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Science Communication, Vol. 29, No. 2, 264-270 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1075547007309103

Communicating Ignorance and the Development of Post-Mining Landscapes

Matthias Gross

Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig

Scientific knowledge is always limited by ignorance. This essay discusses the design of landscapes altered by strip-mining in East Germany, which started with a clear acknowledgement of the limits of knowing as a foundation for acting in the face of ignorance. However, after more than 15 years, communication about the limits of knowing in landscape design is increasingly founded on the belief that uncertainty and risk need to be answered with more certainty via expert knowledge, which has led to a development stalemate or "lock-in." This observation supports the thesis that laying open the limits of scientific knowledge to the public can improve public confidence in applied research and thus open new room to maneuver at the local level.

Key Words: ignorance • nonknowledge • landscape design • science in public • surface mining


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