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44-507: Post-normal science ( PNS ) was developed in the 1990s by Silvio Funtowicz and Jerome R. Ravetz . It is a problem-solving strategy appropriate when "facts [are] uncertain, values in dispute, stakes high and decisions urgent", conditions often present in policy-relevant research. In those situations, PNS recommends suspending temporarily the traditional scientific ideal of truth, concentrating on quality as assessed by internal and extended peer communities. PNS can be considered as complementing

88-659: A context of inequalities and conflict. Resolutions, compromises and knowledge co-production are contingent and not necessarily achievable. Beside its dominating influence in the literature on 'futures', PNS is considered to have influenced the ecological ‘conservation versus preservation debate’, especially via its reading by American pragmatist Bryan G. Norton . According to Jozef Keulartz the PNS concept of "extended peer community" influenced how Norton's developed his 'convergence hypothesis'. The hypothesis posits that ecologists of different orientation will converge once they start thinking 'as

132-466: A headache. Soon, he could not take his headache anymore and had the smith god Hephaestus , one of his sister-wife Hera 's sons, cut his head open to let out whatever was in there on the river Trito's banks. Athena emerged from Zeus's mind full grown, wearing the armor her mother made her. She was made the goddess of wisdom, warfare, and crafts. But Zeus lay with the fair-cheeked daughter of Ocean and Tethys apart from Hera ... deceiving Metis although she

176-414: A mountain', or as a planet. For Norton this will be achieved via deliberative democracy, which will pragmatically overcome the black and white divide between conservationists and preservationists. More recently it has been argued that conservation science, embedded as it is in a multi-layered governance structures of policy-makers, practitioners, and stakeholders, is itself an 'extended peer community', and as

220-406: A result conservation has always been ‘post-normal’. Other authors attribute to PNS the role of having stimulated the take up of transdisciplinary methodological frameworks, reliant on the social constructivist perspective embedded in PNS. Post-normal science is intended as applicable to most instances where the use of evidence is contested due to different norms and values. Typical instances are in

264-542: A son more powerful than his father, who would eventually overthrow Zeus and become king of the cosmos in his place. In order to forestall these consequences, Zeus tricked Metis into turning herself into a fly and promptly swallowed her. However, she was already pregnant with their first and only child, Athena . Metis crafted armor, a spear, and a shield for her daughter, whom she raised in Zeus' mind. Athena eventually used her spear and shield, banging them together to give her father

308-564: A volume for Oxford University Press ‘Science for Policy: New Challenges, New Opportunities’, and another with Routledge on the End of the Cartesian Dream which represent an important collective effort gathering three generations of scholars active in the field of PNS, followed a year later by a multi-authors book by the same community on the reproducibility and quality control crisis of science. Together with Andrea Saltelli and others, he developed

352-438: A volume on the topic, discussing inter alia what this community perceive as the root causes of the present science's crisis . Among the quantitative styles of analysis which make reference to post-normal science one can mention NUSAP for numerical information, sensitivity auditing for indicators and mathematical modelling, Quantitative storytelling for exploring multiple frames in a quantitative analysis, and MUSIASEM in

396-674: Is also a field where PNS is suggested as to fill the space between research, policy, and implementation, as well as to ensure pluralism in analysis. Ecosystem services are a topical subject for PNS. Reviews of the history and evolution of PNS, its definitions, conceptualizations, and uses can be found in Turnpenny et al., 2010, and in The Routledge Handbook of Ecological Economics (Nature and Society). Articles on PNS are published in Nature and related journals. A criticism of post-normal science

440-532: Is intended as applicable to most instances where the use of evidence is contested due to different norms and values. For Peter Gluckman (2014), chief science advisor to the Prime Minister of New Zealand, post-normal science approaches are today appropriate for a host of problems including “eradication of exogenous pests […], offshore oil prospecting, legalization of recreational psychotropic drugs, water quality, family violence, obesity, teenage morbidity and suicide,

484-542: Is offered by Weingart (1997) for whom post-normal science does not introduce a new epistemology but retraces earlier debates linked to the so-called "finalization thesis". For Jörg Friedrichs – comparing the issues of climate change and peak energy – an extension of the peer community has taken place in the climate science community, transforming climate scientists into ‘stealth advocates’, while scientists working on energy security – without PNS, would still maintain their credentials of neutrality and objectivity. Another criticism

