Aligning research with policy and practice for sustainable agricultural land systems in Europe

Agriculture is widely recognized as critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but researchers, policymakers, and practitioners have multiple, often conflicting yet poorly documented priorities on how agriculture could or should support achieving the SDGs. Here, we assess consensus and divergence in priorities for agricultural systems among research, policy, and practice perspectives and discuss the implications for research on trade-offs among competing goals. We analyzed the priorities given to 239 environmental and social drivers, management choices, and outcomes of agricultural systems from 69 research articles, the SDGs and four EU policies, and seven agricultural sustainability assessment tools aimed at farmers. We found all three perspectives recognize 32 variables as key to agricultural systems, providing a shared area of focus for agriculture’s contribution to the SDGs. However, 207 variables appear in only one or two perspectives, implying that potential trade-offs may be overlooked if evaluated from only one perspective. We identified four approaches to agricultural land systems research in Europe that omit most of the variables considered important from policy and practice perspectives. We posit that the four approaches reflect prevailing paradigms of research design and data analysis and suggest future research design should consider including the 32 shared variables as a starting point for more policy- and practice-relevant research. Our identification of shared priorities from different perspectives and attention to environmental and social domains and the functional role of system components provide a concrete basis to encourage codesigned and systems-based research approaches to guide agriculture’s contribution to the SDGs.

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Managing Borders During Public Health Emergencies of International Concern: A Proposed Typology of Cross-border Health Measures

10.21203/rs.3.rs-278629/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Kelley Lee ◽

Karen A Grépin ◽

Catherine Worsnop ◽

Summer Marion ◽

Julianne Piper ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Research Policy ◽

Grey Literature ◽

World Health ◽

Border Health ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Public Health Emergencies ◽

Cross Border ◽

Health Measures ◽

Starting Point

Abstract BackgroundThe near universal adoption of cross-border health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide has prompted significant debate about their effectiveness and compliance with international law. The number of measures used, and the range of measures applied, have far exceeded previous public health emergencies of international concern. However, efforts to advance research, policy and practice to support their effective use has been hindered by a lack of clear and consistent definition. ResultsBased on a review of existing datasets for cross-border health measures, such as the Oxford Coronavirus Government Response Tracker and World Health Organization Public Health and Social Measures, along with analysis of secondary and grey literature, we propose six categories to define measures more clearly and consistently – type of movement (travel and trade), policy goal, level of jurisdiction, use by public versus private sector, stage of journey, and degree of restrictiveness. These categories are then be brought together into a proposed typology that can support research with generalizable findings and comparative analyses across jurisdictions. The typology facilitates evidence-informed decision-making which takes account of policy complexity including trade-offs and externalities. Finally, the typology can support efforts to strengthen coordinated global responses to outbreaks and inform future efforts to revise the WHO International Health Regulations (2005). ConclusionsThe widespread use of cross-border health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted significant reflection on available evidence, previous practice and existing legal frameworks. The typology put forth in this paper aims to provide a starting point for strengthening research, policy and practice.

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Considering the Role of Life Cycle Analysis in Holistic Food Systems Research Policy and Practice

Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development ◽

10.5304/jafscd.2020.094.009 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-19 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Andrew Berardy ◽

Thomas Seager ◽

Christine Costello ◽

Christopher Wharton

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Life Cycle Analysis ◽

Food Systems ◽

Research Policy ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Systems Research

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Exploring the smart-natural city interface; re-imagining and re-integrating urban planning and governance

Emerald Open Research ◽

10.35241/emeraldopenres.13226.2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

pp. 7

Author(s):

Michael Grace ◽

Alister J. Scott ◽

Jonathan P. Sadler ◽

David G. Proverbs ◽

Nick Grayson

Keyword(s):

Urban Planning ◽

City Planning ◽

Research Policy ◽

Design Method ◽

Smart Cities ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Starting Point ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

