Imperial College London
Alternate

Professor Nick Voulvoulis

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Centre for Environmental Policy

Professor of Environmental Technology
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 7459n.voulvoulis Website

 
 
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Location

 

103Weeks BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Voulvoulis:2019:10.1080/10643389.2019.1565519,
author = {Voulvoulis, N and Burgman, M},
doi = {10.1080/10643389.2019.1565519},
journal = {Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology},
pages = {1079--1106},
title = {The contrasting roles of science and technology in environmental challenges},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2019.1565519},
volume = {49},
year = {2019}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Sustainable development is widely recognised as an existential challenge. To address it, humanity needs to change its ways. However, people seem slow to act, not always understanding and often denying environmental imperatives, creating substantial social and psychological barriers. Social inertia and denial have been allegedly amplified by a public discourse increasingly distrustful of science. But is this discourse a rejection of science or an erosion of trust in how science is applied? The paper examines the main differences between environmental science and technology, reviews how the wider science- technology convergence has affected them and evaluates potential implications for sustainability challenges. We question whether the ‘convergence’ between environmental science and technology, could be behind the growing public dissatisfaction and distrust of environmental science and policies.  Although environmental science plays a role in enabling understanding and communicating complexity, technology requires political, social and economic skills, beyond conventional disciplinary expertise. To avoid putting academic freedom at risk, environmental technologists, a new breed of professionals, should have a clear understanding of scientific capacity and uncertainty and be able to engage with stakeholders, policy makers and the public  to design integrated, interdisciplinary and holistic solutions, and also better define the many environmental problems we face.
AU  - Voulvoulis,N
AU  - Burgman,M
DO  - 10.1080/10643389.2019.1565519
EP  - 1106
PY  - 2019///
SN  - 1064-3389
SP  - 1079
TI  - The contrasting roles of science and technology in environmental challenges
T2  - Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2019.1565519
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/66344
VL  - 49
ER  -
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