresas a partir del análisis de informes de sostenibilidad (2006-2015) Environmental conflicts in Rural Zone II of São Luís (Maranhão, Brazil): investigation of the performance of enterprises based on an analysis of sustainability reports (2006-2015

Before Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth won an Oscar for best documentary film, a member of the Electronic Green Journal's Editorial Board, Fred Stoss, traveled to Nashville, Tennessee. Fred was taught by former Vice President Al Gore and a group of scientists, educators, and communication specialists from The Climate Project to become "climate change messengers" and help spread the word about global warming across the United States. He was selected from thousands of applicants to participate in training sessions sponsored by The Climate Project. Attendees received presentation skills training and educational resources for sharing with others. They also received an intensive overview of the science of global warming. This training provides Stoss with the resources to conduct special versions of Gore's famous global warming slide show that is the basis for An Inconvenient Truth. As a librarian, he is frequently asked for resources to support the data and information described in the slide show.

While the theory and practice of transition management has been articulated and tested in Europe, little work in this vein has been undertaken in illiberal democracies, where state institutions may be captured by commercial interests, clientelism may operate and democratic rights may be constrained. We argue that a combination of insights from transition management and transdisciplinary research offers a basis for developing local strategies by which informal institutions can nurture alternative energy policy visions and prescriptions, in order to exploit policy windows that periodically arise. We articulate a conceptual framework to underpin such strategies, which emphasises the role of academics or other knowledge brokers as policy entrepreneurs, helping to build knowledge and capabilities, create networks of social capital and establish alternative discourse coalitions. While our particular applied interest here is in arenas for the development of low carbon energy scenarios in Latin America, the framework is also intended to have wider applicability.

In spite of solid scientific evidence that anthropogenic climate change will affect the conditions for life on earth, little climate action is taking place. This paper discusses this apparent paradox. The main message is that lack of climate action has to do with the ways in which climate change interlinks with society. Climate change is representative of what in the paper is defined as 'modern environmental problems'. Unlike 'traditional' environmental problems, 'modern' environmental problems are 'internal' to society and are 'societal' problems as much as they are environmental problems. The paper discusses how climate change must be understood in an overlapping interface between nature and society, and based on this theoretical analysis the paper discusses a number of contradictions and paradoxes illuminating the problems of linking knowledge and climate action. The concluding section calls for new methodological approaches to linking knowledge and climate action.

O artigo aborda o debate contemporâneo da chamada globalização neoliberal e a dinâmica socioeconômica e territorial nas áreas periféricas do capitalismo, ocasionadas pelas formas de integração que privilegiam a financeirização frente aos aspectos produtivos, realizadas por países da América Latina. Um elemento importante para a compreensão do neoliberalismo que impôs a todos uma lógica destrutiva de conquistas históricas (Welfare State), foi fugir da visão do mainstream econômico e se apoiar na Economia Política e correntes heterodoxas. Esta forma de inserção, baseada em commodities, direciona as políticas econômicas, sociais e ambientais de acordo com os preceitos neoliberais e consolida um padrão de crescimento, instável e vulnerável que aumenta o grau de dependência e responde pelo quadro de desigualdade e expropriação de minorias excluídas da globalização financeira. O cerne da questão está na desregulamentação dos fluxos financeiros, comerciais e de serviços propostos pelo fund...

A pesquisa procura identificar como se da a dinâmica relacional que deve existir entre o saber/fazer teologico e as demais formas de saberes na contemporaneidade, tendo como base o filosofo frances Edgar Morin em seu referencial teorico intitulado Pensamento Complexo . Nessa perspectiva, a pesquisa se delineara por uma hermeneutica complexa ou uma hermeneutica transdisciplinar. Este conceito (Hermeneutica-Transdisciplinar / Hermeneutica na Complexidade) nao e um sistema dedutivo, e sim um sistema aberto, operacionalizado por uma razao aberta (racionalidade) que procura interpretar a realidade contemporânea observando a tradicao. Tambem de forma criativa, interpreta a tradicao como resposta emergente para a contemporaneidade em meio a uma realidade complexa. A partir desse conceito observam-se tambem as relacoes dinâmicas dos saberes deste mesmo tempo, e isso, nao apenas observando pelas lentes da interdisciplinaridade, mas indo alem, se tornando um saber transdisciplinar. A teologia...

