Silvio Funtowicz
Biographic Data
| ID | 489492 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Silvio Funtowicz |
| GIVEN NAMES | Silvio |
| FAMILY NAME | Funtowicz |
| SIGNATURE | FUNTOWICZ S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Joint Research Centre |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0399-1471 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1078 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 30 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1989 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
El extractivismo en América Latina desde la perspectiva de la ciencia posnormal
El objetivo de este artículo es mostrar cómo la integración de la ciencia posnormal puede enriquecer el análisis del extractivismo en América Latina y propiciar una transición socioambiental y cultural hacia la sustentabilidad. La ciencia posnormal se suma a entender esta problemática debido a las altas apuestas en juego, a las incertidumbres y a la pluralidad de perspectivas legítimas involucradas. Este enfoque se destaca por los aportes transdi…
Knowledge, power, and participation in the post-normal age
Thou shalt not take the name of bioeconomy in vain
In this paper, we show that the characteristics of complex adaptive systems support the original interpretation of the bioeconomy of Georgescu-Roegen: the current use of natural resources by industrialized societies is incompatible with the regeneration processes of ecological systems. Elaborating the concept of societal identity, using a biosemiotics reading of the social theory of Luhmann, we show that the current social identity is sustained b…
Extended Peer Communities
This paper explores the implications of assessing tacit knowledges of climatic change in extended peer communities, as applied in two European research projects on climate action. Post-normal science (PNS) proposes the extension of the peer community to co-produce better quality knowledge for decision-making on issues like climate change, where facts are uncertain, values in dispute, stakes high and decisions urgent. The paper has two aims. The f…
The technique is never neutral. How methodological choices condition the generation of narratives for sustainability
How to tackle uncertainties and ensure quality in integrated assessment for sustainability? To what extent does the choice of the methodology condition the narrative produced by the analysis? The present work argues that the two questions are tightly coupled. The technique is never neutral. If we are the tools of our tools, as suggested by Thoreau, then it can also be said that language is not only a vehicle for communication, it is the driver as…
From elite folk science to the policy legend of the circular economy
This paper explores the implications of the widespread success of the term circular economy in the institutional and public debate. The concept of circular economy in itself implies a logical contradiction: on the one hand, the concept acknowledges the dependence of the economy on biophysical flows; on the other hand, the proposed solution—a business model guaranteeing a full decoupling of the economy from natural resources—seemingly ignores that…
What is science’s crisis really about
Science’s crisis is real. A resolution is not in sight, but a Reformation is not impossible. • The mainstream interpretation of the root causes of the crisis (perverse incentive, too many papers) is insufficient. • The crisis is due to a transformed role: from emancipation and betterment of mankind to instrument of profit and growth • Scientists cannot resolve the problem alone and have high stakes in the preservation of the status quo. • Institu…
Science, New Forms of
Peer Review and Quality Control
Negotiating a place for sustainability science
Plug and play
Visions for Venice in 2050
Hybridizing sustainability
Change and commitment
Risk and responsibility have always been linked philosophically in the Western tradition. The purpose of this article is to discuss possible alternatives to the centrality of the risk discourse, arguing that such alternatives call for a revision in the concept of responsibility, decoupling it from the aspirations of control over Nature and the future. It implies also a more complex relation between knowledge and action. Rather than believing that…
Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Measures of Uncertainty in Model‐Based Environmental Assessment
This article discusses recent experiences with the Numeral Unit Spread Assessment Pedigree (NUSAP) system for multidimensional uncertainty assessment, based on four case studies that vary in complexity. We show that the NUSAP method is applicable not only to relatively simple calculation schemes but also to complex models in a meaningful way and that NUSAP is useful to assess not only parameter uncertainty but also (model) assumptions. A diagnost…
‘Democratising’ expertise, ‘expertising’ democracy
