scholarly journals Public Participation for Integrated Groundwater Management: The Case of Maneadero Valley, Baja California, Mexico

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 2326
Author(s):  
Mariana Villada-Canela ◽  
Dalia Marcela Muñoz-Pizza ◽  
Vanesa García-Searcy ◽  
Raquel Camacho-López ◽  
Luis Walter Daesslé ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Groundwater Management ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Limited Participation ◽  
Aquifer Management ◽  
Participation Mechanisms ◽  
Barriers And Challenges ◽  
Different Levels

There is a controversy in groundwater management: some people argue that public participation has decreased efficiency in decision-making, while others believe this process is not executed effectively. Questions about whether public participation results from the context involving influential people, the rules, or the way participation mechanisms were designed need examination. In this study, opportunities, barriers, and challenges of public participation were analyzed in the management of a coastal aquifer affected by marine intrusion in the Maneadero Valley, México. Mixed methods were implemented, involving 28 interviews with key actors and 50 surveys conducted during 2014 and 2017 with groundwater users. Results show that public participation is mainly determined by power differences, lack of continuity in the participatory processes, and the design of the participation mechanisms. State actors have greater decision-making power in integrated groundwater management. In contrast, groundwater users have limited participation in the process of making proposals, and their participation is generally passive. There are limitations to broad, informed, and responsible public participation: examples of these limitations include different levels of information, inappropriate institutional arrangements, failure to disseminate scientific information, lack of spaces to exercise public participation, and absence of political will. Hence, to improve Maneadero aquifer management, it is necessary to decentralize decision-making, integrate technical and non-technical knowledge, generate scientific evidence about water availability, and give a prominent role to stakeholders and users from the initial stages. In addition, internalization and water culture are required. These results can help to guide integrated groundwater management in other arid regions.

Some reasons why evidence from educational research is not particularly popular among (pre-service) teachers: A discussion

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 209-214
Author(s):  
Frank Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Educational Research ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Research Evidence ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
The Individual

Abstract. This discussion first highlights novel aspects that the individual articles contribute to the special issue on (future) teachers' choice, use, and evaluation of (non-)scientific information sources about educational topics. Among these highlights are the conceptualizations of epistemic goals and the type of pedagogical task as moderators of the selection and use of scientific evidence. The second part raises overarching questions, including the following: How inclusive do we want the concept of evidence to be? How should teachers use research evidence in their pedagogical problem-solving and decision-making? To what extent is multidisciplinary teacher education contributing to epistemological confusion, possibly leading to (pre-service) teachers' low appreciation of educational research?

scholarly journals Keeping science’s seat at the decision-making table: Mechanisms to motivate policy-makers to keep using scientific information in the age of disinformation

FACETS ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1045-1064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin N. Marleau ◽  
Kimberly D. Girling
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Multiple Streams ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The Uk

Policy-makers are confronted with complex problems that require evaluating multiple streams of evidence and weighing competing interests to develop and implement solutions. However, the policy interventions available to resolve these problems have different levels of supporting scientific evidence. Decision-makers, who are not necessarily scientifically trained, may favour policies with limited scientific backing to obtain public support. We illustrate these tensions with two case studies where the scientific consensus went up against the governing parties’ chosen policy. What mechanisms exist to keep the weight of scientific evidence at the forefront of decision-making at the highest levels of government? In this paper, we propose that Canada create “Departmental Chief Science Advisors” (DCSAs), based on a program in the UK, to help complement and extend the reach of the newly created Chief Science Advisor position. DCSAs would provide advice to ministers and senior civil servants, critically evaluate scientific work in their host department, and provide public outreach for the department’s science. We show how the DCSAs could be integrated into their departments and illustrate their potential benefits to the policy making process and the scientific community.

scholarly journals Information-seeking behaviors and barriers to the incorporation of scientific evidence into clinical practice: A survey with Brazilian dentists

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0249260
Author(s):  
Branca Heloisa Oliveira ◽  
Izabel Monteiro D. Hyppolito ◽  
Zilson Malheiros ◽  
Bernal Stewart ◽  
Claudio Mendes Pannuti
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Clinical Training ◽  
Clinical Decision Making ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Clinical Decision ◽  
Dental Students ◽  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Bibliographic Databases

