Ten principles for achieving scientific impact with integrity in policy and management

In the face of mounting environmental problems, it is essential that accurate and timely scientific information is available to inform policy development and guide management. Scientists have specialised knowledge necessary for evidenced-based decision making, but despite extensive literature on the interface between science and policy, there is little guidance on achieving policy relevance while maintaining high standards of scientific integrity. Here, we provide a set of principles for environmental scientists to engage with policy makers and environmental water managers. We propose the adoption of a contemporary pluralistic approach using a diversity of modes of engagement between scientists, policy makers, and managers. We define a set of ‘roles’ for environmental scientists to engage effectively with policy and management, and discuss the advantages and pitfalls of each. We illustrate the breadth of modes of engagement at the science-policy-management interface using an example from Australia’s largest river system, the Murray-Darling Basin. We challenge the anachronistic, yet persistent concept that engaging with industry or government compromises the objectivity of involved scientists. We argue that there are multiple assurance processes in place to protect scientific integrity. Society needs scientists to be actively involved in finding solutions to the many urgent environmental issues we are facing, and if our principles are followed there are opportunities for healthy interaction between science, policy, and management.

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Evolution of models to support community and policy action with science: Balancing pastoral livelihoods and wildlife conservation in savannas of East Africa

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.0900313106 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 113 (17) ◽

pp. 4579-4584 ◽

Cited By ~ 72

Author(s):

R. S. Reid ◽

D. Nkedianye ◽

M. Y. Said ◽

D. Kaelo ◽

M. Neselle ◽

...

Keyword(s):

East Africa ◽

Policy Maker ◽

Policy Development ◽

Wildlife Conservation ◽

Scientific Information ◽

Policy Action ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Wide Range ◽

The Creation

We developed a “continual engagement” model to better integrate knowledge from policy makers, communities, and researchers with the goal of promoting more effective action to balance poverty alleviation and wildlife conservation in 4 pastoral ecosystems of East Africa. The model involved the creation of a core boundary-spanning team, including community facilitators, a policy facilitator, and transdisciplinary researchers, responsible for linking with a wide range of actors from local to global scales. Collaborative researcher−facilitator community teams integrated local and scientific knowledge to help communities and policy makers improve herd quality and health, expand biodiversity payment schemes, develop land-use plans, and fully engage together in pastoral and wildlife policy development. This model focused on the creation of hybrid scientific−local knowledge highly relevant to community and policy maker needs. The facilitation team learned to be more effective by focusing on noncontroversial livelihood issues before addressing more difficult wildlife issues, using strategic and periodic engagement with most partners instead of continual engagement, and reducing costs by providing new scientific information only when deemed essential. We conclude by examining the role of facilitation in redressing asymmetries in power in researcher−community−policy maker teams, the role of individual values and character in establishing trust, and how to sustain knowledge-action links when project funding ends.

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Bridging the science-policy gap in a transition-country setting: enablers and barriers

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-20350 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Micha Werner ◽

Nora van Cauwenbergh ◽

Tibor Stigter ◽

Leonardo Alfonso Segura ◽

Teresita Betancur Vargas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Policy Implementation ◽

Science Policy ◽

Scientific Knowledge ◽

Policy Development ◽

Groundwater Resources ◽

Implementation Process ◽

Science And Policy ◽

Research Activities ◽

Science Policy Interface ◽

Scientific Results

<p>Despite a significant increase in attention for uptake of scientific results, the integration of emerging science in policy development and implementation remains challenging. The persistent gap between science and policy may frustrate the parties involved. For the scientists, the intended impacts of what are typically very much applied research efforts remain unattained. Those involved in policy implementation and development may perceive a lack of scientific support. This may particularly be the case in transitional countries, where the development of science may struggle to keep up with rapid societal and policy development; with several factors either impeding or facilitating the uptake of emergent scientific knowledge.</p><p>We implemented a series of participatory and action research activities to support the development and implementation of groundwater management policies in Colombia and explore barriers and enabling conditions to a functional science-policy interface. The factors that either impede or facilitate the process are examined through three case studies in different regions of the country. Although the national policies that govern groundwater resources management in these three areas are the same; the degree to which scientific knowledge is used to support policy implementation varies. Several factors are identified that influence the effectivity of the linkage, including among others; the availability of scientific knowledge; the establishing of trust relationships and positioning of institutions and stakeholders; as well as institutional readiness in supporting the policy implementation process. This comparison provides useful insight into how addressing some of the impeding factors may enrich the science-policy process.</p>

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Integrating aquatic science and policy for improved water management in Australia