What is the role of participatory processes in decision-making related to science and technology and in any other area where knowledge and expert advice play an important role? Can expert advice to policy makers be more transparent and accountable? This introduction discusses these and other connected questions under the provocative label of ‘democratising expertise’. It highlights and explores the variety of linkages between governance and knowl…
Science for the Twenty-First Century
(www.unesco.org/issj) The article addresses the need, posed by the challenges of sustainable development and the changing context at the
Combining participative and institutional approaches with multicriteria evaluation. An empirical study for water issues in Troina, Sicily
Commentary
The poetry of thermodynamics
Ciência pós-normal e comunidades ampliadas de pares face aos desafios ambientais
Os novos problemas relacionados a riscos e ao meio ambiente têm aspectos comuns que os distinguem dos problemas científicos tradicionais: os fatos são incertos, os valores, controvertidos, as apostas, elevadas e as decisões, urgentes. Chamamos de ciência pós-normal a estratégia de resolução de problemas adequada a esse contexto. A função essencial de controle de qualidade e avaliação crítica não pode mais ser desempenhada por um corpo restrito de…
Uncertainty, complexity and post-normal science
The quality of the scientific inputs to the policy process is known to be problematic. No one can claim “truth” for his results. Nor can uncertainty be banished, but good quality can be achieved by its proper management. The interaction of systems uncertainties and decision stakes can be used to provide guidance for the choice of appropriate problem-solving strategies. When either or both of these are high, then mission-oriented applied science a…
The worth of a songbird
Environmental science theory
Emergent complex systems
Science for the post-normal age
Emergent complex systems
What is science’s crisis really about
Science’s crisis is real. A resolution is not in sight, but a Reformation is not impossible. • The mainstream interpretation of the root causes of the crisis (perverse incentive, too many papers) is insufficient. • The crisis is due to a transformed role: from emancipation and betterment of mankind to instrument of profit and growth • Scientists cannot resolve the problem alone and have high stakes in the preservation of the status quo. • Institu…
Ciência pós-normal e comunidades ampliadas de pares face aos desafios ambientais
Os novos problemas relacionados a riscos e ao meio ambiente têm aspectos comuns que os distinguem dos problemas científicos tradicionais: os fatos são incertos, os valores, controvertidos, as apostas, elevadas e as decisões, urgentes. Chamamos de ciência pós-normal a estratégia de resolução de problemas adequada a esse contexto. A função essencial de controle de qualidade e avaliação crítica não pode mais ser desempenhada por um corpo restrito de…
The technique is never neutral. How methodological choices condition the generation of narratives for sustainability
How to tackle uncertainties and ensure quality in integrated assessment for sustainability? To what extent does the choice of the methodology condition the narrative produced by the analysis? The present work argues that the two questions are tightly coupled. The technique is never neutral. If we are the tools of our tools, as suggested by Thoreau, then it can also be said that language is not only a vehicle for communication, it is the driver as…
The good, the true and the post-modern
From elite folk science to the policy legend of the circular economy
This paper explores the implications of the widespread success of the term circular economy in the institutional and public debate. The concept of circular economy in itself implies a logical contradiction: on the one hand, the concept acknowledges the dependence of the economy on biophysical flows; on the other hand, the proposed solution—a business model guaranteeing a full decoupling of the economy from natural resources—seemingly ignores that…
Hybridizing sustainability
Science for the Twenty-First Century
(www.unesco.org/issj) The article addresses the need, posed by the challenges of sustainable development and the changing context at the
Extended Peer Communities
This paper explores the implications of assessing tacit knowledges of climatic change in extended peer communities, as applied in two European research projects on climate action. Post-normal science (PNS) proposes the extension of the peer community to co-produce better quality knowledge for decision-making on issues like climate change, where facts are uncertain, values in dispute, stakes high and decisions urgent. The paper has two aims. The f…
The poetry of thermodynamics
Change and commitment
Risk and responsibility have always been linked philosophically in the Western tradition. The purpose of this article is to discuss possible alternatives to the centrality of the risk discourse, arguing that such alternatives call for a revision in the concept of responsibility, decoupling it from the aspirations of control over Nature and the future. It implies also a more complex relation between knowledge and action. Rather than believing that…
Negotiating a place for sustainability science
Commentary
Visions for Venice in 2050
