Solving Problems Is Not Enough: Why Sustainability Science Needs Theory Building

In a new publication in GAIA – Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, led by Helge Kminek (University of Klagenfurt) and co-authored by Daniel Fischer, Mandy Singer-Brodowski (University of Regensburg) and Alexander Denzin (Leipzig University), we ask why theory building has become a marginal concern in sustainability science, and what the field gives up as a result.

The article uses research on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as its case, a field the authors work in themselves. Read against its own record, ESD research shows three tendencies: theoretical assumptions that stay implicit rather than being made transparent, a body of context-rich case and intervention studies that rarely aggregates into anything more general, and a flow of ideas the authors call outside-in, where ESD borrows concepts from sustainability science and educational research but seldom exports theory back into those debates.

None of this is an argument against practical relevance. The claim runs the other way. Sustainability problems are wicked in the sense of Rittel and Webber, so research that skips theoretical deliberation risks promising definitive solutions where none can exist. Empirical work that leaves its theoretical basis unexamined also leaves the tensions and contradictions inside that basis unnoticed. And reflexive distance is harder to maintain in education than in many other fields, because researchers bring their own schooling into the object they study. The text ends with openings rather than conclusions: reconstructing the implicit theories behind existing empirical ESD work, and asking whether sustainability is a perspective that requires basic educational concepts such as education, learning and responsibility to be re-examined, not just a topic to which they can be applied.

Paper Abstract:
Sustainability science is a field defined by the problems it addresses and its commitment to bridging knowledge and action. We observe a tendency in the field to overemphasize problem solving while neglecting theory building as a scientific pursuit. We explore this tension through Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) research, identify three problematic tendencies, examine their scientific and practice-facing implications, and propose directions for strengthening theoretical work. We address this invitation to ESD researchers and the wider sustainability science community.

Bibliographic reference:
Kminek, H., Fischer, D., Singer-Brodowski, M., & Denzin, A. (2026). The case for theory building in sustainability science. An invitation from Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) research. GAIA – Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 35(3), 191–195. https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.35.3.9