Marine and Freshwater Research ◽

10.1071/mf09224 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 61 (7) ◽

pp. 808 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Moya Tomlinson ◽

Richard Davis

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Development Strategy ◽

Policy Development ◽

Science Research ◽

Environmental Water ◽

Policy Integration ◽

Sustainable Water Management ◽

Science And Policy ◽

Aquatic Science ◽

National Water

Worldwide, science–policy integration across jurisdictional boundaries is emerging as a major challenge to sustainable water management. The Australian national water reforms require statutory provision for environmental outcomes in water plans, informed by the best available science. Assessments of progress towards this goal of scientifically rigorous environmental water provision indicate that, despite a multiplicity of effort in aquatic research and management, the pace of reform has been too slow for adequate protection of aquatic ecosystems. Although there are significant knowledge gaps, these are not the only obstacles to effective application of aquatic science in water plans. Progress on environmental water reform can be enhanced by recognising the cultural differences between science and policy, and by integrating communication and policy development activities from the outset of every applied science research program. Cross-jurisdictional progress in sustainable water management requires a comprehensive water research and policy development strategy using a toolbox of techniques to harness the considerable expertise and knowledge of aquatic scientists, policy makers and water planners in an integrated program to deliver the aquatic science applications called for by the national water reforms.

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Strategies and practical examples

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckz185.153 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽

Author(s):

T Schmitt

Keyword(s):

Health Systems ◽

Policy Development ◽

Policy Making ◽

Health Care Systems ◽

Scientific Evidence ◽

Scientific Information ◽

Real Life ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Care Systems ◽

Public Health Practitioners

Abstract Various tools and mechanisms can help to increase the use of scientific evidence in policy development by making policymakers appreciate, understand and incorporate such scientific information into policy decisions. As part of this process, it is crucial that researchers and public health practitioners acquire the ability to translate their knowledge and become skilled on communicating the evidence effectively. The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies supports and promotes evidence-based health policy-making through comprehensive and rigorous analysis of the dynamics of health-care systems in Europe. It engages directly with policy-makers and experts, and works in partnership with research centers, governments and international organizations to analyze health systems and policy trends. In this presentation, concrete strategies will be given for advocating scientific evidence. The focus will lie particularly on the process of real-life applications of evidence-informed policy-making. By this way, it will help the participants to analyze to whom they are targeting, what are their interests and how to communicate scientific information to a decision-maker effectively based on specific examples from the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.

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Science in Parliament

The Biochemist ◽

10.1042/bio03104048 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 31 (4) ◽

pp. 48-49

Author(s):

Ellen Colebrook

Keyword(s):

Science Policy ◽

Policy Making ◽

Science And Technology ◽

Scientific Information ◽

Select Committee ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Science Topic ◽

Policy Making Process ◽

Insight Into

Parliamentary Fellowships give PhD students the opportunity to spend 3 months working in Parliament, providing scientific information to policy-makers. Whereas most Fellows work with the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), researching and writing a briefing on a science topic, I had the opportunity to work with the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills (IUSS) Select Committee. The Committee is responsible for scrutinizing science policy across Government. My experience has given me an insight into how science policy is formed, and how scientists can inform the policy-making process.

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Sedimentation–upwelling: a model for the science–policy interface in the case of climate change and California water

Water Policy ◽

10.2166/wp.2009.016 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 107-124

Author(s):

Michael Kiparsky

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Science Policy ◽

Water Policy ◽

Scientific Information ◽

Multiple Sources ◽

Science And Policy ◽

California Water ◽

Resource Managers ◽

Gradual Process ◽

Science Policy Interface

This paper sets forth a framework to describe the science–policy interface. The “sedimentation–upwelling model” is a two-part process through which scientific information gradually becomes part of resource managers' and policymakers' agendas. In this paper, sedimentation refers to a gradual process through which scientific information slowly permeates a policymaking body, often slowly and through multiple sources. Upwelling is a process by which policymakers, having become aware of scientific concepts in a general way though sedimentation, independently devise policy actions consistent with the scientific body of knowledge. The framework was tested in the case of climate change science and California water policy through an analysis of historical data and interviews with key players on the science and policy sides of this issue. A remarkably consistent scientific message over the course of fifteen years before 2003 was not followed by corresponding changes in water management, as a “linear model” in which policymakers act directly on scientists recommendations would predict. Instead, both sedimentation and upwelling operated in this case and the importance of the linear pathway was minimal. Viewing science in the context of the upwelling-sedimentation model does not imply that science is ultimately any less influential on policy. On the contrary, this work suggests that policymakers rely on general, widespread cues that come both directly from scientists and through intermediaries and that these cues can influence policy choices in important, but often indirect ways.

