Search results

Measuring research’s policy influence is challenging, given the complexity of the policy process, the gradual nature of policy influence, and the time lag between research investment and impact. This paper assesses measurement approaches and discusses their merits and applications to overcome various hurdles.

Relevant articles and studies were selected and analyzed. First, the research-policy interface was revisited to understand their link and how research influences policy making. Second, the most common approaches for measuring policy influence were reviewed based on their features, strengths, and limitations.

The three approaches reviewed — pyramid, influencing, and results chain — have their respective strengths. Thus, research organizations planning to design a program for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of policy influence have to adopt the best possible features of each approach and develop a customized method depending on their objectives and overall M&E framework.

This paper fosters a deeper understanding of leveraging the three approaches.

The purpose of this study was to conduct a preliminary analysis of the role of higher education institutions (HEIs) in state climate science assessment (CSA) and state climate adaptation plan (CAP) development in the USA.

This study uses a content review of US state government and land grant (LG) university websites, including 36 CSAs and CAPs. These data informed the development of a tiered conceptual model of HEI engagement in state climate action planning. The conceptual model is evaluated through the lens of coproduction within knowledge networks.

HEI contributions to state-level climate action planning in the USA are highly variable, ranging from minimal engagement to defined roles in the development and implementation of robust state CAPs. Novel approaches to optimize effective exchange between scientists and decision-makers that also increase the engagement of academia are needed.

This study advocates for and provides a replicable example of HEI engagement in the development of mechanisms that increase the connectivity of in-state climate networks. Such mechanisms optimize information sharing and engagement, consequently building sustained capacity for in-state collaboration at the science–policy interface.

HEIs, particularly LG universities, are a stable source of state-specific climate science and expert assistance that persist beyond national and state political cycles. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to examine their unique contributions to climate science policy development and implementation. It investigates specifically the relationships and interactions between HEIs and state governments in the USA and offers a detailed case study from the state of Maine.

Risk governance is being successfully inserted into scientific and political agendas as a way to understand and address complex problems, such as health problems that have both social and ecological dimensions. However, to date, the debate on risk governance has remained rather conceptual. This chapter addresses these lacunae through describing research that was conducted on the Flemish environmental health governance arrangement and draws on this empirical case study to suggest ways that risk governance can be put into practice.

The case study analysis was conducted through a mixed methods study that combined document analysis and data gathered through 22 in-depth interviews with environmental and health scientists as well as policymakers.

This research shows that the Flemish environmental health risk governance arrangement has succeeded in increasing the exchange of information between: (1) governments at a variety of levels; (2) scientists, policymakers and the general public and (3) environmental and public health civil servants. The analysis also provides insights into some shortcomings and makes recommendations for ameliorating this arrangement: (1) the integration of environmental health objectives into all relevant policy domains, (2) the need for additional research into environmental health indicators and (3) the facilitation of the co-production of knowledge and multi-actor governance.

Empirical contributions and analysis about risk governance and policy formation processes are not often conducted. The added value of this Flemish case study is that it presents an example of good practice from which lessons for future risk governance arrangements can be drawn.

The purpose of this paper is to apply the concept of “Interconnected Geoscience” to a disaster and risk reduction (DRR) case study at SECMOL College, near Leh, Ladakh, N. India. Interconnected geoscience is a model that advocates holistic approaches to geoscience for development. This paper reports research/practical work with Ladakhi students/staff, undertaking community-oriented DRR exercises in hazard awareness, DRR themed village/college mapping, vulnerability assessments and DRR management scenario development. The geoscientific hazard analysis work is published within a separate sister paper, with results feeding into this work. This work addresses aspects of, and contributes to, the DRR research(science)-policy-interface conversation.

Interconnected geoscience methodologies for DRR here are: the application of geoscience for hazard causality, spatial distribution, frequency and impact assessment, for earthquakes, floods and landslides, within the SECMOL area; the generation of community-developed DRR products and services of use to a range of end-users; the development of a contextual geoscience approach, informed by social-developmental-issues; and the active participation of SECMOL students/teachers and consequent integration of local world-views and wisdom within DRR research. Initial DRR awareness levels of students were assessed with respect to earthquakes/floods/landslides/droughts. Following hazard teaching sessions, students engaged in a range of DRR exercises, and produced DRR themed maps, data, tables and documented conversations of relevance to DRR management.