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528-404: Is respected through its recognition of a multiplicity of legitimate perspectives on any issue; this is close to the meaning espoused by Robert Rosen (theoretical biologist) . Reflexivity is realised through the extension of accepted ‘facts’ beyond the supposedly objective productions of traditional research. Also, the new participants in the process are not treated as passive learners at the feet of

572-418: Is that the extended peer community's use undermines the scientific method 's use of empiricism and that its goal would be better addressed by providing greater science education. It has been argued that post-normal science scholars have been prescient in anticipating the present crisis in science's quality control and reproducibility. A group of scholars of post-normal science orientation has published in 2016

616-557: The Titanomachy , the 10-year war among the immortals, she was pursued by Zeus and they got married. Zeus himself is titled Metieta ( Ancient Greek : Μητίετα , lit.   'the wise counsellor'), in the Homeric poems. Metis was both a threat to Zeus and an indispensable aid. He lay with her, but immediately feared the consequences. It had been prophesied that she would bear a daughter who would be wiser than her mother, and then

660-500: The "royal metis " of Zeus . The Stoic commentators allegorised Metis as the embodiment of " prudence ", "wisdom" or "wise counsel", in which form she was inherited by the Renaissance . The Greek word metis meant a quality that combined wisdom and cunning. This quality was considered to be highly admirable, the hero Odysseus being the embodiment of it, for example using such a strategy against Polyphemus , son of Poseidon . In

704-678: The COVID-19 pandemic. Metis (mythology) Metis ( / ˈ m iː t ɪ s / ; Ancient Greek : Μῆτις , romanized :  Mêtis ; Modern Greek : Μήτις, meaning 'Wisdom', 'Skill', or 'Craft'), in ancient Greek religion and mythology , was one of the Oceanids . She is notable for being the first wife and advisor of Zeus , the King of the Gods. She helped him to free his siblings from their father Cronus ' stomach by giving him an emetic and, when she

748-748: The Classical era, metis was regarded by Athenians as one of the notable characteristics of the Athenian character. Metis was an Oceanid nymph, one of the 3000 daughters of the Titans Oceanus and his sister-wife Tethys , and a sister of the Potamoi (river-gods), which also numbered 3000. Metis gave her cousin Zeus a potion to cause his father Cronus , the supreme ruler of the cosmos, to vomit out his siblings their father had swallowed out of fear of being overthrown. After

792-557: The Ecosystem Approach. This work, linking complexity theory, thermodynamics, and post-normal science, explored implications of this "new science" for environmental management and human well-being. Another scholar Silvio Funtowicz cooperates with is Martin O’Connor. His most recent work focuses on the crisis in the quality control of science, its impact on science's social functions, the possible flaring of old and new science wars, and

836-555: The Encyclopaedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences (Oxford) on ‘Peer Review and Quality Control’ and on ‘New Forms of Science. Since the nineties he has worked with Bruna De Marchi and others on risk governance and public participation . In the 1990s, Silvio Funtowicz collaborated with the late James J. Kay and other members of what some have called the "Dirk Gently Gang" (including Mario Giampietro and David Waltner-Toews ) on

880-580: The Netherlands by Jeroen van der Sluijs et al. 2005. Based on this ground work the concept of post-normal science was introduced in a series of papers published in the early nineties. The article ‘Science for the post-normal age’ is presently the most cited paper in the journal Futures . Another paper of note is 'The worth of a songbird:ecological economics as a post-normal science' in Ecological Economics . Today post-normal science (PNS)

924-511: The Prime Minister of New Zealand, post-normal science approaches are today appropriate for a host of problems including "eradication of exogenous pests […], offshore oil prospecting, legalization of recreational psychotropic drugs, water quality, family violence, obesity, teenage morbidity and suicide, the ageing population, the prioritization of early-childhood education, reduction of agricultural greenhouse gases, and balancing economic growth and environmental sustainability". Conservation science

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968-631: The University of Bergen, Norway, and since 2021 he has been a guest researcher there. Silvio Funtowicz' work with Jerome R. Ravetz Uncertainty and Quality in Science for Policy started a series of reflections on the quality of science used for policy, mostly in connection with environmental and technological risks and policy-related research, introducing NUSAP a notational system for the management and communication of uncertainty in science for policy. NUSAP's applications to different settings were spearheaded in