Globalization is affecting all areas of human activity. Education is no exception. Despite the obvious problems posed by Globalization driven by Western capitalist values, it is equally rich in potential for regional and cultural renewal as the nascent global community seeks self-definition at both the local and global levels of the world system. Sustainable educational practices offer us the intellectual and organizational structures to develop learning cultures that are sensitive to both the micro levels of learning as represented in the individual and local needs of peoples, and at the meta level of human development in which the broad sweep of human evolution is found to carry fundamental lessons for how we structure and define educational priorities.In rethinking educational processes a Neo-humanist approach is offered that links sustainable socioeconomics, broad community involvement, and partnership models of learning with a sustainable vision of human development based on a layered description of human needs that include the physical, intellectual, ethical, emotional and spiritual. Biographical Sketch Marcus Bussey is a teacher and musician, and has written numerous articles and reviews on futures, futures education, holistic education, neo-humanist education, artistic practice, culture, history, Montessori education, and cognitive theory.

Prout is a socioeconomic philosophy to help take humanity from imperfection to perfection… Prout is the path of socioeconomic emancipation for humanity. Prout should go side by side with the psychic approach of Neohumanism. Neohumanistic ideas give human beings the impetus to move. They create a longing for subtler pabula, and that pabula is supplied by Prout. The spirit is to maintain a balance between the physical and psychic worlds and take human beings to the threshold of spirituality.

In the communicative figuration of science communication (Hepp & Hasebrink, 2017), a variety of actors, practices and orientations contribute to the mediation of scientific knowledge and expertise. By curating scientific content for a journalistic audience, Science Media Centers (SMCs) can take up a powerful intermediary position. In this paper, we apply a figurational framework to understand what roles SMCs can take in science communication. Building on ethnographic material gathered during January and October 2020, we analyze through which practices, communicative relations, mission and normative assumptions SMC Germany has shaped its position in science communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Doing so, we follow the "cultural turn" in science communication research. Building on the concept of brokerage, we conclude that SMC Germany has taken on roles as a knowledge broker by providing journalists with curated scientific content, a trust broker by facilitating relationships between journalists and scientists, and a value broker by promoting the status of scientific expertise in the social knowledge order.

This paper offers an ethnographic account of the editorial response to the COVID-19 outbreak by the Science Media Center Germany. Ethnographic research data was gathered during a 4-week fieldstay in January 2020 which coincided with the first weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak. The findings offer insights into how the editorial staff grappled with the scientific non-knowledge and uncertainty that marked the initial phase of the global COVID-19 outbreak, while simultaneously dealing with acute journalistic demands for expertise.

Achieving climate-neutrality by mid-century and its intermediary reduction targets for 2030, notably the EU's greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 55% by 2030, requires an accelerated transformation of our systems of production and consumption. In essence, such transformations are socio-technical change processes that require a combination of technological and social innovation. While it is widely acknowledged that ambitious climate and energy policies are needed to accelerate such transition processes, research and practise have largely focused on their importance for spurring technological innovation. In this research perspective, we argue that energy and climate policy making should pay more attention to social innovation as much needed additional puzzle piece for successful decarbonisation. Such social innovation is diverse, ranging from renewable energy cooperatives, to participatory incubation and experimentation, and crowdfunding as well as local electricity exchange. Based on a literature review that informed an EU policy dialogue bringing together policy makers, practitioners and researchers and followed up by a workshop with city administrations, twelve practical action points were co-created on how to better consider social innovation in energy and climate policy making in the EU (and beyond). We thereby hope to stimulate a broader discourse on the dual need for social and technological innovation for reaching climate-neutrality.