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Country Representatives’ Perceptions of the Biodiversity Science-Policy Interface

Conservation ◽

10.3390/conservation1020006 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 73-81

Author(s):

André Derek Mader ◽

Brian Alan Johnson ◽

Yuki Ohashi ◽

Isabella Fenstermaker

Keyword(s):

Science Policy ◽

Biological Diversity ◽

Convention On Biological Diversity ◽

Science And Policy ◽

Biodiversity Knowledge ◽

Biodiversity Science ◽

Science Policy Interface ◽

Adequate Quality ◽

The Subject

Biodiversity knowledge is communicated by scientists to policymakers at the biodiversity “science-policy interface” (SPI). Although the biodiversity SPI is the subject of a growing body of literature, gaps in our understanding include the efficacy of mechanisms to bridge the interface, the quality of information exchanged between science and policy, and the inclusivity of stakeholders involved. To improve this understanding, we surveyed an important but under-studied group—biodiversity policymakers and scientific advisors representing their respective countries in negotiations of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). We found that a wide variety of SPI mechanisms were being used. Overall, they were considered to be sufficiently effective, improving over time, and supplied with information of adequate quality. Most respondents, however, agreed that key actors were still missing from the biodiversity SPI.

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Nudging transparent behavioural science and policy

Behavioural Public Policy ◽

10.1017/bpp.2018.10 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 198-206 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

OLIVIA M. MAYNARD ◽

MARCUS R. MUNAFÒ

Keyword(s):

Science Research ◽

Incentive Structure ◽

Behavioural Science ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Science And Policy ◽

Behavioural Insights ◽

Study Protocols ◽

Research Transparency

AbstractThere are inherent differences in the priorities of academics and policy-makers. These pose unique challenges for teams such as the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), which has positioned itself as an organisation conducting academically rigorous behavioural science research in policy settings. Here we outline the threats to research transparency and reproducibility that stem from working with policy-makers and other non-academic stakeholders. These threats affect how we perform, communicate, verify and evaluate research. Solutions that increase research transparency include pre-registering study protocols, making data open and publishing summaries of results. We suggest an incentive structure (a simple ‘nudge’) that rewards BIT's non-academic partners for engaging in these practices.

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Insights from the evaluation of a provincial healthy eating strategy in Nova Scotia, Canada

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s1368980012004041 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 16 (10) ◽

pp. 1870-1878

Author(s):

S Meaghan Sim ◽

Sara FL Kirk

Keyword(s):

Nova Scotia ◽

Healthy Eating ◽

Policy Development ◽

Strategy Implementation ◽

Canadian Province ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Key Stakeholders ◽

Health Model ◽

Document Review ◽

Depth Interviews

AbstractObjectiveHealthy Eating Nova Scotia represents the first provincial comprehensive healthy eating strategy in Canada and a strategy that is framed within a population-health model. Five years after strategy launch, our objective was to evaluate Healthy Eating Nova Scotia to determine perceptions of strategy implementation and strategy outputs. The focus of the current paper is on the findings of this evaluation.DesignWe conducted an evaluation of the strategy through three activities that included a document review, survey of key stakeholders and in-depth interviews with key strategy informants. The findings from each of the activities were integrated to determine what has worked well with strategy implementation, what could be improved and what outputs have resulted.SettingThe evaluation was conducted in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.ParticipantsParticipants for this evaluation included survey respondents (n 120) and key informants (n 16). A total of 156 documents were also reviewed.ResultsSignificant investments have been made towards inter-sectoral partnerships and resourcing that has provided the necessary leadership and momentum for the strategy. Policy development has been leveraged through the strategy primarily in the health and education sectors and is perceived as a visible success. Clarity of human resource roles and funding within the context of a provincial strategy may be beneficial for continued strategy implementation, as is expansion of policy development.ConclusionsKnown to be the first evaluation of its kind, these findings and related considerations will be of interest to policy makers developing and implementing similar strategies in their own jurisdictions.

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Governance and Management of the Nexus: Structures and Institutional Capacities

Change and Adaptation in Socio-Ecological Systems ◽

10.1515/cass-2015-0020 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Julie Snorek

Keyword(s):

Science Policy ◽

International Markets ◽

New Governance ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Joint Management ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Science Policy Interface ◽

The Right ◽

Stakeholder Communication ◽

Nexus Conference

AbstractSustaining the water-energy-food nexus for the future requires new governance approaches and joint management across sectors. The challenges to the implementation of the nexus are many, but not insurmountable. These include trade-offs between sectors, difficulties of communication across the science-policy interface, the emergence of new vulnerabilities resulting from implementation of policies, and the perception of high social and economic costs. In the context of the Sustainability in the W-E-F Nexus conference May 19-20, 2014, the session on ‘Governance and Management of the Nexus: Structures and Institutional Capacities’ discussed these problems as well as tools and solutions to nexus management. The session demonstrated three key findings: 1. Trade-offs in the Water-Energy-Food Nexus should be expanded to include the varied and shifting social and power relations; 2. Sharing knowledge between users and policy makers promotes collective learning and science-policy-stakeholder communication; and 3. Removing subsidies or seeking the ‘right price’ for domestic resources vis à vis international markets is not always useful; rather the first imperative is to gauge current and future costs at the national scale.

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