Towards transition: resourcing socially learned decisions

This conceptual paper examines the need for deliberative public decision making to create a sustainable society, and the potential for social learning and public decision making in the online collective intelligence. Concepts and evidence are synthesised from studies of sustainability, decision-making, communication, deliberative democracy, knowledge management, and information and communication technology. The future of the relationship between humans, society, and nature is being co-constructed, and ICT may act to improve or to diminish the quality of this relationship. Further understanding of the potential of ICT to enable and support public/social learning and democratic decisions on courses of action will be a signpost to a pathway to a sustainable future. The synthesis of understandings from sustainable development, communication, knowledge management, and online web domains creates a meta-level appreciation of converging issues facing humans and society in relation to nature. This is a contribution to understanding online communication for building a pathway out of crisis into a sustainable society.