1012-527: The ageing population, the prioritization of early-childhood education, reduction of agricultural greenhouse gases, and balancing economic growth and environmental sustainability”. For Carrozza PNS can be “framed in terms of a call for the ‘democratization of expertise’”, and as a “reaction against long-term trends of ‘scientization’ of politics—the tendency towards assigning to experts a critical role in policymaking while marginalizing laypeople”. Funtowicz’ most recent work – with Roger Strand - has touched upon

1056-512: The category of issues which are best dealt with in the context of PNS and notes that “Disputes in post-normal science focus as often on the process of science - who gets funded, who evaluates quality, who has the ear of policy - as on the facts of science”. Climate science as PNS was already proposed by the late Stephen Schneider , and a similar linkage was propose for the workings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change . From

1100-507: The complex relation between science and policy: the communication of uncertainty, the assessment of quality, and the justification and practice of the extended peer communities. Coming to the PNS diagram (figure above) the horizontal axis represents ‘Systems Uncertainties’ and the vertical one ‘Decision Stakes’. The three quadrants identify Applied Science, Professional Consultancy, and Post-Normal Science. Different standards of quality and styles of analysis are appropriate to different regions in

1144-415: The concept of sensitivity auditing , an extension of sensitivity analysis for statistical and mathematical models used as input to policy design and appraisal. He has authored with Alice Benessia a series of works on innovations and technoscience. These are critical essays on what it means for a society to be ‘smart’ and ‘sustainable’. With Jerome R. Ravetz he recently contributed two original voices to

1188-437: The diagram, i.e. post-normal science does not claim relevance and cogency on all of science's application but only on those defined by the PNS's mantram with a fourfold challenge: ‘facts uncertain, values in dispute, stakes high and decisions urgent’. For applied research science's own peer quality control system will suffice (or so was assumed at the moment PNS was formulated in the early nineties), while professional consultancy

1232-452: The ecological perspective post-normal science can be situated in the context of 'crisis disciplines' – a term coined by the conservation biologist Michael E. Soulé to indicate approaches addressing fears, emerging in the seventies, that the world was on the verge of ecological collapse . In this respect Michael Egan defines PNS as a 'survival science'. More recently PNS has been defined as a movement of ‘informed critical resistance, reform and

1276-687: The elements of a post-normal science context, and notes that "this pandemic offers society an occasion to open a fresh discussion on whether we now need to learn how to do science in a different way". The journal FUTURES devoted several specials issues to post-normal science. Another special issue on post-normal science was published on the journal Science, Technology, & Human Values in May 2011 . Silvio Funtowicz Silvio Funtowicz began his career teaching mathematics, logic and research methodology in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He left Argentina during

1320-543: The experts, being coercively convinced through scientific demonstration. Rather, they will form an ‘extended peer community’, sharing the work of quality assurance of the scientific inputs to the process, and arriving at a resolution of issues through debate and dialogue. The necessity to embrace complexity in a post-normal perspective to understand and face zoonoses is argumented by David Waltner-Toews. In PNS extended peer communities are spaces where perspectives, values, styles of knowing and power differentials are expressed in

1364-489: The field of social metabolism. A work where these approaches are suggested for sustainability is in. In relation to mathematical modelling post-normal science suggests a participatory approach, whereby ‘models to predict and control the future’ are replaced by ‘models to map our ignorance about the future’, in the process exploring and revealing the metaphors embedded in the model. PNS is also known for its definition of garbage in, garbage out (GIGO): in modelling GIGO occurs when

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1408-627: The inward parts of Zeus, even Metis, Athena's mother, worker of righteousness, who was wiser than gods and mortal men. According to a scholiast on the Theogony , Metis had the ability of changing her shape at will . Zeus tricked her and swallowed his pregnant wife when she transformed into a πικρὰν ( pikràn ). As Keightley notes, πικρὰ ("bitter") makes little or no sense in that context, and it has been variously corrected to μυῖαν ( muîan , meaning "fly") or μικρὰν ( mikràn , meaning "small thing") instead. According to Apollodorus , Metis

1452-417: The issue of agency at times of change, arguing that a risk centred vision based on prediction and control in front of global and emerging threats should be replaced by one based on commitment: “rather than believing that contemporary global challenges will be sufficiently met by being responsible under risk, we will ask how to stay committed in times of change.” Together with Ângela Guimarães Pereira he curated