Building Information ◽

Design Integration

Globally, urban planners and decision makers are pursuing place-based initiatives to develop and enhance urban infrastructure to optimise city performance, competitiveness and sustainability credentials. New discourses associated with big data, Building Information Modelling, SMART cities, green and biophilic thinking inform research, policy and practice agendas to varying extents. However, these discourses remain relatively isolated as much city planning is still pursued within traditional sectoral silos hindering integration. This research explores new conceptual ground at the Smart – Natural City interface within a safe interdisciplinary opportunity space. Using the city of Birmingham UK as a case study, a methodology was developed championing co-design, integration and social learning to develop a conceptual framework to navigate the challenges and opportunities at the Smart-Natural city interface. An innovation workshop and supplementary interviews drew upon the insights and experiences of 25 experts leading to the identification of five key spaces for the conceptualisation and delivery at the Smart-Natural city interface. At the core is the space for connectivity; surrounded by spaces for visioning, place-making, citizen-led participatory learning and monitoring. The framework provides a starting point for improved discussions, understandings and negotiations to cover all components of this particular interface. Our results show the importance of using all spaces within shared narratives; moving towards ‘silver-green’ and living infrastructure and developing data in response to identified priorities. Whilst the need for vision has dominated traditional urban planning discourses we have identified the need for improved connectivity as a prerequisite. The use of all 5 characteristics collectively takes forward the literature on socio-ecological-technological relationships and heralds significant potential to inform and improve city governance frameworks, including the benefits of a transferable deliberative and co-design method that generates ownership with a real stake in the outcomes.

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Managing borders during public health emergencies of international concern: a proposed typology of cross-border health measures

Globalization and Health ◽

10.1186/s12992-021-00709-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Kelley Lee ◽

Karen A. Grépin ◽

Catherine Worsnop ◽

Summer Marion ◽

Julianne Piper ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Research Policy ◽

Grey Literature ◽

World Health ◽

Border Health ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Public Health Emergencies ◽

Cross Border ◽

Health Measures ◽

Starting Point

Abstract Background The near universal adoption of cross-border health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide has prompted significant debate about their effectiveness and compliance with international law. The number of measures used, and the range of measures applied, have far exceeded previous public health emergencies of international concern. However, efforts to advance research, policy and practice to support their effective use has been hindered by a lack of clear and consistent definition. Results Based on a review of existing datasets for cross-border health measures, such as the Oxford Coronavirus Government Response Tracker and World Health Organization Public Health and Social Measures, along with analysis of secondary and grey literature, we propose six categories to define measures more clearly and consistently – policy goal, type of movement (travel and trade), adopted by public or private sector, level of jurisdiction applied, stage of journey, and degree of restrictiveness. These categories are then brought together into a proposed typology that can support research with generalizable findings and comparative analyses across jurisdictions. Addressing the current gaps in evidence about travel measures, including how different jurisdictions apply such measures with varying effects, in turn, enhances the potential for evidence-informed decision-making based on fuller understanding of policy trade-offs and externalities. Finally, through the adoption of standardized terminology and creation of an agreed evidentiary base recognized across jurisdictions, the typology can support efforts to strengthen coordinated global responses to outbreaks and inform future efforts to revise the WHO International Health Regulations (2005). Conclusions The widespread use of cross-border health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted significant reflection on available evidence, previous practice and existing legal frameworks. The typology put forth in this paper aims to provide a starting point for strengthening research, policy and practice.

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Configuring the Older Non-User: Between Research, Policy and Practice of Digital Exclusion

Social Inclusion ◽

10.17645/si.v8i2.2607 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 233-243 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Vera Gallistl ◽

Rebekka Rohner ◽

Alexander Seifert ◽

Anna Wanka

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Digital Divide ◽

Internet Use ◽

Research Policy ◽

Later Life ◽

Individual Responsibility ◽

The Internet ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Age Related ◽

Starting Point

Older adults face significant barriers when accessing the Internet. What can be done to address these barriers? This article analyses existing strategies to tackle the age-related digital divide on three different levels: research, policy and practice. It analyses (1) scientific conceptualisations that are used when studying Internet use and non-use in later life, (2) policies that address older adults’ Internet (non-)use in Austria and (3) characteristics of older Austrian non-users of the Internet based on the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE, wave 6). Analysis shows that Austrian policy tends to emphasise the individual responsibility to learn digital technologies, while placing a lower priority on structural issues, such as investments in infrastructure. However, SHARE data shows that only a small percentage of older non-users of the Internet is in fact reached with such interventions. Thus, this article suggests that policy needs to base its strategies on more refined understandings of Internet use and non-use in later life as well as a more nuanced image of the older non-user. A perspective of critical-cultural gerontology, as laid out in this article, highlights that technology adoption is a domestication process that takes place in the everyday lives of older adults, and it is these processes that interventions that tackle the age-related digital divide should take as a starting point.

