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Harnessing local knowledge for scientific knowledge production : challenges and pitfalls within evidence-based sustainability studies

Persson, Johannes LU orcid ; Johansson, Emma LU and Olsson, Lennart LU (2018) In Ecology and Society 23(4).
Abstract
The calls for evidence-based public policy making have increased dramatically in the last decades, and so has the interest in evidence-based sustainability studies. But questions remain about what “evidence” actually means in different contexts and if the concept travels well between different domains of application. Some of the most relevant questions asked by sustainability studies are not, and in some cases cannot be, directly answered by relying on research evidence of the kinds favored by the evidence-based movement. Therefore, sustainability studies must also harness other forms of knowledge, based on forms of practical experience. How to integrate these two sources of knowledge is one of the most fundamental epistemological and... (More)
The calls for evidence-based public policy making have increased dramatically in the last decades, and so has the interest in evidence-based sustainability studies. But questions remain about what “evidence” actually means in different contexts and if the concept travels well between different domains of application. Some of the most relevant questions asked by sustainability studies are not, and in some cases cannot be, directly answered by relying on research evidence of the kinds favored by the evidence-based movement. Therefore, sustainability studies must also harness other forms of knowledge, based on forms of practical experience. How to integrate these two sources of knowledge is one of the most fundamental epistemological and practical problems society is facing. Identifying what kind of practical experience and research evidence we need to integrate is another challenging question. We draw on examples from our research in the Global South and suggest an efficient principle, problem-feeding, for harnessing practical experience within an adapted version of evidence-based sustainability studies. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
evidence-based conversation, evidence-based policy, indigenous knowledge, Local knowledge, participatory art, problem-feeding, sustainability studies
in
Ecology and Society
volume
23
issue
4
article number
38
publisher
The Resilience Alliance
external identifiers
  • scopus:85059459835
ISSN
1708-3087
DOI
10.5751/ES-10608-230438
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6194a6a3-fa3f-4052-a68d-a0c5cd461223
date added to LUP
2018-11-06 23:39:21
date last changed
2022-10-30 08:04:51
@article{6194a6a3-fa3f-4052-a68d-a0c5cd461223,
  abstract     = {{The calls for evidence-based public policy making have increased dramatically in the last decades, and so has the interest in evidence-based sustainability studies. But questions remain about what “evidence” actually means in different contexts and if the concept travels well between different domains of application. Some of the most relevant questions asked by sustainability studies are not, and in some cases cannot be, directly answered by relying on research evidence of the kinds favored by the evidence-based movement. Therefore, sustainability studies must also harness other forms of knowledge, based on forms of practical experience. How to integrate these two sources of knowledge is one of the most fundamental epistemological and practical problems society is facing. Identifying what kind of practical experience and research evidence we need to integrate is another challenging question. We draw on examples from our research in the Global South and suggest an efficient principle, problem-feeding, for harnessing practical experience within an adapted version of evidence-based sustainability studies.}},
  author       = {{Persson, Johannes and Johansson, Emma and Olsson, Lennart}},
  issn         = {{1708-3087}},
  keywords     = {{evidence-based conversation; evidence-based policy; indigenous knowledge; Local knowledge; participatory art; problem-feeding; sustainability studies}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  number       = {{4}},
  publisher    = {{The Resilience Alliance}},
  series       = {{Ecology and Society}},
  title        = {{Harnessing local knowledge for scientific knowledge production : challenges and pitfalls within evidence-based sustainability studies}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/55236281/ES_2018_10608.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.5751/ES-10608-230438}},
  volume       = {{23}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}