Challenges in Estuarine and Coastal Science

Estuarine and coastal waters are acknowledged centres for anthropogenic impacts. Superimposed on the complex natural interactions between land, rivers and sea are the myriad consequences of human activity – a spectrum ranging from locally polluting effluents to some of the severest consequences of global climate change. For practitioners, academics and students in the field of coastal science and policy, this book examines and exemplifies current and future challenges: from upper estuaries to open coasts and adjacent seas; from tropical to temperate latitudes; from Europe to Australia. This authoritative volume marks the 50th anniversary of the Estuarine and Coastal Sciences Association, and contains a prologue by founding member Professor Richard Barnes and a short history of the Association. Individual chapters then address coastal erosion and deposition; open shores to estuaries and deltas; marine plastics; coastal squeeze and habitat loss; tidal freshwaters – saline incursion and estuarine squeeze; restoration management using remote data collection; carbon storage; species distribution and non-natives; shorebirds; Modelling environmental change; physical processes such as sediments and modelling; sea level rise and estuarine tidal dynamics; estuaries as fish nurseries; policy versus reality in coastal conservation; developments in Estuarine, coastal and marine management.

From libertarian paternalism to liberalism: behavioural science and policy in an age of new technology

Behavioural science has been effectively used by policy makers in various domains, from health to savings. However, interventions that behavioural scientists typically employ to change behaviour have been at the centre of an ethical debate, given that they include elements of paternalism that have implications for people's freedom of choice. In the present article, we argue that this ethical debate could be resolved in the future through implementation and advancement of new technologies. We propose that several technologies which are currently available and are rapidly evolving (i.e., virtual and augmented reality, social robotics, gamification, self-quantification, and behavioural informatics) have a potential to be integrated with various behavioural interventions in a non-paternalistic way. More specifically, people would decide themselves which behaviours they want to change and select the technologies they want to use for this purpose, and the role of policy makers would be to develop transparent behavioural interventions for these technologies. In that sense, behavioural science would move from libertarian paternalism to liberalism, given that people would freely choose how they want to change, and policy makers would create technological interventions that make this change possible.

Bayesian Model-Based Approach: Impact on Science and Policy

In this chapter, we summarise the scientific and policy implications of the Bayesian model-based approach, starting from an evaluation of its possible advantages, limitations, and potential to influence further scientific developments, policy and practice. We focus here specifically on the role of limits of knowledge and reducible (epistemic), as well as irreducible (aleatory) uncertainty. To that end, we also reflect on the scientific risk-benefit trade-offs of applying the proposed approaches. We discuss the usefulness of proposed methods for policy, exploring a variety of uses, from scenario analysis, to foresight studies, stress testing and early warnings, as well as contingency planning, illustrated with examples generated by the Risk and Rumours models presented earlier in this book. We conclude the chapter by providing several practical recommendations for the potential users of our approach, including a blueprint for producing and assessing the impact of policy interventions in various parts of the social system being modelled.

US Flood risk management in changing times

The traditional regulatory and policy approach to flood risk in the US has been the optimization of benefits and costs, broadly mandated by federal policy. However, optimization may not be the best approach to flood risk management in light of the deep uncertainties we now face. A more incremental approach using a satisficing strategy may be. Flood risk is a function of the hydrologic factors that produce a hazard and the consequences of the hazard interfacing with the people and property exposed. Regretfully, both hydrologists and climatologists seem unable to provide the clairvoyant guidance needed by the water community facing major decisions on flood risk management in the coming years. As the seminal ‘Red Book’ noted, two things have become second nature to policy analysts and risk managers: absolute safety is unachievable, and it is necessary to distinguish between science and policy. The forcing elements and largest unknowns in determining risk rest with understanding the hydrologic factors involved in shaping the hazard.

Applying Principles of Implementation Science to Aging Programs and Policies

Implementation science, defined by NIH as “the scientific study of the use of strategies to adopt and integrate evidence-based health interventions,” continues to grow within research, education, and practice-based settings. Building on principles from organizational psychology, intervention science, health economics, and health services research, implementation science aims to explore how, and under what conditions, evidence-based interventions are successfully implemented and sustained in real-world settings. Applying implementation science to aging programs and settings may help to accelerate the translation of effective programs and policies into practice. This interdisciplinary symposium will provide an introduction to key principles and applications of implementation science. The first three presentations will focus on largescale spread of interventions while the last two presentations will focus on broader applications of implementation science. The first two presentations will focus on adapting interventions from delivery in one setting or population to another. The third presentation will discuss the role of implementation strategies in scaling an intervention from a controlled research setting into a large integrated healthcare system. The third presentation will focus on the intersection of implementation science and policy. The final presentation will discuss the role of implementation science in alleviating health disparities and advancing health equity. Each presentation will utilize examples from ongoing research studies to demonstrate principles. The session will close with an interactive discussion on the role of implementation science within aging, including challenges and considerations for aging programs, policies, and populations as well as opportunities for further training and education.

Bridging the Family Care Gap

This symposium aims to create a scientific and policy roadmap to offset the impending shortage of family caregivers available to assist older adults in the U.S. (i.e., the “family care gap”). Drawing on public health, cultural frameworks, family care science, and policy analysis, this symposium will orient future research, intervention development, dissemination and implementation, and policy innovation to more effectively address the family care gap. The selected presentations will include the need to apply and understand cultural adaptation and humility to support a rapidly diversifying older population (Drs. Nkimbeng and Parker). In addition, systematic review methodology will be applied to obtain insights as to what intervention models/strategies actually reduce caregiving time (Drs. Baker, Jutkowitz, and Gaugler). The next presentation will leverage the existing evidence base of translational efforts that aim to disseminate and implement dementia caregiver interventions into practice (Drs. Hodgson and Gitlin). The final presentation of our symposium will focus in-depth on a potential solution to the family care gap: more systematic approaches to identifying and assessing family caregivers in healthcare systems (Drs. Riffin and Wolff). Our discussant, Dr. Richard Schulz, will bring his extensive and renowned experience in caregiving to summarize the public health and policy implications of the family care gap.