The quest for sustainable development should build upon scientific knowledge - as the title of this book indicates. However, (scientific) knowledge is itself framed differently in different worldviews. The concept of complexity, and its increasing role in science, can assist in exploring some epistemological issues and approaches about the quality of (scientific) knowledge (post-normal and Mode-1 Mode-2 science, NUSAP) - important in times of ’alternative facts’. It also influences the scientific and engineering endeavour par excellence: (formal) modelling. In sustainability science, it shows up in intense efforts to complement natural science models with models that include (human) behaviour (next chapter). Communicating complexity happens also in less formal ways, with metamodels, analogues and metaphors, and organizing concepts (transition theory, social dilemmas and others).
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