The research strategy
Scientists around the world have produced and continue to produce outstanding tools and strong data addressing biospheric, energy and socio-ecosystemic problems.
However, the accumulated evidence has not yet been sufficiently structured in such a way as to be clearly understood both by members of society generally, and decision makers specifically. While programs, organizations, institutions and databases on these topics abound, political and financial means have not yet been efficiently utilized to ensure the now indispensible and large scale "ecological transition" that is required in the very near future.
Obviously we have a triple problem
- 1. Dominant concepts, such as sustainable development, green economy, ecological transition, … are too vague to enable the building of a clear vision and action programs.
- 2. Main agendas in policy/politics, research and international conversations are wrongly framed, with inadequate approaches to climate change, energy issues, biodiversity dilemma, poverty, demography.
- 3. The governance is not right : most current projections, scenarios etc are targeted – with few exceptions - towards 2050. Our urgent deadline is the 8 billion peak, that is before 2025.
The essential decisions and acts must be taken in the next 10 years.
We propose an integral and integrated approach to natural resources and public goods as a unifying frame and toolbox for a wide range of current problems, including poverty, climate change, energy scarcity, biodiversity loss and carrying capacity. We argue that this is pertinent both conceptually and operationally at individual and collective levels at this stage of our social debate and controversies if we are to achieve sustainable development on a global scale.
Short term
- Conceptual approach to resources by explicitly relating terms such as productivity (biological versus work), competition and efficiency (biological versus economic), renewable but exhaustible resources, sustainability and responsibility.
- Inventories of resources (natural, legal, financial) : inconsistencies, overlaps, gaps in current programs and activities.
- Tools, methods, infrastructures (databases, platforms, etc.)
- Integration, optimisation, phasing of data sets and sharing of tools, methods, modelling research and transfer activities ; articulation with legal and financial dimensions.
- Data mining, generation, analysis, management, circulation – comparative studies on chosen test-regions, in particular on their biocapacity / bio-productivity dynamics and actual resource management.
Expected results : conceptual and methodological advances generating adapted integrated infrastructures and tools for real-time measurement and mapping of resources use and management allowing tendency profiling. The generated tools can be extrapolated to other human activities.
Medium term
- Collective expertise on territorial viability / vulnerability
- Diagnostic servicing, rating expertise on resources.
Expected results : watch activities / restoration goals (biocapacity, local development…) – advice to political, economic and civil society : the objective is to systematically secure an (agro)ecosystemic equilibrium through the integrated and optimized use of specific biocapacity potential. - Tools and methods transfer at global (governance) level
- Stimulate the creation of a permanent Resource and Public Goods collective expertise, through a global Watch, Rating, and Conflict resolution approach.
Expected results : collective and trans-disciplinary expertise for long-term coherent development (local/global ; social, economic, environmental).
Read more - Ongoing Research Projects
13 mars 2012