SENSE Summer Symposium 2003

Yes, I want to suggest a keyword

for inclusion in the multidisciplinary SENSE book:

Please note: one keyword for each submission, feel free to submit more than once !

If you would like to suggest any keyword(s) that may qualify to be part of this book, and/or if you would like to suggest a qualified expert (maybe yourself?) who could write one of the keyword-chapters, then please fill in the form above to add your suggestion to an initial long-list of candidate keywords for this multidisciplinary book project.

All SENSE participants are invited to contribute to a new multidisciplinary SENSE book !

 

The influential analytical philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein suggested that: "our language is not just the vehicle of our thinking, it is also the driver". This profound observation implies that the main concepts and keywords that we use in our communication continually influence, or maybe sometimes even decide, what it is we are thinking or not thinking.

The Board of Directors of SENSE has decided that this perspective on the role of our language warrants the publication of a new collection of methodological essays in which the major environmental keywords and their application in the contexts of science and of policy will be clarified by SENSE participants. Together, these essays will represent a useful SENSE book which aims to place the most relevant keywords of environmental science and technology in a multidisciplinary perspective.

All environmental disciplines as represented in SENSE are hereby invited to participate in this multidisciplinary book project. The resulting book will be published by IWA Publishing and will appear in paperback version to keep it affordable to all students and researchers of the environment and its sciences. Environmental science and policy need to be multidisciplinary to be effective and therefore a clarifying book of major environmental keywords and their contexts of use may contribute to successful communication and an integrated understanding between the relevant scientific disciplines.

For each separate keyword-chapter a qualified scientific expert on the subject will be invited to write a short methodological essay of 4-6 pages in which a limited number of specified questions will be answered, such as:

• Specify briefly the genesis and history of this keyword as part of the larger field of environmental science and/or policy;
• Specify in your essay what new type of research or perspective has become possible (or has been stimulated) by the advent and use of this keyword;
• Indicate in how far you see a role for this keyword in future research and/or policy;
• What problems of interpretation and understanding may be encountered in the practical application of this keyword?;
• In how far can this keyword effectively stimulate communication and learning between the contexts of science and of policy?;
• What do you consider to be the most relevant literature on this subject to date? (max. of 10 references).

Some examples of keywords that may qualify to become part of this multidisciplinary SENSE book are: 'life cycle analysis', 'transition management', 'ecogenomics', 'climate change', 'ecosystem dynamics', 'precautionary principle', 'ozone depletion', 'biodiversity', 'risk assessment', 'international governance', 'stakeholder participation', 'risk communication', 'Ecological Modernisation', "transition management", "Ecological Control Analysis", etc. etc.

Do you miss some essential keyword(s) among these examples? Then please join the project and contribute your suggestion(s).

For any additional information on the multidisciplinary book project, please send your inquiry to: Ad van Dommelen