Sustainability research: Organizational challenge for intermediary research institutes

摘要: The agricultural sustainability challenge is often formulated in terms of meeting the increasing demand for food a growing and wealthier world population while simultaneously reducing environmental impacts. Strategies to meet this include yields, saving land diverting produce from use feed fuel. paper compares such strategies based on natural sciences with alternatives captured under umbrella sciences, systems mixed approaches. Theoretical methodological foundations various branches have been developed over last decades at academia, but although experimentation -putting theory into action- has carried out Netherlands considerable degree, hardly led institutional change research constellation itself. It argued that intermediary institutes by their position between practice government society are principle well positioned incorporate science. This requires boundary management beyond traditional boundaries biological technical disciplines fields application retention methodology knowledge within units scientists complementary skills. To become effective doing science can probably only be achieved after prolonged period evaluation, shared base theories, methods networks form core system, as contrasted disciplinary groups.