Students levels of hazard awareness were variable, generally low for low-frequency hazards (e.g. earthquakes) and higher for hazards such as floods/landslides which either are within recent memory, or have higher frequencies. The 2010 Ladakhi flood disaster has elevated aspects of flood-hazard knowledge. Landslides and drought hazards were moderately well understood. Spatial awareness was identified as a strength. The application of an interconnected geoscience approach immersed within a student+staff college community, proved to be effective, and can rapidly assess/build upon awareness levels and develop analytical tools for the further understanding of DRR management. This approach can assist Ladakhi regional DRR management in increasing the use of regional capability/resources, and reducing the need for external inputs.

A series of recommendations for the DRR geoscience/research-policy-practice area include: adopting an “interconnected geoscience” approach to DRR research, involving scientific inputs to DRR; using and developing local capability and resources for Ladakhi DRR policy and practice; using/further-developing DRR exercises presented in this paper, to integrate science with communities, and further-empower communities; taking account of the findings that hazard awareness is variable, and weak, for potentially catastrophic hazards, such as earthquakes, when designing policy and practice for raising DRR community awareness; ensuring that local values/world views/wisdom inform all DRR research, and encouraging external “experts” to carefully consider these aspects within Ladakh-based DRR work; and further-developing DRR networks across Ladakh that include pockets of expertise such as SECMOL.

The term “interconnected geoscience” is highly novel, further developing thinking within the research/science-policy-practice interface. This is the first time an exercise such as this has been undertaken in the Ladakh Himalaya.

The purpose of this paper is to look into how collaborations among science and technology groups and other stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific region can facilitate implementation of national and local disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies through education, training and field practice. Case studies on transdisciplinary approach (TDA) that integrates cross-cutting DRR issues and various stakeholders through science and technology are introduced from several countries in the region as attempts to holistically support societies build and strengthen their disaster resilience.

First, through literature review, the transition from single discipline to TDA is illustrated in which various stakeholders of different disciplines work together to achieve a common societal goal. This is followed by introduction of several case studies of actual TDA implementation for DRR in which information had been gathered through surveys and interviews with international science and technology stakeholders. Finally, through analysis and discussion, the study identifies the key roles of science and technology stakeholders for facilitating TDA for DRR.

The study concludes with key findings on the specific roles of science and technology including provision of education and training to build capacities of DRR practitioners to effectively plan and implement DRR measures, support to evidence-based decision making through locally specific scientific assessments and analysis and validation scientific information on the actual field for DRR practitioners and agencies. In materializing these roles into action, institutionalization of supporting policies and budget provision that promotes TDA are suggested.

Even though TDA is not a new concept and many stakeholders understand its importance, TDA has not been widely exercised mainly due to conventional practices of experts and organizations working only within their groups and disciplines. With this understanding, this study has newly identified eight key elements that can be used as a guide and checklist for DRR stakeholders to effectively implement TDA for strengthening disaster resilience of their societies.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyse interfaces between scholarly and science communication practices by using the production of open letters on climate change as a point of departure. Furthermore, the paper highlights an understudied form of science communication – open letters.

The material consists of nine open letters on climate change, written and signed by academics and published in 2018–2019, as well as 13 semi-structured interviews with the initiators and co-authors of the letters. The interviews were analysed by qualitative thematic analysis and grouped into thematic clusters.

The study finds that three practices used in scholarly communication – more specifically: peer review, professional community building and, to a certain extent, communication as “merit-making” – are central in the making of the open letters, illustrating an integration of scholarly communication practices in academic science communication activities.

The study suggests that the conflation of communication practices needs to be seen in relation to larger structural changes in the academic working environment, as well as in relation to the specific environment in which communication about climate change occurs.

This study contends that the proposed conflation between scholarly and science communication concerns not only texts and genres but also practices integral to contemporary science, thereby conflating the forms of communication at a practical level.

The aim of this paper is to present the effectiveness of participatory information and communication technology (ICT) tools for urban planning, in particular, supporting bottom-up decision-making in urban management and governance.

