The lessons learned from shifting from global-change research programmes to transdisciplinary sustainability science

Abstract

The interdisciplinary international global-change research programmes were very successful in creating understanding of climate change, biogeochemical cycles, biodiversity decline, and the food–water–energy nexus. They are now merged into a new transdisciplinary international research platform ‘Future Earth — Research for Global Sustainability’. This paper describes the transition process from the disciplinary and interdisciplinary global-change programmes to the transdisciplinary ‘Future Earth’ research platform, and shows that this process could have been more proficient if in an early stage directions and motivations were better harmonized among the leadership of individual programmes, sponsors and funders. Also the transition team of Future Earth initially strongly focussed on a highly aggregated research agenda addressing several ‘Grand Challenges’ and consequently ignored the rich academic legacy of the various ongoing programmes and all of its involved disciplines and scholars. Future Earth, however, realized innovative research approaches and governance structures. Although Future Earth is now established, it still must implement better involvement of relevant research communities, develop superior education and outreach, and mainstream sustainability research in developed and developing countries.