Designing utopias: Toward Clementsian industrial climax ecology

Abstract The ecosystem has long served as the core metaphor in industrial ecology, shaping numerous debates throughout the discipline's history. However, other ecological metaphors can be equally productive. Before Tansley's ecosystem concept became paradigmatic in ecology, the field's most influential framework was Frederic Clements’ climax theory, which described ecological succession as a process leading toward stable, mature states. This paper proposes an alternative perspective by drawing on Clementsian succession theory to introduce industrial climax ecology, a framework that reinterprets sustainability as the pursuit of stable, utopian industrial configurations. Although Clementsian ecology has been largely superseded in ecological sciences by more mature views on succession, its foundational ideas remain relevant in conservation studies and, as argued here, can offer valuable insights for industrial ecology. The concept of industrial climax ecology provides a long‐term perspective on the kinds of economic and industrial futures humanity might envision in an era of sustainability. While Clementsian terminology requires adaptation, its vocabulary offers a conceptual bridge between scholars in the natural and social sciences. Industrial climax represents an ideal to strive for, while various proclimaxes serve as cautionary markers, highlighting suboptimal arrangements and the pitfalls of utopian thinking. By moving beyond the ecosystem metaphor and incorporating climax theory, this study calls for a historically informed, interdisciplinary approach to sustainability in industrial systems. The proposed framework encourages industrial ecologists to critically reassess how stability, resilience, and long‐term development are conceptualized, offering a broader theoretical foundation for addressing complex environmental challenges.