ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the scope for civic activism in the sustainability transition. The term civic science was termed by Kai Lee to denote a form of interactive partnership between resource managers and constituent citizens’ interests in guiding a programme of environmental and social change. Sustainable development ought to mean the creation of a society and an economy that can come to terms with the life support limits of the planet in a way that enables the most vulnerable peoples to survive with dignity in a self reliant manner. Stewardship means recognising that conditions of future vulnerability should be avoided, if necessary by the application of the precautionary principle, and that policies towards the planet take into account a duty of care for people who might otherwise create their own vulnerability out of desperation. Pushing civic science into place in the sustainability transition is a tough nut to crack.
