Resilience research includes multiple definitions, concepts, perspectives, and applications acros... more Resilience research includes multiple definitions, concepts, perspectives, and applications across a broad range of academic disciplines. While experts, policy-makers, and practitioners assert that resilience requires holism, what is considered holistic is rarely discussed. The traditional scientific approach to holism is to engage multiple disciplines. However, this review studies an alternative approach to holism that engages multiple perspectives, as suggested by integral theory. An integral approach requires consideration of at least four irreducible domains: (1) subjective experience, (2) intersubjective culture, (3) objective behavior, and (4) interobjective systems. This way of approaching holism both engages multiple disciplines and reveals important gaps in the popular understanding of resilient infrastructure. For example, organizing the 20 most highly cited resilience research articles from all disciplines according to the Integral Map reveals that most articles in the sa...
ABSTRACT Anticipatory governance (AG) provides a forward-looking framework through which social, ... more ABSTRACT Anticipatory governance (AG) provides a forward-looking framework through which social, eth-ical, and legal aspects of such emerging technologies as nanotechnology may be assessed. Ad-vanced versions of AG integrate a suite of qualitative methods, including sustainability constellation mapping, as well as quantitative methods focused on real-time trend analysis of bibliometric and patent activity. Together, these methods present a broad view of energy-related nanotechnology research, and explicitly call attention to root causes, actors, and outcomes of nanotechnology inno-vations. While the AG framework includes socio-technical integration, thereby making the labora-tory an active venue for governance, it lacks laboratory-generated quantitative analysis that can help connect broader governance strategies back to laboratory researchers working with nano-technology. Anticipatory life cycle assessment (LCA) builds upon developments in LCA, and seeks to adapt life cycle frameworks to developing nanotechnologies through a combination of laborato-ry-scale inventory data collection, thermodynamic modeling of nano-manufacturing processes, and nanotechnology experience curve modeling. Anticipatory LCA may call attention to environmental-ly problematic processes in the life cycle of novel nanotechnologies before significant social, politi-cal, and economic investments in research and infrastructure contribute to technology lock in. One such technology is single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) anodes for advanced lithium ion batteries, which may increase the energy density of portable, rechargeable batteries. Through a case study of SWCNT anodes, we demonstrate that incorporation of anticipatory LCA within AG directly address-es the lack of laboratory-generated quantitative methods, promotes communication between la-boratory researchers, social scientists, and a broad set of stakeholders, and may reorient laboratory research agenda.
Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technology, 2010
Abstract Finding an equitable mitigation policy to combat global climate change is a major proble... more Abstract Finding an equitable mitigation policy to combat global climate change is a major problem facing society today. Successful mitigation of climate change will require a decrease in global CO 2 emissions and economic costs associated with reduced production of consumer goods. A critical consideration is the existence of an uneven distribution of benefits and damages associated with climate change, stressing the need for an equitable way to reduce CO 2 emissions. Literature in philosophy provides an outline of carbon ...
Fundamental problems of environmental sustainability, including climate change and fisheries mana... more Fundamental problems of environmental sustainability, including climate change and fisheries management, require collective action on a scale that transcends the political and cultural boundaries of the nation-state. Rational, self-interested neoclassical economic theories of human behavior predict tragedy in the absence of third party enforcement of agreements and practical difficulties that prevent privatization. Evolutionary biology offers a theory of cooperation, but more often than not in a context of discrimination against other groups. That is, in-group boundaries are necessarily defined by those excluded as members of out-groups. However, in some settings human's exhibit behavior that is inconsistent with both rational economic and group driven cooperation of evolutionary biological theory. This paper reports the results of a non-cooperative game-theoretic exercise that models a tragedy of the commons problem in which groups of players may advance their own positions onl...
The goal of guiding innovation toward beneficial social and environmental outcomes – referred to ... more The goal of guiding innovation toward beneficial social and environmental outcomes – referred to in the growing literature as responsible research and innovation (RRI) – is intuitively worthwhile but lacks practicable tools for implementation. One potentially useful tool is life-cycle assessment (LCA), which is a comprehensive framework used to evaluate the environmental impacts of products, processes, and technologies. However, LCA ineffectively promotes RRI for at least two reasons: (1) Codified approaches to LCA are largely retrospective, relying heavily on data collected from mature industries with existing supply chains and (2) LCA underemphasizes the importance of stakeholder engagement to inform critical modeling decisions which diminishes the social credibility and relevance of results. LCA researchers have made piecemeal advances that address these shortcomings, yet there is no consensus regarding how to advance LCA to support RRI of emerging technologies. This paper advocates for development of ...
Current research policy and strategy documents recommend applying life cycle assessment (LCA) ear... more Current research policy and strategy documents recommend applying life cycle assessment (LCA) early in research and development (R&D) to guide emerging technologies toward decreased environmental burden. However, existing LCA practices are ill-suited to support these recommendations. Barriers related to data availability, rapid technology change, and isolation of environmental from technical research inhibit application of LCA to developing technologies. Overcoming these challenges requires methodological advances that help identify environmental opportunities prior to large R&D investments. Such an anticipatory approach to LCA requires synthesis of social, environmental, and technical knowledge beyond the capabilities of current practices. This paper introduces a novel framework for anticipatory LCA that incorporates technology forecasting, risk research, social engagement, and comparative impact assessment, then applies this framework to photovoltaic (PV) technologies. These examp...
