Professor Gary Kass

Personal statement:

I am an environmental and sustainability scientist and knowledge broker, with nearly 40 years’ practice, working at the interface of science and policy, with keen interests in capabilities for sustainability policy and practice, decision-making under uncertainty, fostering inter-and transdisciplinary approaches, and promoting futures, systems and values thinking.

I started as a government scientist before moving to private practice, then worked in various public sector at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, the Department of Trade and Industry, Defra and Natural England. I am now a ‘pracademic’ and a member of the Office for Environmental Protection College of Experts, specialising in sustainability, foresight and science-policy interactions.  I also chair the Policy Committee for the Institution of Environmental Sciences and am an Independent Assessor for Level 7 Apprenticeship standards for Sustainability Business Specialist and Systems Thinking Practitioner.

Key topic areas of research or interest:

My main area of activity is in sustainability science – particularly the links between policy and practice within real-world settings, and how we can strengthen the capabilities (competencies, capacities and enabling conditions) we need to make progress on sustainability. Chief among these are capabilities related to futures and systems thinking, human-nature values, linking knowledge with action and effecting system transformation towards sustainability.

I am also working on frameworks and diagnostics to help practitioners and policymakers to understand to identify the barriers to and enablers of effective implementation of environmental and sustainability policy and hence support policy deign and delivery, supporting sustainability practitioners in multiple settings.

Collaboration opportunities:

I would welcome collaboration of any sort in my main areas of interest. I am particular keen to support transdisciplinary, solution-oriented and forward-looking work that helps people to appreciate and develop approaches to addressing an increasing volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world, drawing on an drawing together sources of knowledge, experience and insight from multiple to address key challenges I’m particularly keen on supporting undergraduate, postgraduate and ECR learning and development in building wider appreciation of and capacity in advancing sustainability science; promoting, as Amartya Sen put it, sustainability scientists as “informed agitators”.

Publications:

Kass, G. (2025).  Beyond disciplines: Strengthening boundary crossing through geography.  https://doi.org/10.1002/geo2.70013 Geo:  Geography and Environment

Kass, G., Milner, A. and Doods, K. (2022). The borderlands of the science-policy interface. https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.12469 Geographical Journal

Oliver, T., Kass, G., et al (2021). Knowledge architecture for wise governance of sustainability transitions. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2021.09.025 Environmental Science and Policy

Everard, M., Kass, G. et al (2021). Reconnecting society with its ecological roots. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2020.11.002 Environmental Science and Policy.