Post-normal science communication? Evidence of third-order thinking among sustainability scientists

Area of Science:

• Sustainability Science
• Science Communication

Background:

• Post-normal sustainability science emphasizes complexity and reflexive communication.
• A gap exists between these ideals and current scientific communication practices, which often retain conventional norms of objectivity and expert authority.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze how sustainability scientists navigate different modes of thinking and communication in practice.
• To explore the influence of socio-technical orders on sustainability scientists' communication.

Main Methods:

• Thematic analysis of interviews with 12 leading Danish sustainability scientists.
• Application of Irwin's (2021) framework of socio-technical orders of thinking.

Main Results:

• Scientists pragmatically shift between expert-led (first-order), inclusive (second-order), and reflexive/power-aware (third-order) thinking.
• Third-order thinking is integral to sustainability science, but traditional assumptions about authority and neutrality persist in communication.

Conclusions:

• Sustainability scientists actively navigate complex communication landscapes.
• There is a need for developing and testing pluralistic, reflexive, and power-aware communication models in sustainability science.
• Further research should learn from scientists' situated practices in managing communication complexities.