Abstract Industrial ecology (IE) research has well established expertise in accounting for the material stocks, flows, and associated impacts of industrial and consumer activities in a variety of scales and manifestations. As with many other science and social science fields, however, the pathways from IE research findings to policy and business decision‐making are often unclear and unsatisfactory. This issue creates a challenge for the application of industrial ecology to sustainable development. By reviewing several strands of literature, this article investigates alternative ways to generate and use research findings to support decision‐making and social change. It argues that advances in both the core and the emerging methods in IE complement each other to improve transparency and reliability of research evidence; extension and contextualization of current findings corresponding to different stages in policy‐making and organizational decision processes make research evidence more informative; a learning perspective makes research evidence valuable and used in more flexible ways. To better assist decision‐making for societal change, more dialogues between researchers of different methodological cultures and between researchers and other stakeholders and a paradigm shift in social systems for which industrial ecologists should be conscious and proactive are required.

Junming Zhu

Journal of Industrial Ecology

《工业生态学杂志》涉及一系列相关主题：材料和能量流研究（“工业新陈代谢”）技术变革去物质化和脱碳生命周期规划、设计和评估环境扩展生产者责任设计（“产品管理”）生态工业园区（“工业共生”）以产品为导向的环境政策生态效率工业生态学杂志对跨学科方法的投稿开放并鼓励投稿。除了更正式的学术论文外，该杂志还寻求通过学者、环境管理者、政策制定者、倡导者和其他参与环境科学、管理和政策的人的贡献，提供一个持续交流信息和意见的论坛。

The Journal of Industrial Ecology covers a range of related topics, including the study of material and energy flows (known as 'industrial metabolism'), technological change, dematerialization and decarbonization, life cycle planning, design and assessment, extended producer responsibility design (referred to as 'product management'), eco-industrial parks (known as 'industrial symbiosis'), product-oriented environmental policies, and eco-efficiency. The journal is open to and encourages submissions that employ interdisciplinary approaches. In addition to formal academic papers, the Journal of Industrial Ecology seeks contributions from scholars, environmental managers, policymakers, advocates, and others involved in environmental science, management, and policy, providing a forum for ongoing exchange of information and opinions.

《工业生态学杂志》涵盖了一系列相关主题，包括材料和能量流的研究（即“工业新陈代谢”）、技术变革、去物质化与脱碳、生命周期规划、设计与评估、环境扩展生产者责任设计（即“产品管理”）、生态工业园区（即“工业共生”）、以产品为导向的环境政策、生态效率等。该杂志欢迎并鼓励跨学科方法的投稿。除了正式的学术论文外，《工业生态学杂志》还希望通过学者、环境管理者、政策制定者、倡导者及其他参与环境科学、管理和政策的人士的贡献，提供一个持续交流信息和意见的论坛。

Category	Quartile
环境科学与生态学	3
环境科学与生态学, 工程环境	3
环境科学与生态学, 环境科学	3
环境科学与生态学, 绿色可持续发展技术	4

Suggested use? On evidence‐based decision‐making in industrial ecology and beyond

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Journal Info

Category	Quartile
GREEN & SUSTAINABLE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY	2