Sustainability science at ATREE: exhilaration, bumps, and speed-breakers when rubber meets the road

Abstract

Rapidly accelerating local and global environmental change threatens societal well-being now and in the future in a variety of ways, especially in developing countries. A necessary condition for responding adequately to this environmental crisis is the generation of knowledge that speaks to policy and action, and is holistic, not fragmented along disciplinary lines. The idea of interdisciplinary applied research on the environment has been around since the early 1970s and has taken different institutional forms and labels. In developing countries such as India, the academic community has generally ‘disciplined’ environmental pedagogy into environmental ‘science’ programs, and academic research also continues largely on disciplinary lines. We review the experience of the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bangalore, India, that was set up almost two decades ago as an effort to institutionalize an interdisciplinary and problem-oriented research and teaching paradigm. One key element of this effort has been an explicitly normative but broad set of concerns, including equity and democratic governance as integral aspects of conservation and sustainability. Another has been an emphasis on balancing academic rigor with social relevance, the latter achieved not just by speaking to policy makers, but by building collaborations with local communities and activist groups in a number of field sites. Finally, building an explicitly interdisciplinary PhD programme in spite of significant resource and other constraints has built a common perspective. In our analysis, we highlight factors that influence success, including clarity and a common understanding of the mission, human resources, resolution of perennial tensions between disciplinary and interdisciplinary work, commitment to the program structure, program and institutional leadership, and the framework for rewards and incentives. Availability of resources, political support, and the willingness of the state to accept and recognize the work of non-state actors are other major factors. ATREE's experience offers important insights to the conceptualization and implementation of sustainability studies programs elsewhere.