Achieving climate-neutrality by mid-century and its intermediary reduction targets for 2030, notably the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 55% by 2030, requires an accelerated transformation of our systems of production and consumption. In essence, such transformations are socio-technical change processes that require a combination of technological and social innovation. While it is widely acknowledged that ambitious climate and energy policies are needed to accelerate such transition processes, research and practise have largely focused on their importance for spurring technological innovation. In this research perspective, we argue that energy and climate policy making should pay more attention to social innovation as much needed additional puzzle piece for successful decarbonisation. Such social innovation is diverse, ranging from renewable energy cooperatives, to participatory incubation and experimentation, and crowdfunding as well as local electricity exchange. Based ...

If transdisciplinary sustainability research is to contribute to sustainability transitions, issues of power dynamics need to be understood and accounted for. However, examples of concrete methods that put this into practice are sparse. This paper presents a conceptual and methodological framework that develops a better understanding of the power phenomenon, while providing actionable knowledge. By focussing on the context of social innovation in energy transitions, we demonstrate how different theoretical conceptualisations of power can be translated into a collaborative, transdisciplinary research design. In a facilitated process, researchers, policy workers and practitioners from diverse social innovation fields developed and tested the Transformative Power Lab approach and co-wrote a ‘Power Guide’ as a strategic exploration of power dynamics in sustainability transitions, specifically regarding social innovation in energy transitions. Based on the insights that emerged during th...

Diante do inusitado da pandemia de Covid-19 nos deparamos com um intenso entrecruzamento entre aspectos estritamente científicos e aspectos sociais e políticos. Nesse sentido, este ensaio teórico pretende refletir sobre os limites do conceito de ciência normal, apresentar a ideia de ciência pós-normal e, assim, defender a articulação intrínseca entre ciência, política e comunidade como possibilidade de posicionamento diante dos desafios da Covid-19. Na primeira parte do texto focamos o ideal controverso de ciência e de sua continuidade com a técnica e na segunda parte fazemos algumas referências a suas implicações políticas a partir da suposição de que as ideias de ciência pós-normal e de transdisciplinaridade contribuem para a superação da separação entre decisão e participação política e argumentação racional e científica.

This article discusses the experience of the map of conflicts related to environmental injustices and health in Brazil and its potential contribution to international movements for environmental justice. Inventories and maps of environmental injustices are important instruments of struggle against injustice and racism, since they increase the visibility of populations, whose lives are threatened. The Brazilian map is published online since 2010 and was an initiative of FIOCRUZ, a public health and academic institution, and the NGO FASE, in cooperation with the Brazilian Network of Environmental Injustice (RBJA), created in 2001. Environmental justice arised in Brazil as a field of reflection and mobilization, and as a rallying point to identify the struggle of several groups and entities, such as rural and urban grassroots movements, indigenous peoples, traditional populations, and peasants affected by different hazards and risks, as well as environmentalists, trade unions, and scientists. Currently, the map has 570 emblematic environmental conflicts in all regions of Brazil. Many economic activities are causing the conflicts such as mining expansion, oil and gas extractions, infrastructure (roads, mega-dams), agribusiness, and pesticide pollution, often with the support of governmental institutions.

The water is a key to the survival of the planet's biodiversity. However, its qualitative and quantitative shortages are a fact of reality to be faced by this and future generations. This study aimed to know the environmental beliefs of peasants of the state of Maranhão, Brazil, on water in order to rescue the knowledge inherent in the traditional peasant culture that emerge from environmental beliefs associated with water. Whereas the peasants have a knowledge rooted in the tradition of caring for others, of people, it was assumed that they would have a more harmonious and balanced with water. The ethnographic qualitative research developed in four municipalities of Maranhão. Were conducted participant observations and semi-structured interviews with 23 farmers, aged between 45 and 88 years, of which 60% were men, six had active participation in social movements. The results indicated that these peasants have ecocentric environmental beliefs, revealing a sense of belonging to nature. The main beliefs were that water is life, essential for the survival of all and that may lack water in Maranhão. Participants indicate actions of large projects such as planting soybeans and natural gas exploration, as well as deforestation and burning, as responsible for negative environmental impacts on water and call attention to the unsustainable use made of it. It can be inferred that there is a strong appeal for water conservation and that this element has a symbolic character and mythical to the peasants. In this sense, we see the possibility of environmental education mediate a dialogue between the knowledge of peasant tradition and knowledge built by the school. Transversality and interdisciplinary may be ways of working knowledge and establish dialogues between traditional knowledge, peasants, and systematized knowledge by the school. It is important to continue this line of studies that contribute to the construction of methods that integrate diverse knowledge and allow the appreciation of traditional culture as well as the sustainable use of water in Maranhão and Brazil.

