What Can We Learn from Evolutionary Theory When Confronting the Deep Challenges of Our Times?

Abstract

Contemporary societies are confronted by an array of ‘deep’ challenges: there is broad agreement about the need to act – and act urgently – but consensus about what and how to do in practice is lacking. Accordingly, there is intense debate about which approach to follow, within society in general and especially within the policy-making field. Two ends of the spectrum can be identified. On the one end are policy approaches based on long-term strategies and far-reaching coordination of stakeholders, with a focus on established institutions as the main agents of change. At the other end of the spectrum are policy approaches based on incremental interventions and innovative, disruptive practices as the main agents of change. There are also emerging, intriguing visions of hybrids between the two: top-down approaches open to bottom-up experimentation, and bottom-up approaches that are able to impact top-down structures. In order to help structure and advance this debate, and further articulate hybrid approaches, this chapter looks for inspiration in the theory and empirical evidence of biological evolution. Underlying the intellectual project is the observation that biological evolution is a quintessential process of adaptation to emerging threats and opportunities, in the absence of knowledge about what does and does not work, and without a projected end state. As such, it can be expected to have a high heuristic value when looking for ways of coping with contemporary ‘deep’ challenges. In this chapter, I first summarize emerging views on biological evolution. An underlying, central concern will be the identification of potential dynamics to accelerate evolution in the face of emerging environmental threats and opportunities. Next, I adapt these views to the policy-making domain and illustrate their heuristic potential by applying it to a deep challenge in the field of urban planning. The specific urban planning challenge considered is the transition to sustainable urban mobility.