Responding to Pollution Problems: Conceptual Analysis of Disciplinary Approaches

The scientific community to guide the analysis of pollution problems and solution generation adopts disciplinary approaches. This paper examines monodisciplinary where all attention is given to one element or relationship; multidisciplinary approach where disciplines are considered side by side and usually arranged by an intuitive notion of connections, interdisciplinary approach where disciplines are strongly connected, usually by way of a systematic framework and transdisciplinary approach were different elements of disciplines form a discipline. Conceptual schemes, the causal chain approach and systems approach which are offsprings from the different disciplinary approaches relevant for the development of frameworks for pollution management are examined. The paper ends by proposing adaptive management of complex systems, material flow analysis, cognitive switches in evolutionary approaches for problem analysis and opportunity discovery as the building blocks for the development of frameworks for sustainable pollution management in developing countries.