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Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology ›› 2019, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (1): 325-336.doi: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.201901.001

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Sustainability science revisited: Recent advances and new opportunities

ZHOU Bing-bing1, MA Qun2,3*, WU Jian-guo1,3,4, HU Guo-hua5,6, MAO De-hua7, ZENG Xiao-ji3, GUO Jie8, FANG Xue-ning3, LIU Yu-peng9, LYU Li-gang10   

  1. 1School of Sustainability, Arizona State Univer-sity, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA;
    2Institute of Urban Study, School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China;
    3Center for Human-Environment System Sustainability, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China;
    4School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA;
    5Schoolof Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China;
    6Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China;
    7Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China;
    8College of Land Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China;
    9Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, Fujian, China;
    10Schoolof Public Administration, Nanjing University of Finance & Economics, Nanjing 210023, China
  • Received:2018-07-06 Revised:2018-10-19 Online:2019-01-20 Published:2019-01-20
  • Supported by:

    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31700406), the National Basic Research Program of China (2014CB954303), the US National Science Foundation (DEB-1342757), and Arizona State University (TU11007)

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Abstract: During the past decade, sustainability science has rapidly developed into a globally well-recognized and important new science of the 21st century. However, sustainability science has not received much attention from scientists and practitioners in China where sustainable development and ecological civilization have been prominent themes. To promote the development of sustainability science in China, Wu, et al. (2014) published the first in-depth review on the subject in Chinese, entitled “What is sustainability science?” Here, we revisit the question, and discuss the relationship between sustainability science and sustainable development research, the scientific paradigm and the core research questions of sustainability science. Our review of the recent advances in this field reveals contrasting trends for the world versus China. On the one hand, the world is witnessing sustainability science maturing with global momentum to systematically advance sustainability research and education. On the other hand, China greatly lags behind developed countries and South Africa, albeit the great deal of new passion and desire for sustainable development. To promote the science and practice of sustainability in China, we propose a trinity strategy: 1) “bringing in” from the global community to guide Chinese practices in sustainable development; 2) “reaching out” to the global community to share Chinese wisdom of sustainable development; and 3) “integrating traditional Chinese philosophy with western science” to lead the development of sustainability science.