Science,sustainability and social purpose: barriers to effective articulation, dialogue and utilization of formal andinformal science in public policy

Abstract

A quick look at the leading scientific journals on development brings out one thing clearly: the almost total absence of positive, creative, green voices of innovator and inventors who are solving technological and institutional problems on their own without any outside help. Why is this gap so conspicuous? In this paper, I will not dwell on what is wrong with the world. There is a lot that is wrong and must be set right soon, for instance, lifestyles of elites in the South as well as the North are totally non-sustainable. What I will discuss in this context would be answers that people have discovered to cope with the ironies of everyday life, and the inadequacies of given technological and institutional frameworks. The paper raises issues in communication in and about science and how the connections between little science and the big science can be made.