Negotiating a place for sustainability science: Narratives from the Waikaraka Estuary in New Zealand

Abstract

Arguably the dominant discourse around sustainability today is defined within the cultural frame of modernity, in terms of a grand techno-scientific narrative. Within this narrative some scholars have observed the emergence of alternative modes of science for sustainability, including ‘sustainability science’, which have a central emphasis on ‘place-based’ knowledge that is contingent to local challenges, and produced in conjunction with local communities. But it is important to consider the implications of invoking the powerful techno-scientific narrative in a local place, and how this narrative contends with other competing ‘narratives of sustainability’ espoused by a local community. This paper presents qualitative interview-based study of one particular place – the Waikaraka Estuary in New Zealand – where the ‘Waikaraka Estuary Managers’ initiative gave effect to an approach closely resembling sustainability science. The Waikaraka case suggests that if science for sustainability is to be place-based, then it is highly important that it be produced incorporating local knowledge and resources; bridging competing narratives of sustainability in a process that challenges the dominance of techno-science. However, the case also triggers important reflections on the nature of this process, and cautions against a dominant ‘Cartesian’ approach to reconciling, or indeed subsuming, knowledge systems within a scientific framework. This paper suggests a more radical approach that departs from the scientific framework endorsed by modern resource management, in favour of an approach that recognises plurality and promotes it within ‘extended peer communities’, with reference to perspectives from post-normal science.