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Exploring the smart-natural city interface; re-imagining and re-integrating urban planning and governance

Emerald Open Research ◽

10.35241/emeraldopenres.13226.1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

pp. 7

Author(s):

Michael Grace ◽

Alister J. Scott ◽

Jonathan P. Sadler ◽

David G. Proverbs ◽

Nick Grayson

Keyword(s):

Urban Planning ◽

City Planning ◽

Research Policy ◽

Design Method ◽

Smart Cities ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Starting Point ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

Building Information ◽

Design Integration

Globally, urban planners and decision makers are pursuing place-based initiatives to develop and enhance urban infrastructure to optimise city performance, competitiveness and sustainability credentials. New discourses associated with big data, Building Information Modelling, SMART cities and green or biophilic thinking inform research, policy and practice agendas to varying extents. However, these discourses remain relatively isolated as much city planning is still pursued within traditional sectoral silos hindering integration. This research explores new conceptual ground at the Smart – Natural City interface within a safe new interdisciplinary opportunity space. Using the city of Birmingham UK as a case study, a methodology was developed championing co-design, integration and social learning to develop a conceptual framework to navigate the challenges and opportunities at the Smart-Natural city interface. An innovation workshop and supplementary interviews drew upon the insights and experiences of 25 experts leading to the identification of five key spaces for the conceptualisation and delivery at the Smart-Natural city interface. At the core is the space for connectivity; surrounded by spaces for visioning, place-making, citizen-led participatory learning and monitoring. The framework provides a starting point for improved discussions, understandings and negotiations to cover all components of this particular interface. Our results show the importance of using all spaces within shared narratives; moving towards ‘silver-green’ and living infrastructure and developing data in response to identified priorities. Whilst the need for vision has dominated traditional urban planning discourses we have identified the need for improved connectivity as a prerequisite. The use of all 5 characteristics collectively takes forward the literature on socio-ecological-technological relationships and heralds significant potential to inform and improve city governance frameworks, including the benefits of a transferable deliberative and co-design method that generates ownership with a real stake in the outcomes.

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Beyond the Indicators: Improving Science, Scholarship, Policy and Practice to Meet the Complex Challenges of Sustainability

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12020578 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 578 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ortwin Renn ◽

Ilan Chabay ◽

Sander van der Leeuw ◽

Solène Droy

Keyword(s):

Cultural Context ◽

Social Dynamics ◽

Evolutionary Dynamics ◽

Way Of Life ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Societal Challenges ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Starting Point ◽

Wide Range ◽

History Of

Many teams have developed a wide range of numerical or categorical indicators of progress in the implementation of the SDG targets. But these indicators cannot identify why target goals have not been accomplished, whether or how they do or do not do justice to the social and cultural context in which they are applied, and how newly emerging social dynamics affect indicators. Nor do they provide means for resolving conflicting values and making balanced trade-offs. Our starting point in examining why we have not been successful in progressing towards sustainability is that the sustainability conundrum is primarily a societal, rather than an environmental problem. Our present emphasis is to maintain our way of life while minimizing its impact, hoping that such a minimization strategy would make the world more sustainable. Reducing for example the extent of pollution but keeping the same industries alive would not be sufficient for a transformation towards sustainability. Instead we should ask “How did we come to this point and what practices, in our societies and in our science, need to change to make progress towards sustainability?” To answer these questions, one needs to go much further back than usual in the history of western societies to identify the societal, scientific, technological and environmental co-evolutionary dynamics that have brought us to the current conundrum. And the fact that most societal challenges are of the “wicked” kind, as well as the need to decide among many societal options and many future pathways that may lead to positive results require that we seriously engage in using “Complex Systems” approaches. It is up to our scientific community to identify these pathways, and we need to move fast!

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