Thou shalt not take the name of bioeconomy in vain
In this paper, we show that the characteristics of complex adaptive systems support the original interpretation of the bioeconomy of Georgescu-Roegen: the current use of natural resources by industrialized societies is incompatible with the regeneration processes of ecological systems. Elaborating the concept of societal identity, using a biosemiotics reading of the social theory of Luhmann, we show that the current social identity is sustained b…
Plug and play
Economy and environment
Uncertainty and Quality in Science for Policy
The good, the true and the post-modern
The Emergence of Post-Normal Science
Science for the post-normal age
Uncertainty, complexity and post-normal science
The quality of the scientific inputs to the policy process is known to be problematic. No one can claim “truth” for his results. Nor can uncertainty be banished, but good quality can be achieved by its proper management. The interaction of systems uncertainties and decision stakes can be used to provide guidance for the choice of appropriate problem-solving strategies. When either or both of these are high, then mission-oriented applied science a…
The worth of a songbird
Environmental science theory
Emergent complex systems
The poetry of thermodynamics
Ciência pós-normal e comunidades ampliadas de pares face aos desafios ambientais
Os novos problemas relacionados a riscos e ao meio ambiente têm aspectos comuns que os distinguem dos problemas científicos tradicionais: os fatos são incertos, os valores, controvertidos, as apostas, elevadas e as decisões, urgentes. Chamamos de ciência pós-normal a estratégia de resolução de problemas adequada a esse contexto. A função essencial de controle de qualidade e avaliação crítica não pode mais ser desempenhada por um corpo restrito de…
Commentary
Combining participative and institutional approaches with multicriteria evaluation. An empirical study for water issues in Troina, Sicily
Science for the Twenty-First Century
(www.unesco.org/issj) The article addresses the need, posed by the challenges of sustainable development and the changing context at the
‘Democratising’ expertise, ‘expertising’ democracy
What is the role of participatory processes in decision-making related to science and technology and in any other area where knowledge and expert advice play an important role? Can expert advice to policy makers be more transparent and accountable? This introduction discusses these and other connected questions under the provocative label of ‘democratising expertise’. It highlights and explores the variety of linkages between governance and knowl…
Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Measures of Uncertainty in Model‐Based Environmental Assessment
This article discusses recent experiences with the Numeral Unit Spread Assessment Pedigree (NUSAP) system for multidimensional uncertainty assessment, based on four case studies that vary in complexity. We show that the NUSAP method is applicable not only to relatively simple calculation schemes but also to complex models in a meaningful way and that NUSAP is useful to assess not only parameter uncertainty but also (model) assumptions. A diagnost…
Change and commitment
Risk and responsibility have always been linked philosophically in the Western tradition. The purpose of this article is to discuss possible alternatives to the centrality of the risk discourse, arguing that such alternatives call for a revision in the concept of responsibility, decoupling it from the aspirations of control over Nature and the future. It implies also a more complex relation between knowledge and action. Rather than believing that…
Hybridizing sustainability
Plug and play
Visions for Venice in 2050
Negotiating a place for sustainability science
Science, New Forms of
Peer Review and Quality Control
What is science’s crisis really about
Science’s crisis is real. A resolution is not in sight, but a Reformation is not impossible. • The mainstream interpretation of the root causes of the crisis (perverse incentive, too many papers) is insufficient. • The crisis is due to a transformed role: from emancipation and betterment of mankind to instrument of profit and growth • Scientists cannot resolve the problem alone and have high stakes in the preservation of the status quo. • Institu…
The technique is never neutral. How methodological choices condition the generation of narratives for sustainability
How to tackle uncertainties and ensure quality in integrated assessment for sustainability? To what extent does the choice of the methodology condition the narrative produced by the analysis? The present work argues that the two questions are tightly coupled. The technique is never neutral. If we are the tools of our tools, as suggested by Thoreau, then it can also be said that language is not only a vehicle for communication, it is the driver as…
Sociology (18 works) · Political science (14 works) · Computer Science (12 works) · Economics (12 works) · Engineering (11 works) · Epistemology (11 works) · Social science (11 works) · Philosophy (10 works) · Philosophy (8 works) · Law (7 works)