Resilience research includes multiple definitions, concepts, perspectives, and applications acros... more Resilience research includes multiple definitions, concepts, perspectives, and applications across a broad range of academic disciplines. While experts, policy-makers, and practitioners assert that resilience requires holism, what is considered holistic is rarely discussed. The traditional scientific approach to holism is to engage multiple disciplines. However, this review studies an alternative approach to holism that engages multiple perspectives, as suggested by integral theory. An integral approach requires consideration of at least four irreducible domains: (1) subjective experience, (2) intersubjective culture, (3) objective behavior, and (4) interobjective systems. This way of approaching holism both engages multiple disciplines and reveals important gaps in the popular understanding of resilient infrastructure. For example, organizing the 20 most highly cited resilience research articles from all disciplines according to the Integral Map reveals that most articles in the sa...
ABSTRACT Anticipatory governance (AG) provides a forward-looking framework through which social, ... more ABSTRACT Anticipatory governance (AG) provides a forward-looking framework through which social, eth-ical, and legal aspects of such emerging technologies as nanotechnology may be assessed. Ad-vanced versions of AG integrate a suite of qualitative methods, including sustainability constellation mapping, as well as quantitative methods focused on real-time trend analysis of bibliometric and patent activity. Together, these methods present a broad view of energy-related nanotechnology research, and explicitly call attention to root causes, actors, and outcomes of nanotechnology inno-vations. While the AG framework includes socio-technical integration, thereby making the labora-tory an active venue for governance, it lacks laboratory-generated quantitative analysis that can help connect broader governance strategies back to laboratory researchers working with nano-technology. Anticipatory life cycle assessment (LCA) builds upon developments in LCA, and seeks to adapt life cycle frameworks to developing nanotechnologies through a combination of laborato-ry-scale inventory data collection, thermodynamic modeling of nano-manufacturing processes, and nanotechnology experience curve modeling. Anticipatory LCA may call attention to environmental-ly problematic processes in the life cycle of novel nanotechnologies before significant social, politi-cal, and economic investments in research and infrastructure contribute to technology lock in. One such technology is single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) anodes for advanced lithium ion batteries, which may increase the energy density of portable, rechargeable batteries. Through a case study of SWCNT anodes, we demonstrate that incorporation of anticipatory LCA within AG directly address-es the lack of laboratory-generated quantitative methods, promotes communication between la-boratory researchers, social scientists, and a broad set of stakeholders, and may reorient laboratory research agenda.
Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technology, 2010
Abstract Finding an equitable mitigation policy to combat global climate change is a major proble... more Abstract Finding an equitable mitigation policy to combat global climate change is a major problem facing society today. Successful mitigation of climate change will require a decrease in global CO 2 emissions and economic costs associated with reduced production of consumer goods. A critical consideration is the existence of an uneven distribution of benefits and damages associated with climate change, stressing the need for an equitable way to reduce CO 2 emissions. Literature in philosophy provides an outline of carbon ...
Fundamental problems of environmental sustainability, including climate change and fisheries mana... more Fundamental problems of environmental sustainability, including climate change and fisheries management, require collective action on a scale that transcends the political and cultural boundaries of the nation-state. Rational, self-interested neoclassical economic theories of human behavior predict tragedy in the absence of third party enforcement of agreements and practical difficulties that prevent privatization. Evolutionary biology offers a theory of cooperation, but more often than not in a context of discrimination against other groups. That is, in-group boundaries are necessarily defined by those excluded as members of out-groups. However, in some settings human's exhibit behavior that is inconsistent with both rational economic and group driven cooperation of evolutionary biological theory. This paper reports the results of a non-cooperative game-theoretic exercise that models a tragedy of the commons problem in which groups of players may advance their own positions onl...
The goal of guiding innovation toward beneficial social and environmental outcomes – referred to ... more The goal of guiding innovation toward beneficial social and environmental outcomes – referred to in the growing literature as responsible research and innovation (RRI) – is intuitively worthwhile but lacks practicable tools for implementation. One potentially useful tool is life-cycle assessment (LCA), which is a comprehensive framework used to evaluate the environmental impacts of products, processes, and technologies. However, LCA ineffectively promotes RRI for at least two reasons: (1) Codified approaches to LCA are largely retrospective, relying heavily on data collected from mature industries with existing supply chains and (2) LCA underemphasizes the importance of stakeholder engagement to inform critical modeling decisions which diminishes the social credibility and relevance of results. LCA researchers have made piecemeal advances that address these shortcomings, yet there is no consensus regarding how to advance LCA to support RRI of emerging technologies. This paper advocates for development of ...
Current research policy and strategy documents recommend applying life cycle assessment (LCA) ear... more Current research policy and strategy documents recommend applying life cycle assessment (LCA) early in research and development (R&D) to guide emerging technologies toward decreased environmental burden. However, existing LCA practices are ill-suited to support these recommendations. Barriers related to data availability, rapid technology change, and isolation of environmental from technical research inhibit application of LCA to developing technologies. Overcoming these challenges requires methodological advances that help identify environmental opportunities prior to large R&D investments. Such an anticipatory approach to LCA requires synthesis of social, environmental, and technical knowledge beyond the capabilities of current practices. This paper introduces a novel framework for anticipatory LCA that incorporates technology forecasting, risk research, social engagement, and comparative impact assessment, then applies this framework to photovoltaic (PV) technologies. These examp...
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