From basic research to applied solutions: are two approaches to sustainability science emerging?

Despite its widespread emergence and adoption, sustainability science continues to suffer from definitional ambiguity within the academe. A review of efforts to provide direction and structure to the science reveal a continuum of approaches anchored at either end by differing visions of how the science interfaces with practice (solutions). At one end, basic science of societally defined problems informs decisions about possible solutions and their application. At the other end, applied research directly affects the options available to decision makers. While clear from the literature, we also point to survey data that suggests the dichotomy does not appear to be as apparent in the minds of practitioners.