Abstract

As an ideal, sustainable development—or sustainability—integrates economic growth, social equity, and enduring environmental quality. Studies of sustainability are multi-disciplinary, cross-sectoral, and reflexive—some would claim transdisciplinary. More broadly, sustainable development has been characterized as a societal process of learning, adaptation, and creation. Climate change represents a clear and pressing challenge toward efforts to forge a sustainable future. This Special Issue is premised on the proposition that the effort to develop and apply climate services is—or at least ought to be—part and parcel of the larger enterprise of sustainable development.

For this project, we sought critical input from scholars and practitioners outside the climate services community, and especially pieces co-authored by information users and their technical/scientific partners. We insisted that contributions reflect the voice, perspective, and existential situation of climate service users. Entitled “Sustainability and Climate Services: Critique, Integration, and Reimagination”, the purpose of this Special Issue is to empower unconventional thinking in the hopes of accelerating the relevance of climate services at a time when many communities, public and private organizations, tribes, and all level of government agencies are pursuing programs of climate adaptation and resilience. It is our hope that this body of work will provide outside-the-box critique and help to identify and facilitate a ‘next generation’ of weather- and climate-related services, both more relevant information products, but also services that may go beyond the conventional scientific orientation of providing information products.