In the traditional conception of science one assumes that science produces results which are certain and precise. It is argued that this picture is flawed and needs to be replaced with a view where uncertainty and imprecision are an integral part of the scientific enterprise. Uncertainty is still poorly understood by many practising scientists. However, several developments in science indicate that some epistemological uncertainty, e.g. due to processes of abstraction and idealization, will always follow advances in scientific knowledge. There are also other developments that indicate some principal ontological uncertainties, i.e. uncertainties that are due to how the world is. Complexity is one such example. Remarks on post-normal science are thus included. This paper argues, therefore, that scientific uncertainty is a multi-dimensional concept, and that it is unavoidable because it is often the result as much as the cause of new knowledge.

Science communication is a relatively new field of practice, shaped by a diverse group of professional science communicators and the way they make sense of their work. A distinguishing feature of these professional science communicators is the organisational context they work in. Based on a typology from an organisational theory framework, this study explores the perspectives of 15 German science communicators through qualitative interviews. It seems that while they tend to draw on a common set of building blocks, they use them to construct individual professional identity configurations partly influenced by their organisational context.

A racionalidade ambiental de Enrique Leff, um contraponto à ideia da racionalidade econômica vigente na sociedade contemporânea, é manifestadamente praticada, em ações do cultivo da terra, pelas comunidades quilombolas de Piratini/RS, com a assistência de seus saberes tradicionais. O trabalho investiga, nas práticas tradicionais dessas comunidades, a realização da racionalidade ambiental, entendida como um pensamento de eixo ambiental, fundado numa relação de alteridade entre homem e natureza, que imprima bases de sustentabilidade sob novos valores e oportunidades de produtividade.

The scientific literature peer review workflow is under strain because of the constant growth of submission volume. One response to this is to make initial screening of submissions less time intensive. Reducing screening and review time would save millions of working hours and potentially boost academic productivity. Many platforms have already started to use automated screening tools, to prevent plagiarism and failure to respect format requirements. Some tools even attempt to flag the quality of a study or summarise its content, to reduce reviewers’ load. The recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) create the potential for (semi) automated peer review systems, where potentially low-quality or controversial studies could be flagged, and reviewer-document matching could be performed in an automated manner. However, there are ethical concerns, which arise from such approaches, particularly associated with bias and the extent to which AI systems may replicate bias. Our main goa...

In this editorial, we reflect on our new roles as Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Editor of JCOM. We acknowledge the work of previous editors of JCOM, the Editorial Office and the wider JCOM community who have contributed to the success of the journal. We introduce the new Editorial Board and future directions for the journal, and we encourage suggestions from authors, reviewers and readers for taking the journal forward.

The objective of this paper is to examine the evolution of post-normal science from the sociology and public administration perspectives. The library approach described in this article employs literature review. This article examines the notion of post-normal science, post-normal science from the sociological viewpoint, and the evolution of the science of public administration. Post-Normal Science is a method of investigation whose impartiality is not always attainable. As a consequence of the interference of rational forces, particularly politics, with objection and sensitivity, predictability and control are constrained. It is utilized to control and determine sociology's connection with the state and its funding sources. Sociology is supported for instrumental purposes in connection to societal aims, despite the fact that it is not intended to be a source of propaganda and should have its own goals, including the goal of being a science.