1496-531: The making of futures’. Moving from PNS Ziauddin Sardar developed the concept of Postnormal Times (PNT). Sardar was the editor of FUTURES when it published the article ‘Science for the post-normal age’ presently the most cited paper of the journal. A recent review of academic literature conducted on the Web of Science and encompassing the topics of Futures studies, Foresight, Forecasting and Anticipation Practice identifies

1540-731: The military dictatorship, and moved to England where, during the 1980s he was a Research Fellow at the University of Leeds, where started his cooperation with Jerome Ravetz . Until his retirement in 2011, he was a scientific officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (EC-JRC). In 2012 he became a professor at the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities (SVT) at

1584-451: The name "post-normal science" echoes the seminal work on modern science by Thomas Kuhn . For Carrozza PNS can be "framed in terms of a call for the ‘democratization of expertise’", and as a "reaction against long-term trends of ‘scientization’ of politics—the tendency towards assigning to experts a critical role in policymaking while marginalizing laypeople". For Mike Hulme (2007), writing on The Guardian , climate change seems to fall into

1628-479: The same paper as "the all-time publication that received the highest number of citations". "At birth Post-normal science was conceived as an inclusive set of robust insights more than as an exclusive fully structured theory or field of practice". Some of the ideas underpinning PNS can already be found in a work published in 1983 and entitled "Three types of risk assessment: a methodological analysis" This and subsequent works show that PNS concentrates on few aspects of

1672-697: The styles of analysis based on risk and cost-benefit analysis prevailing at that time and integrating concepts of a new critical science developed in previous works by the same authors. PNS is not a new scientific method following Aristotle and Bacon , a new paradigm in the Kuhnian sense, or an attempt to reach a new ‘normal’. It is instead, a set of insights to guide actionable and robust knowledge production for policy decision making and action in challenges like pandemics, ecosystems collapse, biodiversity loss and, in general, sustainability transitions. According to its proponents Silvio Funtowicz and Jerome R. Ravetz ,

1716-574: The uncertainties in the inputs must be suppressed, lest the outputs become completely indeterminate. On 25 March 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic , a group of scholars of post-normal orientation published on the blog section of the STEPS Centre (for Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) at the University of Sussex . The piece argues that the COVID-19 emergency has all

1760-422: The use of evidence based policy and in evaluation . As summarized in a recent work "the ideas and concepts of post normal science bring about the emergence of new problem solving strategies in which the role of science is appreciated in its full context of the complexity and the uncertainty of natural systems and the relevance of human commitments and values." For Peter Gluckman (2014), chief science advisor to

1804-625: Was considered appropriate for these settings which cannot be ‘peer-reviewed’, and where the skills and the tacit knowledge of a practitioner are needed at the forefront, e.g. in a surgery room, or in a house on fire. Here a surgeon or a firefighter takes a difficult technical decision based on her or his training and appreciation of the situation (the Greek concept of ‘ Metis ’ as discussed by J. C. Scott.) There are important linkages between PNS and complexity science, e.g. system ecology ( C. S. Holling ) and hierarchy theory ( Arthur Koestler ). In PNS, complexity

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1848-415: Was full wise. But he seized her with his hands and put her in his belly, for fear that she might bring forth something stronger than his thunderbolt: therefore did Zeus, who sits on high and dwells in the aether, swallow her down suddenly. But she straightway conceived Pallas Athena: and the father of men and gods gave her birth by way of his head on the banks of the river Trito. And she remained hidden beneath

1892-531: Was raped by Zeus, and changed many forms in order to escape him, after he pursued her. An alternative version of the same myth makes the Cyclops Brontes rather than Zeus the father of Athena before Metis is swallowed. Hesiod's account is followed by Acusilaus and the Orphic tradition, which enthroned Metis side by side with Eros as primal cosmogenic forces . Plato makes Poros , or "creative ingenuity",

1936-403: Was swallowed by Zeus after it was foretold that she would bear a son mightier than his father, helped their daughter Athena to escape from his forehead. By the era of Greek philosophy in the 5th century BC, Metis had become the first deity of wisdom and deep thought, but her name originally connoted "magical cunning" and was as easily equated with the trickster powers of Prometheus as with

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