This work begins with a presentation on the state of the art literature on the existing participatory approaches and their contribution to urban planning and the policymaking process. Furthermore, a case study, namely, the UrbanAPI project, is selected to identify new visualisation and simulation tools applied at different urban scales. These tools are applied in four different European cities – Vienna, Bologna, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Ruse – with the objective to identify the data needs for application development, commonalities in requirements of such participatory tools and their expected impact in policy and decision-making processes.

The case study presents three planning applications: three-dimensional Virtual Reality at neighbourhood scale, Public Motion Explorer at city-wide scale and Urban Growth Simulation at city-region scale. UrbanAPI applications indicate both active and passive participation secured by applying these tools at different urban scales and hence facilitate evidence-based urban planning decision-making. Structured engagement with the city administrations indicates commonalities in user needs and application requirements creating the potential for the development of generic features in these ICT tools which can be applied to many other cities throughout Europe.

This paper presents new ICT-enabled participatory urban planning tools at different urban scales to support collaborative decision-making and urban policy development. Various technologies are used for the development of these IT tools and applied to the real environment of four European cities.

This study aims to assess progress toward achieving international (United Nations’) goals and targets for attaining sustainable development and discuss the risks of worldwide failure.

The authors highlight the relationship between global goals/targets and governance, relate this to the concept of sustainable development, outline and compare Millennium Development Goals and their successors, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and lastly view SDG implementation from two major spaces i.e. the governance and science space, respectively.

Governance and culture as new components of sustainable development may be sine qua non for humanity’s transformative action toward global and just sustainable development. Through fostering informed decision and policymaking, modern science, as sketched in this contribution, should provide the framework for realizing Agenda 2030. Earth System Science and its innovative notions such as the Anthropocene, planetary boundaries, tipping points and tipping elements will be key in the process of “designing” blank a sustainable future of and for Homo sapiens.

This essay proposes developing holistic approaches to cooperate at all levels in urgent efforts to meet goals projected for 2030 and 2050. The complexity and functioning of the governance space, comprising a system of governance systems, is illustrated not only in the diversity of the institutional landscape but in particular through the blurring of all scales – local to global.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to emergent understandings in research into urban climate change-related disasters (such as extreme heat), which recognise that present-day actions or failures of cities to address climate risk are rooted in a historical context.

The paper analyses content of scientific journals produced by the not-for-profit Kyushu Environmental Evaluation Association in Fukuoka since the 1970s. The aim is to evaluate the shifting understanding and conception of a liveable urban environment within Fukuoka over time and assess how this narrative has informed capability to understand and manage extreme heat as an emergent disaster risk.

The strong technical competences enabling Fukuoka to undertake evidence-based management of risks from climate-related disasters today exist at least partially because of earlier environmental concerns within the city and an early emergence of techno-scientific competence within the city's research institutions working at the science–policy interface.

The findings suggest a need to avoid uncritically exporting “lessons” from apparent urban climate “success stories”, without full recognition of the historical context enabling production and utilisation of weather and climate knowledge in specific locations.

This paper looks at science communication through an organisational lens with the aim of assessing the relevance of different organisational forms for science communication.

The paper explores science communication in different organisational forms. Based on conceptual considerations and by reviewing existing empirical literature, the paper selects and compares three organisational forms of science communication: the editorial office of a daily newspaper, the press office of a university and the Science Media Centre.

The paper shows the relevance of organisation for science communication by comparing three organisational forms. The first two, the science news desk and the press office, have the character of a sub-system of an organisation, while the third, the Science Media Centre, forms its own organisation. The paper shows how the respective set-up shapes science-media contacts with a focus on the occurrence and resolution of conflicts.

The paper proposes a conceptual framework for studying science communication through an organisational lens but leaves comparative empirical studies of all types to future research. Yet, it outlines and compares implications of the formal organisation of science communication from a conceptual point of view.

The findings provide information on the structural impact of different organisational forms on science communication and point to where conflicting expectations, and thus potential conflicts, are most likely to occur in each case. A reflection of structurally conflicting expectations and how they can be overcome in specific situations is of high practical value for all science communication activities.

Organisational theorists have long argued that organisations are the key to understanding society. Despite their undoubted relevance, however, organisations and their influence on science communication have so far been much less analysed – both conceptually and empirically – than its contents, its practices and its impacts on public understanding, public policy, and on science and scientists. The paper contributes to the emerging field with conceptual considerations towards an organisational sociology of science communication.