The aim of this online cross-sectional study is to identify the sources of scientific information used by Brazilian dentists in clinical decision-making and the barriers that they perceive as important to the incorporation of scientific evidence into clinical practice. A pretested questionnaire created in Google Forms which was made available to participants through links sent by e-mail or shared on Facebook® and Instagram® was used to collect the data between October 2018 and May 2019. Only dentists who were involved in direct or indirect care of patients (i.e. clinicians who performed dental procedures or dental educators who participated in the clinical training of graduate or postgraduate dental students) were asked to complete the questionnaire. The sample was comprised of 528 dentists (the response rate from the alumni database was 6.9%); their mean age was 45.2 years (±12.5) and 30.9% had an academic position. The majority were women (68.0%) and lived in Southern or Southeastern Brazil (96.0%). The sources of scientific information more frequently used by them in clinical decision-making were clinical guidelines (65.1%; 95% CI: 60.9, 69.2), scientific articles (56.8%; 95%CI: 52.5, 61.1) and bibliographic databases (48.3%; 95% CI: 43.9, 52.6). The information resource less frequently used was social media. The most important barriers to the clinical use of scientific evidence were: difficulty in determining whether scientific contents found on the Internet were reliable or not (41.8%; 95% CI: 37.6, 46.2), high cost of access to scientific papers (37.7%; 95% CI: 33.5, 41.9), and lack of time for reading scientific articles (32.4%; 95% CI: 28.4, 36.6). Although Brazilian dentists show a positive attitude towards obtaining scientific evidence from reliable sources, there still remain important barriers to the translation of evidence into practice. This can have significant implications for quality of care and should be further investigated.

Participatory Geographic Information Systems

2010 ◽  
pp. 1179-1184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dulce Magalhaes de Sá ◽  
Ana Cristina M. Costa
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Geographic Information Systems ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Geographic Information ◽  
Planning Processes ◽  
Different Levels

Geographic information systems are largely used in different levels of administration and planning where geo-referenced information is a crucial factor behind analysis and determination of different decision-making scenarios. The potential of these systems is increasingly being perceived as a support to facilitate public participation in planning processes.

Mental models, communication, and engagement in marine projects

2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (7) ◽  
pp. 2034-2039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Boschetti ◽  
Matthew Andreotta
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Mental Models ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Engagement Process ◽  
Causal Layered Analysis ◽  
Common Framework ◽  
Complex Decision Making

Abstract In a hypothetical decision-making situation in which a unique truth exists and each party’s aim in acquiring knowledge is to approach the truth, argumentation would be unnecessary because the best scientific theory would win the argument. Likewise, if truth is irrelevant and a perfect persuasion method is available, argumentation would also be pointless, because arguing parties, each possessing the perfect recipe, would lead a third party to switch sides endlessly. In the real world, argumentation matters because a unique truth rarely exists, information can be uncertain or vague, aims are often ambiguous if not contradictory, and acquiring knowledge can have other purposes besides approaching the truth. Marine scientists are increasingly expected to contribute to complex decision-making by providing not only scientific evidence, but also impact in the form of effective communication and persuasion. Here we review insights from different disciplines on how humans organise knowledge, beliefs, opinions, assumptions and worldviews, how these interrelate and how they affect decision-making as well as the reception of information. By focussing on the theory of mental models and the Causal Layered Analysis we also show how the structure underlying the organisation of scientific and non-scientific knowledge can be reduced to a fairly common framework. We conclude by reviewing some tools a marine scientist can employ in a stakeholder engagement process in order to better understand the audience to which scientific information needs to be delivered.

scholarly journals Application of the watershed sustainability index in the Piranhas-Açu watershed

Water Policy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 622-640
Author(s):  
D. D. Costa e Silva ◽  
H. M. L. Chaves ◽  
W. F. Curi ◽  
J. G. V. Baracuhy ◽  
T. P. S. Cunha
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sustainability Index ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Semi Arid Region ◽  
Brazilian Northeast

Abstract The current worldwide water resources issue is one of the crucial matters to overcome obstacles to sustainable development. This problem, formerly tackled in a sectored manner, is now pointing towards an analysis directed to treating the watershed as a management unit, with regards to all dimensions of knowledge and, especially, to the public participation in the decision-making processes. As an alternative to measure its performance, it has been sought out to develop indexes aimed to measure its sustainability, but there is still a lack of the use of composed efficient methodologies that also enable public participation in decision-making. This research presents a methodology comprising 15 indexes for the calculation of the Watershed Sustainability Index (WSI), followed by the application of the PROMETHEE multi-criteria analysis method and the COPELAND multi-decision-maker method. The methodology was applied to evaluate the performance of subwatersheds of the Piranhas-Açu watershed, located in the Brazilian northeast semi-arid region. The performance ordering, obtained through the application of the methods, emphasizes that subwatersheds' performances are uneven. It can be noticed that the subwatersheds' performances are still far from ideal in relation to water resources management, even in the ones that displayed satisfactory index levels.

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