ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors outline how emerging theories of ecosystem dynamics and their implications are essential for the transition to sustainability. They discuss how evolving theories of ecosystem behaviour have shaped our approach to resource management, often with grave consequences. The authors also outline how a co-evolutionary approach to ecosystems might be the way forward, and discuss the pedagogical, organizational and policy obstacles to, and implications of, such an approach. Theories of ecosystem behaviour and management are in transition. A focus on single management targets and reductionist models of ecosystems creates solutions that might succeed in the short term but eventually backfire in the long haul. Civic science, adaptive management and sustainability science all advocate expanding the boundaries of conventional science to integrate alternative approaches, leading to a radically transformed science whose contours are only being mapped. Science for sustainability differs qualitatively from conventional science.
