Convergence in

sustainability science Sustainability science first emerged in the 1980s and has become a new academic discipline Similar to agricultural science or health science, it is an applied science defined by the practical problems it addresses. Sustainability science focuse ...

s refers to mechanisms and pathways that lead towards

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

with a specific focus on 'Equity within biological planetary limits'. These pathways and mechanisms explicitly advocate equity and recognise the need for redistribution of the Earth's resources in order for human society to operate enduringly within the Earth's biophysical limits. The term was first introduced by

Phillip A. Sharp Phillip Allen Sharp (born June 6, 1944) is an American geneticist and molecular biologist who co-discovered RNA splicing. He shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Richard J. Roberts for "the discovery that genes in euka ...

and

Robert Langer Robert Samuel Langer Jr. FREng (born August 29, 1948) is an American chemical engineer, scientist, entrepreneur, inventor and one of the twelve Institute Professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was formerly the Germeshau ...

in 2011 in the context of

biomedical science Biomedical sciences are a set of sciences applying portions of natural science or formal science, or both, to develop knowledge, interventions, or technology that are of use in healthcare or public health. Such disciplines as medical microbio ...

. They called for a problem-solving approach that integrated knowledge from the fields of engineering, the physical sciences, computer science, and the life sciences to find solutions to human problems. The idea has since been applied in areas including

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

environmental health Environmental health is the branch of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural and built environment affecting human health. In order to effectively control factors that may affect health, the requirements that must be met in ...

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

, systemic inequities. and

. One strategy is to add “friction” to undesirable practices and make them harder to do, while making the desired practices “frictionless” or easy to do. This use of the term 'convergence' harkens from the concept of

contraction and convergence Contraction and Convergence (C&C) is a proposed global framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change. Conceived by the Global Commons Institute CIin the early 1990s, the Contraction and Convergence strategy consists of ...

(C&C), taking its core principles of Equity and Survival and applying them beyond the frame of

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and lar ...

to the wider sustainability agenda.

References

Sustainability Environmental terminology Environmental social science concepts {{Sustainability-stub